Right Confirmation and Civil Law Mechanism

Author: Qiu Hongming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: The issue of rights is an important topic in the field of legal philosophy theory and the modernization of the legal system. Connecting the phenomenon of rights to legal development and the modernization of civil law for systematic analysis and argumentation undoubtedly helps to deepen legal philosophy research and expand the academic space for the modernization of the legal system. Based on this, I hereby extend my sincere congratulations on the publication of Qiu Hongming's new book, "Rights Confirmation and Civil Law Mechanism."
The phenomenon of rights has a profound social life foundation. Marx pointed out that "legal relations are a will relationship that reflects economic relations. The content of this legal or will relationship is determined by this economic relationship itself." Only by understanding the corresponding social living conditions and deriving them from these social conditions can we grasp the essence of all rights phenomena. In the field of civil relations, a fundamental core issue is to reveal the inherent connection between commodity economy and the regulation of civil law. In Capital, Marx deeply analyzed the legal manifestation of commodity relations formed in the process of commodity exchange. He stated: "Commodities cannot go to the market by themselves; they cannot exchange by themselves. Therefore, we must find their guardians, the commodity owners." "To enable these things to relate to each other as commodities, the guardians of the commodities must relate to each other as persons whose will is embodied in these things. Thus, one party can only transfer its commodity and possess another's commodity only by conforming to the other party's will, that is, each party can only transfer its commodity and possess another's commodity through a joint will act of both parties. Clearly, they must acknowledge each other as private owners. Here, Marx pointed out the three conditions necessary for the formation of commodity economic relations and their corresponding rights manifestations: First, there must be independent commodity "guardians" (owners), and the corresponding rights requirement is the confirmation of the legal subject system; second, commodity exchangeers must have ownership of the commodities, which requires the legislative confirmation of the ownership system; third, there must be consensus in the intentions of commodity exchangeers, as only with both parties in agreement can commodities be exchanged. Clearly, the civil law system that regulates commodity exchange relations is, in fact, a rights system centered on the legal subject system, the ownership system, and the contract system. Therefore, a fundamental prerequisite for establishing civil law systems is to resolve the issue of rights confirmation.
However, the issue of rights confirmation is essentially a matter of value selection. "If civil law norms merely reflect the economic living conditions of society in legal form, then these norms can, depending on the circumstances, sometimes present these conditions well and sometimes present them poorly." Thus, civil law that presents the socio-economic conditions well acts in the same direction as economic development, while civil law that presents these conditions poorly acts in the opposite direction to economic development. The former reflects the positive function of civil law, while the latter reflects its negative function. Among the two possible functions that civil law may exert, the subjective initiative and value orientation of the legislator are a crucial factor. If the legislator truly recognizes the nature and development trend of economic relations and consciously aligns with this nature and trend, consciously engaging in the work of rights confirmation to better reflect the existing socio-economic conditions in civil law, then such civil law will promote economic development and social progress. Conversely, if the legislator ignores the real socio-economic conditions and their development laws, fails to align with the trend of economic development, and pays little attention to the issue of rights confirmation, presenting these economic conditions poorly in civil law, then such civil law will inevitably hinder the healthy development of the social economy.
It is precisely from this perspective that Qiu Hongming's book holds significant value. The author applies the general theory of legal system modernization, fully elaborates the basic ideas of rights confirmation, and focuses on analyzing a series of important issues in the field of civil rights, proposing a preliminary idea of constructing a civil code compilation system using a rights model. The book presents original arguments, thorough reasoning, and reflects a vibrant spirit of the times, demonstrating a high academic standard. I sincerely wish Qiu Hongming continued perseverance and diligent exploration, striving for new academic progress.