Civil Procedure Object Theory

Author: Duan Housheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The litigation legal system is one of the important contents and symbols of modern rule of law, and it is also an important guarantee for governing the country according to law. The course of China's legal system construction has proven that whether the litigation system is sound and perfect directly determines the actual effectiveness of substantive laws: without corresponding litigation mechanisms as support, substantive rights can only be "flowers in the mirror and moon in the water"; without a perfect litigation system to ensure, substantive laws will fail to achieve their legislative goals as desired. More importantly, the degree of perfection of the litigation legal system directly reflects and embodies the level of progress, civilization, democracy, and rule of law of a country or nation, serving as a marker to distinguish progress from backwardness, democracy from autocracy, and rule of law from rule by decree. In modern rule-of-law states, the litigation system, as an important link in the rule of law, has received unprecedented attention. U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Douglas once remarked, "Most provisions of the Bill of Rights are procedural, and this fact is not meaningless. It is precisely the procedures that determine the basic difference between rule of law and arbitrary rule by man." China's constitutional amendment in 1999 formally established the governance strategy of "governing the country according to law and building a socialist rule-of-law state," proposing new programs and goals for advancing China's socialist democracy, legal system construction, and judicial system improvement. Meanwhile, the initial development of the socialist market economy has nurtured the public's sense of rights and raised higher demands for judicial fairness. Against this backdrop, enriching the realization of citizens' substantive rights through the establishment of new litigation mechanisms and improving the existing litigation system to ensure the fair implementation of substantive laws, thereby advancing the rule of law and accelerating the pace of socialist democracy and legal system construction, have become the key to China's legal system development. The construction of the litigation system is closely related to people's understanding and grasp of litigation principles. Litigation principles are the systematic understanding of the laws governing litigation activities, derived from long-term litigation practice and accumulated experience. Litigation principles play a high-level guiding role in the construction and operation of the litigation system. Only by correctly understanding and accurately grasping litigation principles can a more perfect litigation system be constructed, and the litigation process can be pushed toward (positive operation). When reforming and improving China's litigation legal system, it is essential to pay attention to and seriously learn from the principles of knowledge gained through long-term theoretical and practical exploration. China's litigation legislation and practice were once severely affected by left-leaning ideological trends and legal nihilism, with litigation laws and principles long being neglected and overlooked. One consequence of this is the narrowification of the functions of judicial organs and the litigation system. For example, criminal judicial organs and criminal litigation laws were merely seen as tools for suppressing enemies, punishing crimes, and maintaining social order through such suppression and punishment, with their role in restricting state power from abuse and protecting the fundamental human rights of citizens, including suspects and defendants, being ignored. The one-sided and superficial understanding of litigation principles and laws has severely constrained the development of China's litigation legal system and has had a very negative impact on the fair and civilized conduct of litigation activities. To reverse this situation, a major shift in macro-legal concepts is necessary, along with extensive borrowing and absorption of the rich research findings and valuable practical experiences of rule-of-law countries. Greater emphasis must be placed on the study of litigation principles and laws. A correct understanding of litigation principles is a prerequisite for the scientific development of litigation legislation. By correctly grasping litigation principles, we can comprehensively understand the functions of judicial organs and make correct choices among different litigation models and rules, thereby constructing more scientific and culturally suitable litigation models and rules based on certain litigation principles. Laws formulated in this way will possess greater democracy, civilization, and scientific rigor. Conversely, if litigation principles are not correctly grasped, it may be difficult to make correct choices among various legislative options with inherent value conflicts, legislative activities may take many detours, and even heavy costs may have to be paid. A correct understanding of litigation principles also holds significant positive value for judicial activities. A proper grasp of litigation principles can, to some extent, compensate for the shortcomings of legislation. Laws are always abstract. To apply abstract laws to specific cases, scientific concepts must serve as guidance. A correct understanding of basic litigation principles will facilitate the scientific interpretation of the various legal application issues inherent in judicial activities, thereby addressing the shortcomings of legal texts. In modern society, the gap between the stability of laws and the ever-changing reality can only be reconciled by granting judicial personnel discretionary power. Therefore, a correct understanding of basic litigation principles directly determines whether judicial personnel, when exercising the discretionary power granted by law, can make decisions or judgments that meet fair standards. To implement the governance strategy of "governing the country according to law and building a socialist rule-of-law state" and ensure the fair conduct of litigation activities, it is also necessary to seriously study litigation principles and grasp the laws of litigation. Currently, many scholars in China have begun to explore some issues related to litigation principles, such as the legal perspective of litigation, the philosophy of litigation law, litigation purposes, litigation functions, litigation values, and litigation legal relationships, and have achieved certain research results. These have strongly promoted changes in people's legal concepts and have had a positive impact on legislative and judicial activities. However, overall, the research on litigation principles by China's litigation law academia still falls far short of the needs of legislative and judicial practice and requires further in-depth study. In particular, most existing research results only explore one aspect of litigation and lack a comprehensive and systematic discussion of general litigation principles. Therefore, as China's legal system progresses, exploring general litigation principles has become a necessary research topic for China's litigation law academia. The Research Center for Litigation Law at China University of Political Science and Law is a national key academic research institution focused on litigation law, recognized as one of the six major humanistic and social science key research bases in ordinary universities by the Ministry of Education in October 2000 through expert evaluation and approval. The center employs full-time researchers who are experts and scholars in litigation law from China University of Political Science and Law, while also inviting renowned domestic and international experts and scholars in litigation law as part-time researchers. The director of the center is Professor Fan Chongyi (Ph.D. supervisor), and Professor Chen Guangzhong (Ph.D. supervisor), a famous legal scholar, serves as honorary director. Professor Yang Rongxin (Ph.D. supervisor), a renowned expert in civil litigation law, serves as an advisor to the center, while Professor Song Yinghui (Ph.D. supervisor), a well-known young and middle-aged scholar, serves as the executive deputy director. Professor Bian Jianlin (Ph.D. supervisor), Professor Chen Guiming (Ph.D. supervisor), Professor Ma Huade (Ph.D. supervisor), and Professor Zhang Shuyi are part-time deputy directors. The academic research scope and layout of the center cover the entire field of litigation law, with four research institutions and directions: the Research Room for Criminal Litigation Law, the Research Room for Civil Litigation Law, the Research Room for Administrative Litigation Law, and the Research Room for Evidence Law. The reasonable combination of the center's research content, structure, and research personnel clearly reflects its distinctive feature of complementary advantages. The center leads its peers in China in overall scientific research levels, the ability to participate in major decision-making, research achievements, talent cultivation, domestic and international academic exchanges, information resources, and participation in national legislation. In accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Education, the center is deepening the reform of its scientific research system, implementing a comprehensive opening-up policy, focusing on the cultivation of high-level talent, strengthening academic exchanges, guiding and promoting the development of litigation law, and striving to build a first-class, even world-class, key research base. To attract more scholars of litigation law to dedicate themselves to the study of litigation principles and to ensure that research on litigation principles can promptly have a positive impact on legislation, judicial practice, theoretical research, and practical judicial work, the center has specifically organized efforts to edit and publish a large-scale series titled "Library of Litigation Law." The "Library of Litigation Law" is a long-term publishing project of the center, open to domestic and international experts and scholars. Monographs and translated works on litigation principles and laws that are innovative, in-depth, and substantial, as well as other works on litigation law with guiding significance for public security and judicial work and reference value for legislative work, are all eligible for inclusion.