信托法上“转移财产”中的意思表示及其阶层性

On the Expression of Intention and Structure of the Act of Transfer of Property in Trust Law

“转移财产”一词译自英美信托法,因在法律移植过程中并未经过本土化改造,所以与现有法体系存在隔阂。如果以意思表示为工具分析其规范内涵,那么“转移财产”包含了前后相继的两层意思表示:一是委托人将特定财产转化为信托财产的意思表示,二是转移信托财产之占有给受托人的意思表示。此谓信托法上“转移财产”中意思表示的阶层性。在意思表示阶层性的解释框架下,转移财产并非典型的处分行为,其并不产生民法上处分行为的法律效果,且转移财产中的两层意思表示分别是信托的成立要件和生效要件。在立法论上,应当将两层意思表示均纳入规范表达,可以考虑将我国《信托法》第2条中的“委托财产给受托人”修改为“委托人将特定财产转化为信托财产,并转移信托财产之占有给受托人”。

The term“transfer of property”is translated from Anglo-American trust law,which is estranged from the existing legal system because it has not been localized during the process of law transplantation.If the normative connotation is analyzed by using the expression of intention as a tool,then“transfer of property”contains two successive expressions of intent:one is the expression of the intention of the settlor to transform the specific property into trust property,and the other is the expression of intention to transfer the possession of the trust property to the trustee,which is the hierarchical nature of the expression of intention in the“transfer of property”in the Trust Law.Under the framework of the interpretation of the hierarchical nature of the expression of intention,the transfer of property is not a typical act of disposition,which does not produce the legal effect of the disposition in the Civil Law,and the two layers of expression of intention in the transferred property are the requirements for the establishment and the requirements for the effectiveness of the trust respectively.In terms of legislation,both levels of expression of intention should be included in the normative expression,and consideration may be given to amending“entrusting property to the trustee”in Article 2 of China’s Trust Law to“the settlor converts specific property into trust property and transfers the possession of the trust property to the trustee”.