"Equal Protection of Private Property Rights": Civil Code Supports Property Rights
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The "equal protection" of private property rights written into the Civil Code is a qualitative leap in the public's wealth concept and helps strengthen the protection of citizens' property rights.
The National People's Congress and the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China soon convened, and the "New China's First Civil Code" called "Encyclopedia of Social Life" became a hot topic in public opinion.
On December 28, 2019, the People's Congress of China published the "Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (Draft)" and publicly solicited opinions from the public. Now the deliberation is on the way, and the clauses in the Property Rights Part of the Civil Code (Draft) "The property rights of the state, collectives, private persons and other rights holders are equally protected by law, and no organization or individual may infringe".
From the "protection" in the property law to the "equal protection" in the civil code, it seems that the word "equality" is added, but the signal released has aroused widespread concern in society, especially in the academic circles.
Infringement of private property rights in the name of "public" is not feasible
The Civil Code clearly states "equal protection" of the rights of the state, collectives, private persons, and other rights figures, and indeed "there is a real meaning in it."
The codification of our national code adopts a "two-step" plan, and makes appropriate changes based on the existing foundation. Therefore, the "General Principles of Civil Law" was first adopted, and then the revision and improvement of each branch.
The civil property code of the Civil Code is based on the "Property Law" passed in 2007, and has been added, deleted or modified in combination with the actual situation after its introduction. The "Property Law of the State", "the property rights of the state, collective, and private persons and other rights holders shall be protected by law, and no unit or individual shall infringe" to "the property rights of the state, collective, and private persons and other rights holders The rights are equally protected by law, and no organization or individual can infringe. "This is undoubtedly the continuation and upgrade of the current property rights law.
With the rapid development of China's economy and society, people have accumulated more and more personal wealth. How to protect private property rights legally, so that people's sense of gain and security can be further placed, has become an issue of increasing public concern.
The "Civil Code (Draft)" clearly stipulates that "private property rights are equally protected by law", which has practical significance and helps to change the situation where private property rights are insufficiently protected in economic and social activities.
In fact, the principle of equal protection of property rights is a refinement of the principle of equality of civil law in the law of property rights. Even if “equality” does not appear, it is the meaning of the provisions. However, this still cannot avoid the definition of "sacred and inviolable" in the relevant legislation by some people in national property, public property, and private property, which leads to the interpretation of different levels of property and different degrees of legal protection.
More importantly, in the economic and social practice, when civil disputes between individuals and state-owned enterprises and collective enterprises occur, the principle of equality of property rights is not effectively implemented, which may easily lead to damage to private rights. Today, legislators directly define the characteristics of equality in the draft, which is conducive to moving from formal equality to actual equality, forming a consensus, avoiding ambiguity, and also reflecting legislative attitudes.
The balance of "insufficient protection of personal interests" is also balanced
The Civil Code (draft) property rights add the word "equality" on the basis of the property law, which also means that in the future, when individuals and state-owned enterprises and other civil subjects have civil disputes in market economic activities, both parties have the same law Protection status.
This is also a kind of balance to the previous thinking that our legal system emphasizes public interests and insufficient protection of personal interests.
It is foreseeable that equal protection of the subject is also conducive to the formation of good and orderly market competition.
The “Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Accelerating the Improvement of the Socialist Market Economic System in the New Era” also announced clearly that “Legislatively endow private and public properties with equal status and equal protection” is proposed. System design and improvement are conducive to the principle of equal protection of property rights from abstract to concrete.
Not only that, for the first time in the Civil Code (Draft) Property Rights Code, it is clear that "equal protection of private property rights" has once again raised the protection of private property rights to a new level. Through equal protection of private property rights, consolidate the material interests of private subjects, and further mobilize the enthusiasm of the people to create wealth, cherish wealth, and accumulate wealth, which is of great significance to economic and social development.
If we say that this part of the compilation of property rights directly reflects the principle of equality of property rights by the word "equality" in the general provisions, then many details also reflect the implementation of this equality.
As stated in the draft on the expropriation compensation provisions, while expanding the scope of compensation, it emphasizes the “timely” payment of relevant fees. Although it is a side manifestation of the further promotion of the reform of the rural collective property rights system, it also emphasizes on private parties (even vulnerable farmers). Targeted protection.
In incidents involving the expropriation of collectively-owned land, phenomena such as inadequate compensation, unreasonable compensation schemes, or unpaid prices have often occurred. The increase in the word “in time” is not only a restriction on public power, but also provides space for private parties to look forward to. .
Nowadays, it is a general trend for China's civil law system to enter the era of civil code. The draft of the Property Code of the Civil Code clearly states for the first time that “equal protection of private property rights” is a seemingly small part of the revision of the Property Code, but it is a legal confirmation of China ’s 40 years of reform and also reflects the wealth of the Chinese. The qualitative leap will help strengthen the protection of citizens' property rights. The equal and powerful protection of property rights will surely add momentum to social development and give the people more confidence-as the sentence says, "people with constant property are more persistent."
□ Bian Kaixing (PhD student of School of Economics and Law, Southwest University of Political Science and Law)