陕甘宁边区高等法院对民事习惯的调查、甄别与适用

The Investigation,Differentiation and Application of the Civil Customs by the High Court of Shanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Boarder Areas

从1942年5月开始,陕甘宁边区高等法院通过法院系统内部上下级部署工作和学习任务的形式,以县为单位,由各县审判人员对本县的风俗习惯进行了比较系统的调查和甄别。截止1944年9月,该院共收集到8个县69条具有权利义务内容的民事习惯,并由收集者对之进行了初步的甄别。在此基础上,该院在民事案件的审理中适用了某些习惯。民事习惯的调查、甄别和适用,促进了审判人员对社会的了解和对民事习惯的认知,丰富了民事案件审判工作。该院虽然对所收集到的习惯进行了简单的整理,但未能完成系统的分析,也未制定出相关的政策和规则,因此这次调查未能发挥出更大的作用。

As from May 1942, the High Court of Shanxi- Gansu-Ningxia Boarder Area, by assigning work and research tasks within its internal court system while depending on the counties as units, conducted a systematic investigation and differentiation of the local customs of each county by the court personnel. By September of 1944, the High Court successfully collected 69 civil customs containing rights and obligations from 8 counties, and made a preliminary differentiation of them by their collectors. Some of these civil customs were later applied by the High Court. The investigation, differentiation and application of civil customs promoted the court personnel＇ s understanding of the society and knowledge of civil customs, and enriched their experience of handling civil cases. However, the High Court failed to systematically analyze those customs and formulated no policy or rules albeit a simple collection, which did not avail the investigation to its full function.