ABSTRACT
Using the metaphor of a jigsaw puzzle, this article presents preliminary results of research on the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China (中华人民共和国民法典), which was promulgated on May 28, 2020 and has been effective since January 1, 2021. This research began by following the drafting process over the years. Its focus sharpened after the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress published a draft of the new code on the Internet in September 2019. The article argues that the Civil Code is not genuinely new but is to some extent a compilation of existing laws. The code exhibits concurrent influences not only from different jurisdictions but also from across different eras. Some elements originated in the past and combine Roman legal institutes with Confucian notions of collective liability and socialist law. On the other hand, the Code also enshrines very modern elements of international uniform law as well as rules on factoring and personality rights that could serve as a model for legislators in other jurisdictions. In addition, as shown for example in newly introduced rules on e-commerce and in provisions concerning the Covid-19 pandemic, the Civil Code is also a reaction by the Chinese legislature to recent global developments. The concept of incorporating judicial interpretations into the Civil Code is certainly a unique feature of legislation in China. The adoption of many provisions featuring new legal institutions reflects close cooperation between the Chinese legislature and the judiciary.
Pissler, Knut Benjamin, A Codification Puzzle Piecing Together the (New) Chinese Civil Code, 國際私法研究 [국제사법연구] / Korea Private International Law Journal – Special issue: Liber Amicorum Kwang Hyun SUK, volume 28, no 1, pp 775-788, November 2022, DOI: 10.38131/kpilj.2022.6.28.1.775; Max Planck Private Law Research Paper No 22/30.
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