The promulgation of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter the Civil Code) has advanced the development of China’s legal system, providing fundamental guidance and robust safeguards for strict law enforcement and impartial administration of justice. Over the more than five years since its promulgation, significant achievements have been made in legislation, administration of justice, and law enforcement. As China enters the era of the Civil Code, we should follow the guidance of XI Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, give full effect to the Civil Code’s status as a basic law, take the institutions and rules established by the Civil Code as the fundamental guidance, and draw direction from the core values it promotes—voluntariness, equality, fairness, and good faith—so as to further improve the system of Chinese civil and commercial law and advance a new round of codification. The Civil Code has promoted the exercising of law-based government administration and the building of a law-based government. At present, it is necessary to take the Civil Code as the fundamental guidance to further deepen strict law enforcement. The promulgation of the Civil Code has also provided strong safeguards for the impartial administration of justice. In the era of the Civil Code, judges should adapt their adjudication mindset, develop judicial interpretations with the accurate application of the Civil Code as their central focus, and effectively foster the formation of a cohesive legal community.
The Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter the Civil Code) represents the highest achievements of the codification of Chinese civil law, incorporating institutional features rooted in China’s conditions and exhibiting distinct Chinese characteristics. The structural openness and institutional inclusiveness of the Civil Code enable the organic integration of the civil law system based on the Seven-Book Structure (the internal system) with the civil law system constituted by separate civil and commercial laws outside the Civil Code (the external system), thereby achieving the systematization of Chinese civil law. The internal and external systems, grounded in different logical relationships within the structure of the Civil Code, entail different approaches to interpretation. The interpretation of the internal system focuses on the logical relationships and application of laws between the General Part of the Civil Code and the specific Books, the systematic interpretation of legal institutions within the same Book, and the application of laws among different Books. With the renewal and development of the external system as its guiding thread, the interpretation of the external system should properly construe the provisions of Article 11 of the Civil Code, respect the autonomous development of separate civil and commercial laws, and emphasize their relatively independent development.
In China’s codification process, the notion of “basic laws” has emerged, along with the proposition that such laws should enjoy “priority of application.” However, neither codes nor basic laws acquire constitutional rank or a status superior to ordinary statutes merely by virtue of possessing foundational character in part. Normative supremacy is a distinctive quality enjoyed exclusively by the formal constitution, and therefore, using codes as a basis for constitutional review is untenable. Basic laws are not automatically “general laws,” and determining whether the applicable norm is general or special requires a detailed analysis based on legal methodology, particularly historical and teleological interpretation. Existing rules on the application of norms are sufficient to resolve normative conflicts; accordingly, introducing an additional rule that grants priority to basic laws is unnecessary and may generate further complications. The internal consistency of the legal system is itself a constitutional mandate. Issues of legal methodology are inherently constitutional issues. Constitutional norms concerning the right to equality, the right to liberty, and the division of powers provide important guidance for resolving conflicts within the legal system through hierarchy-consistent interpretation, especially interpretations consistent with the Constitution. In the era of codification, greater emphasis should be placed on the internal system-building of legal doctrine. The legal order of the modern rule-of-law state is ultimately oriented toward unity under the guidance of the Constitution, and in the era of codification, doctrinal studies of individual branches of law should likewise be oriented toward an integrated legal dogmatics informed by constitutional values.
Existing theories in China mostly classify the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter the Civil Code) within the category of primary civil laws. Although the concept of a primary civil law carries distinct Chinese characteristics, it suffers from ambiguous connotations and unclear legal effects. Positioning the Civil Code merely as a primary civil law would unduly restrict its scope of application, hinder the coordination between the Civil Code and other laws, and be detrimental to safeguarding the stability and authority of the Civil Code. The Civil Code demonstrates its basic status within the entire legal system in terms of its regulatory scope, underlying values, legal functions, legislative techniques, and legislative process. President XI Jinping’s assertion that the Civil Code is a “basic law that consolidates governance foundations, meets public expectations, and brings long-term benefits” has both developed the theory of the legal system and deepened the understanding of the Civil Code’s status, possessing significant theoretical originality and practical guiding significance. The elevation of its status from a primary civil law to a basic law aligns with the inherent attributes of the Civil Code, conforms to the intent of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, and meets social needs. As a basic law, the Civil Code transcends the limitations associated with being merely a primary civil law and assumes a quasi-constitutional character within the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics. It exerts binding force on legislation, judicature, and administration, enjoys precedence in application, and should serve as a basis for constitutionality review.