Civil Law Cases and Commentaries

Author: He Lixin / Wu Haiyan, Editors
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-06-01
Features: This book is divided into 12 chapters, covering 40+ real cases from 12 aspects such as ships, crew, maritime cargo transport contracts, maritime passenger transport contracts, ship leasing contracts, ship collisions, maritime salvage, general average, limitation of liability in maritime law, maritime insurance contracts, special procedures in maritime litigation, and maritime administration. It provides legal analysis and commentary on the controversial points of these cases. This book serves as a university case textbook for law students to integrate theoretical knowledge with practice, reflecting the latest judicial dynamics.
Legal education in civil law countries adopts the deductive method, where teachers typically start with legal concepts to explain legal principles. In contrast, legal education in common law countries employs the inductive method, with teachers deriving legal principles from specific judgments. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages.
China follows the civil law tradition in legal education, where teachers primarily explain legal principles based on fundamental theories in class. Case studies or examples are arranged according to the need to illustrate these principles. This teaching method is undoubtedly necessary for law students, especially beginners, as it enables them to systematically grasp legal principles rather than in fragmented ways. Only by systematically understanding legal principles can students accurately grasp the rationale behind legal provisions and apply the law effectively in practice. However, this teaching method also has limitations, as purely theoretical instruction may leave students with a superficial understanding of legal knowledge, lacking the ability to analyze and solve practical problems.
In recent years, with the deepening of legal education reform in China, teaching methods such as case-based learning and legal clinics, which help develop students' practical skills, have gained increasing attention and have been introduced into various aspects of legal education. The School of Law at Xiamen University has always emphasized the integration of legal theory and judicial practice, requiring students to study both "law in books" and "law in action." In recent years' undergraduate teaching reforms, we have placed great importance on introducing and practicing case-based learning. In addition to increasing the proportion of cases in classroom teaching or offering separate case analysis courses, we have particularly focused on collaboration with judicial departments to make full use of local judicial resources, organizing judicial internships and research to cultivate students' practical skills.
In 2003, we collaborated with the Xiamen Intermediate People's Court, hiring judges with extensive judicial experience and master's degrees as part-time teachers to independently teach civil case analysis and criminal case analysis courses. Judges used cases they had personally adjudicated as teaching materials, integrating substantive law and procedural law. They not only explained the legal principles and norms involved in the cases but also taught legal application methods and judicial skills for handling complex issues, allowing students to experience the judicial process as if they were directly involved. This initiative has achieved excellent teaching results. It not only benefits the development of practical skills for law students and bridges the gap between legal education and judicial examinations but also has a positive impact on cultivating expert judges.
Guided by the principles of collaborative education and making full use of judicial resources to serve legal education and train high-quality, comprehensive law students, the School of Law at Xiamen University has once again collaborated with the Xiamen Intermediate People's Court and jointly with the Civil Trial Second Hall of the Fujian High People's Court, the Xiamen Maritime Court, the Quanzhou Intermediate People's Court, and the Ningde Intermediate People's Court to compile this series of "New Judicial Case Commentaries." It aims to provide law students with a case textbook that integrates theory with practice and reflects the latest judicial dynamics.
The cases in this series are carefully selected from thousands of cases adjudicated by the aforementioned courts in recent years. They are not only up-to-date but also representative, fully reflecting the latest developments in legal relationships and judicial practice amid China's societal changes. Following the basic approach of combining principle explanation with problem-solving, we require authors to not only elaborate on the fundamental legal principles related to each case but also conduct in-depth theoretical analysis of the difficulties and ambiguities involved. Therefore, this series is not only helpful for law students in learning the law but also beneficial for general readers in understanding legal knowledge and the current approaches of courts in handling legal issues.
Leaders and judges of the Fujian High People's Court, Xiamen Intermediate People's Court, Xiamen Maritime Court, Quanzhou Intermediate People's Court, and Ningde Intermediate People's Court have enthusiastically supported the compilation of this series. Leaders of Xiamen University Press have provided full assistance in its publication. On behalf of the editorial committee, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to them. Without their support and assistance, we could not have successfully completed this work.