Civil Code General Theory

Author: Sun Xianzhong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-11-01
Features: The research scope of this author involves civil and commercial law methodology, general principles, property rights, and creditor's rights, with a focus on civil law general principles, property law, and real estate law. The author's academic thought has basically taken shape and has had a significant impact in the field of civil and commercial law in China. The main academic thoughts and major viewpoints include:
1. In civil and commercial law methodology, the author proposed the view of "abandoning criticism and focusing on construction." He believed that scholars should move beyond the negative mindset of denying existing domestic and international research achievements in civil and commercial law and instead construct their own theories with a focus on building a legal system that meets the needs of China's market economy and the lives of its people. Current legal studies contain excessive content that criticizes others based on class lines while failing to clearly define what is needed for our own construction. Focusing on construction requires absorbing traditional civil and commercial law systems, both Western and historically Chinese, that align with legal principles, as well as actively innovating according to national conditions and the times.
2. The author was among the first to propose the legal implementation of ownership, suggesting that the form of state-owned property should be restructured according to the requirements of a market economy. The author argued that the economic base of state ownership and the superstructure of civil property rights systems are not aligned, with a decisive and realized relationship between them. Ownership cannot be a mirror image of civil law property rights systems. State ownership does not necessarily reflect state ownership; state-held equity and corporate legal personship enjoying ownership are also forms of state ownership. The author early explored the fundamental meaning of market economies in developed countries and the role and relationship of civil and commercial law under such systems. The author was also among the first to examine the uniqueness of the property rights of charitable legal persons and proposed that China's legal person property rights should be regulated according to the ownership form of charitable legal persons.
3. In the general principles of civil law, the author conducted an insightful study of the legal act system. The author introduced the legal act system from German civil law to China early on and deeply researched its origins and essence, pointing out the fundamental differences between debt acts and property acts within the legal act system. Especially noteworthy is the author's rigorous research on the true meaning of the property act theory, which corrected previous misunderstandings in academia and reversed the long-standing negation of this theory in China's civil law circles, reviving it when it was almost deemed a death sentence in mainland Chinese legal circles. This theory provides a solid legal foundation for transaction security under modern market economy conditions, contributing to the development of China's market economy. Some of the author's research in this area has been adopted by legislation and judicial interpretations, and his academic views have been recognized by legal scholars both domestically and in Taiwan.
4. In the field of civil property law, the author proposed a systematic legislative concept and framework. In the general principles of property law, the author constructed the basic system, legal principles, property types, and related systems of China's property law through research on the fundamental principles and specific systems of real estate law in market economy-developed countries and China's practical conditions. Creatively, the author pointed out that property law encompasses three basic categories: static and dynamic dominance and adjustment relationships, property rights transfer adjustment, and third-party protection. The author believes that property law should adhere to the principles of statutory property rights, absolute property rights, publicity of property rights, specific property rights, and abstract property rights. Property law serves both static and dynamic functions in protecting the rights of civil legal subjects and transaction security. When property rights transfer, the requirements, timing, and effects of the causal debt act and the resulting property act should be distinguished. Property rights transfer should produce corresponding effects according to its own requirements. Among these, the author's proposal that the property act theory should serve as the basic theoretical structure of China's property law, that the property act system is more favorable than the good faith acquisition system in objectively and fairly protecting third parties, and that a corresponding and comprehensive registration system should be established, has been adopted by China's property rights judiciary and has become the theoretical foundation for the draft of China's property law. The author was among the first to introduce the latest research achievements and basic systems of the highly recognized German civil property law to China, providing systematic references for China's property law legislation.
In the specific provisions of property law, the author first systematically studied China's state-owned land use rights system from the perspective of civil property law in the early 1990s, and many of his achievements were later adopted by legislation. Additionally, the author proposed systematic ideas for the construction of specific property law systems based on the legal principles of property law. For example, the author proposed that property law should adopt a central-local hierarchical ownership theory for the "state-owned property" system, a corporate theory for the collective land use rights system, and proposed his own ideas for the construction of systems such as the property rights of charitable legal persons, corporate legal persons, and building ownership. These theories have expanded the research scope and perspectives of property law and contributed to the establishment of a property law system under China's socialist market economy, gaining widespread recognition from academia.
5. In the research on real estate law, the author's multiple achievements have been recognized by academia and adopted by legislation. For example, based on the fundamental principles of property law, the author systematically studied the issue of real estate registration, pointing out that real estate registration has property publicity effect, property rights transfer effect, presumption of correctness of rights, good faith protection effect, and warning effect. On this basis, the author proposed the "five unification principles" for China's real estate registration system, namely unifying the legal basis for registration, registration authorities, registration effect, registration procedures, and ownership certificates. This theory has become the guiding principle for China's property law legislation, land legislation, and real estate registration law legislation.