China Case Guidance (Issue 1, 2006 · Civil Volume)

Author: Editorial Committee of "China Case Guidance" compiled by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-02-01
Features: The mutual learning and complementarity of the two major legal systems—civil law and common law—are the trend of development. Civil law systems are gradually giving more importance to case law systems, while common law systems are gradually emphasizing written law systems. How can China leverage the role of cases? Scholars are researching this issue, and judicial practice departments are also considering it. The publication of the "China Case Guidance" series will be an important step in the reform of case guidance systems and a significant achievement of judicial practice departments in addressing this issue. The joint publication of the "China Case Guidance" series by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate is a concrete measure for the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate to guide the case handling work of courts and procuratorates at all levels across the country. The "China Case Guidance" series is a concrete measure for the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate to guide the case handling work of courts and procuratorates at all levels across the country, as well as an important attempt and achievement in the reform of case guidance systems. This series presents the following characteristics:
First, authority. The editorial committee is composed of leaders from the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the research articles are written by renowned scholars, making it highly authoritative. Although these cases cannot serve as direct legal grounds for judgments, judges, procurators, and lawyers can cite them as reasons for judgments or in court debates. For convenience of citation, the cases in this series are numbered for easy reference.
Second, novelty. The selected cases are final judgments by higher people's courts and the Supreme People's Court, including some that are of new types, some that are difficult, and some that are not covered by existing laws or are subject to differing interpretations. Publishing and studying these cases can guide similar cases to be judged equally.
Third, applicability. To help users understand the essence of the cases, each case in this series is accompanied by a research article written by a renowned scholar, explaining the theoretical principles of the judgments and summarizing their essence, abstracting case guidance principles, which are of great reference value for legal practitioners and legal scholars.
Fourth, objectivity. The original documents such as the indictment, first-instance judgment, appeal, and second-instance judgment of the selected cases are published to enable readers to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the case and to make their own objective judgments. People have always been exploring the legal effect that cases should have—the normative legal effect of cases—but we should take a different approach and place greater emphasis on their actual reference effect—the actual legal effect of cases. If they are recognized and cited more frequently, their actual effect will be greater. It is hoped that the publication of "China Case Guidance" will contribute to better leveraging the actual legal effect of cases.