Civil Law Cases and Academic Research of China (Property Rights Part) (Revised Edition)

Author: Wang Liming (Editor)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-02-01
Features: Preface With the increasing emphasis on case law in the civil law system and the strengthening of statutory law legislation in the common law system, the two legal systems are gradually blending their respective characteristics and becoming increasingly similar. The trend of rule of law development in the world today indicates that case law has not faded into the vast body of statutes and laws due to the development of statutory law. On the contrary, the role of case law in the creation, interpretation, and filling of legal loopholes has made its status more prominent than ever before. In the past decade, Chinese scholars have continuously called for strengthening the research and application of case law. This good suggestion has been difficult to realize in the short term due to various factors such as China's legislative system, judicial system, and the status of judges. Strictly speaking, China is not a case law country; we only have cases, not precedents that can serve as legal sources. However, the irreplaceable role of case studies in the development of the rule of law is undeniable. Case studies refer to the theoretical analysis of cases with typical significance, from which the successes and shortcomings of legislation can be identified, measures to fill legal loopholes can be sought, and the improvement of the legislative system can be explored through the organization of cases. It is clear that case studies first have important value for the perfection of legislation. However, from the perspective of China's current legislative system, due to the predominant use of a statutory law system, the role of case studies is more prominently reflected in their guidance, reference, and promotion of the improvement of judges' qualities in judicial practice. Specifically: , due to the limitations of statutory law, no single law can encompass all situations in social reality. When judges encounter situations where the law is silent or ambiguous, they need to apply legal principles, understand the intent of the legislator, and the spirit of the law, and expand the interpretation of certain provisions to apply the law. For provisions that are ambiguous in scope, conditions, etc., various methods of legal interpretation must be used to interpret them and reflect them in judgments, thereby forming cases that undoubtedly play an important guiding role in judicial practice. If these cases are systematically organized and studied, their value is self-evident. Second, successful cases themselves are good models. For judges handling similar or similar cases, they not only provide important references but also serve as exemplary cases. In situations where the quality of judges still falls short of actual needs, case studies can summarize successful judges' experience and skills in handling cases, providing models for judicial practice. Third, cases are the answers of each judge to society. They not only reflect various social phenomena, economic development conditions, and the level of rule of law construction but also truly show judges' understanding of legislation, legal awareness, law enforcement spirit, analytical abilities, and so on. In other words, cases are the true reflection of judges' qualities. Through case studies, it is possible to promptly identify weak areas in judges' qualities that need to be enhanced, allowing the judicial professional level of Chinese judges to quickly reach a new level. In judicial training and teaching, case studies and the use of case teaching methods are essential. Although China is a statutory law country, legal teaching should primarily focus on explaining basic legal principles and knowledge, enabling students to systematically and comprehensively master basic legal theories. However, legal education, especially judicial training education, should pay more attention to case teaching. Through case teaching, not only does the theoretical explanation become more vivid and inspiring, but it also helps students quickly grasp abstract legal principles and apply them flexibly, generalizing and applying them. Practice has proven that rigid, theoretical teaching has never achieved the desired teaching effect.