The "General Principles of Civil Law of the PRC": Its Birth, Characteristics, and Role

Abstract

Civil law' is the basic (jiben) law used to regulate relations in a commodity economy. In the legal system of the People's Republic of China (PRC) civil law occupies a critical position. Chinese law is divided into three levels: fundamental (genben) law, basic (iben) law, and specifically enacted (danxing) law. The fundamental law is the Constitution, which has the greatest legal effect in the legal system; basic law is law which regulates certain aspects of social relations, and its effect is subordinate to that of the Constitution but superior to special law. Civil law is a basic law which regulates the property and personal relations between equal subjects and assumes the leading role toward the various sorts of special enactments (danxingfagui) and economic regulations (jingjifagui) in the economic sector. On April 12, 1986, the Fourth Session of the Sixth National People's Congress passed the General Principles of Civil Law of the Chinese People's Republic. This not only legislatively established the central position of civil law in the Chinese legal system, but it also symbolized that the construction of Chinese law and democracy had entered a new stage. This article is an exposition of the emergence, characteristics, and role of the General Principles of Civil Law in the PRC.