Application Dilemma of the Principle of Reciprocity in the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments

With the continuous advancement of the "Belt and Road" Initiative (hereinafter referred to as "B&R"), the issue of the recognition and enforcement (hereinafter referred to as R&E) of foreign court judgments in our country has gradually become the focus of judicial practice and theoretical research. The principle of reciprocity (hereinafter referred to as PoR) plays a key balancing role in safeguarding national judicial sovereignty and promoting international judicial cooperation. This paper systematically studies the application dilemmas of the PoR in China, with a focus on discussing the legitimacy foundation of the PoR and who bear the responsibility of proof reciprocal relationships. The research finds that the PoR not only safeguards the equality of national sovereignty, but also promotes the construction of judicial trust, and guarantees the predictability of international commercial AC. T The ambiguity and inconsistency issues in the current judicial practice on how the burden of proof is divided are revealed, and it is clarified that the first burden of proving the existence of a reciprocal connection should rest with the applicant. In response to the existing issues, a systematic improvement scheme is proposed: at the legislative level, to clarify diversified qualification standards and rules of proof; at the judicial level, to construct a tiered review mechanism; at the level of international cooperation, to weaken reciprocal reliance through treaties; and to build a cross-border shared databases from the perspective of technical assistance.