Legal Interpretation: A Discussion from the Perspective of Judicial Practice

Author: Yin Hongyang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-09-01
Features: The law is not a mere written document to be revered, but a tool for regulating relationships, standardizing behavior, and maintaining order. As a tool, it must be used by people, and with use comes the need for interpretation. Interpretation is the fundamental way to apply abstract legal provisions to specific cases. Legal interpretation thus becomes an eternal topic in legal research and judicial practice. As a young judge, Comrade Yin Hongyang has chosen legal interpretation as the research direction for his Master's degree in law. Driven by his unwavering pursuit of judicial fairness and in-depth research on this issue, he has written this new work, On the Interpretation of Law, exploring this topic in new and beneficial ways. It was a pleasure to read it in advance, and I found the book has several distinct features.
First, in terms of structure and intent, it aligns with the requirements of contemporary development. The 15th National Congress proposed the strategy of implementing the rule of law and building a socialist rule-of-law state, the 16th National Congress emphasized strengthening the Party's governance capacity, and the 4th Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee stressed scientific, democratic, and legal governance. The People's Courts, as an important part of the state apparatus, are a key pathway for the Party, as the governing force, to govern, develop the economy, maintain stability, and achieve the rule of law through judicial means. The success of modern rule-of-law countries and the strong public desire for the rule of law and adherence to legal principles all urgently call for the enhancement of judicial capacity and the improvement of judicial standards, enabling the courts to correctly fulfill their constitutional and legal duties and play their role in the process of governing according to law. For judges, the most important aspect of enhancing judicial capacity and improving judicial standards is to improve their ability to apply the law and uphold social fairness and justice. After an in-depth analysis of the theory and practice of legal interpretation, the book clarifies theoretical concepts and proposes specific views on how to apply legal interpretation methods in judicial practice, which strongly promotes the improvement of overall judicial capacity and individual judicial competence.
Second, in terms of perspective, it gives more attention to judicial practice. The introduction, principles, and practice sections all follow the main thread of judicial practice. In the introduction, the logical starting point is judicial practice, analyzing the drawbacks caused by the neglect of legal interpretation methods in judicial practice. It traces the historical and comparative development of legal interpretation and clearly states that legal interpretation originates from and acts upon legal practice, and that it originates from rule-of-law theory and acts upon the rule-of-law process. In the principles section, based on the practical nature of legal studies, the author analyzes misunderstandings about the meaning of legal interpretation and defines it within the category of "judicial interpretation," providing theoretical support for studying legal interpretation methods from a judicial perspective. In the practice section, based on the theoretical understanding of the social practical relationships formed by legal interpretation, the author systematically elaborates on the subject, object, and methods of legal interpretation in the context of judicial practice, proposing specific methods to solve practical judicial problems, demonstrating that the ultimate goal of this research is to address difficulties and challenges in judicial practice.
Third, in terms of research content, it presents some new viewpoints. The author comprehensively employs historical and comparative research methods, combining induction and deduction, empirical and normative analysis, to systematically explain legal interpretation and summarize its shortcomings and deficiencies in theory and practice. This leads to the proposal of the meaning of legal interpretation in the new context and its practical ideals. Especially in response to the current shortcomings in academic research on legal interpretation, the author explains the meaning of legal interpretation from the practical nature of legal studies, the judge's discretion, and the basic principles of legal loopholes, while critically reviewing the notion of a "single correct interpretation" in judicial activities. All of this provides a theoretical basis for making judicial practice more reasonable and just. Of course, legal interpretation is parallel to legal application, aimed at bridging the gap between the generality of law and the individuality of cases. Therefore, the author explores and reflects on the practice of legal interpretation from aspects such as its relationship, subject, object, and methods, concluding that the highest level of legal interpretation is harmony, offering a fresh perspective.
Fourth, in terms of practical impact, it provides new answers to controversial and ambiguous issues. Currently, there are three main problems in the theoretical research and practical operation of legal interpretation: first, theoretical lag, especially a lack of research on the ontology of legal interpretation; second, defects in the current legal interpretation system, primarily the lack of clear subjectivity and chaotic interpretation order; third, and confusion in legal interpretation practice regarding its scope, core principles, and practical significance, all of which need to be clarified theoretically and addressed practically. Fortunately, this book provides new answers to all these issues. In recent years, domestic legal academia has made continuous progress in researching legal interpretation theory, with diverse schools of thought and much debate. It is not easy to produce new and high-quality research in this field. However, the author, as a practitioner of judicial practice, offers a brand-new perspective on legal interpretation based on his deep understanding of judicial practice and its rich resources, marking a new voyage in the study of legal interpretation. Of course, due to factors such as research time and the selection of materials, the book may have some limitations in depth and breadth. But flaws do not obscure the jade. Sincerely, I hope this book can become a refreshing spring in the field of legal interpretation research, nourishing the growth of legal interpretation theory and practice.
This is the preface. (Deputy Secretary-General and Vice President of the Party Committee of the Shandong Provincial High People's Court)
Preface Strengthening judicial capacity construction begins with enhancing the judicial ability of every judge. A judge's level of legal application is a reflection of their comprehensive competence and a measure of their judicial ability. Therefore, improving the overall quality of judges and their legal application skills is the foundation of judicial capacity construction. On the Interpretation of Law is based on this logic, focusing not only on the major issue of judicial capacity construction but also on the actual level of judges' legal application skills. It elaborates in detail the basic theories of judges applying and interpreting the law. These theories have certain practical significance for guiding the construction of court teams, especially in the handling of cases by judges.
Mastering legal methodology is an important path to enhancing judicial capacity and standards. Promoting and applying methodology in practice is a scientific attitude we have always adhered to. For judges, judicial skills require them to systematically master methodology. The rapid development of legal theory and philosophy, especially under the profound influence of sociological jurisprudence, advocates a social-oriented approach, emphasizing that the purpose of law is to maintain social stability and order. The core theory of legal methodology is that judicial practice must conduct "purpose consideration," "interest measurement," and "value judgment" to achieve optimal judicial benefits. Within the theoretical framework of legal methodology, legal interpretation theory is the most practically significant method. It requires judges, in addition to necessary deductive reasoning, to also engage in interpretive work based on that reasoning. The theoretical basis for legal interpretation is that judges should not be rigid "copiers" of legal provisions but must interpret legal principles or rules within their authority, balance conflicts of interest, and promote social harmony. Its practical significance lies in the shift from mechanistic jurisprudence to sociological jurisprudence, especially with the deepening of the rule-of-law process and the diversification of people's judicial needs, it is imperative for judges to focus more on the actual judicial effects of their work while adhering to the principle of "strict adherence to rules." These theoretical issues are the basic theoretical support for establishing our working guidelines and judicial philosophy, and they are comprehensively explained in On the Interpretation of Law. In this regard, the fundamental theoretical basis of this book aligns with the demands of the times and judicial practice.
Second, strengthening theoretical literacy is a fundamental measure to advance the professionalization of judges. Without a strong team of judges, the edifice of judicial capacity construction will never be solid. Judge professionalization is an inevitable choice as the rule of law process gradually deepens. It is different from the "elitization" of judges and distinct from the "massification" of judges. The current massification of the Chinese judge profession is a result of the misalignment of court functions, the absence of a judge qualification system, and the expansion of social judicial demands, leading to the long-term "unhealthy" expansion of the judge team. To advance the professionalization of judges, we must strictly enforce judge qualification standards, implement the system of judicial officer quotas and assistant judge systems, and establish a scientific judicial officer management mechanism, while placing greater emphasis on improving the professional quality of the judge team. From the perspective of judicial practice, the most pressing need for the judge team is to improve their professional quality, and the most lacking in this quality is legal theoretical literacy. To achieve the social function of "settling disputes and ensuring peace after cases are concluded" and the judicial effect of "distinguishing law and reason, satisfying both winning and losing parties," the fundamental goal is to achieve a transition from experience-based to rational judicial practice. Therefore, in the process of strengthening the professionalization of judges, it is essential to continuously enhance their theoretical literacy. The promotional effect of this on improving legal application standards is self-evident. The practical significance of On the Interpretation of Law lies in its valuable attempt at theoretical research and also demonstrates the important role of strengthening legal theory in improving judicial standards.
Third, respecting learning and research is the spiritual force for the long-term development of the court cause. Scientific development requires us to focus on the comprehensive development of people, developing talent around development and promoting development through talent. The development of the court cause ultimately depends on a high-quality team of judges with legal knowledge, professional ethics, and judicial skills, passed down from generation to generation. A judge's legal knowledge is often provided by law schools; their professional ethics and judicial skills are gradually cultivated and improved during their career. The current state of our judge team is characterized by insufficient professional knowledge reserves and low legal theoretical literacy, so the process of judge professionalization still has a long way to go, especially the continuous challenge of updating legal knowledge in judges' careers. All these require us to place greater emphasis on professional learning and theoretical research. We should promote a culture of learning within the court system, guiding judges to regard theoretical learning as a sacred duty, a spiritual realm, and a lifelong pursuit. Through strengthening theoretical learning, expert and composite backbone talents should be active on the front lines of adjudication. We must transform our learning methods, adhering to "learning to cultivate character, learning to establish virtue, and learning to apply knowledge," achieving growth on the job, and improving academic standards, theoretical cultivation, and judicial ability. As a theoretical achievement that values learning and research, On the Interpretation of Law has well upheld these purposes and directions, which is also its value.
Legal research is a profound field of study. Comrade Yin Hongyang has accumulated some intuitive experience and understanding in researching legal issues, but theoretical and academic limitations may have posed certain challenges in the creation of this book. In fact, "rising to the challenge despite difficulties" itself is a valuable spirit and pursuit. As an academic work by the Weifang court system, it should be recognized and encouraged. (Secretary-General and President of the Weifang Intermediate People's Court, Shandong Province)