作为财团的信托——比较法上的考察与分析

Trust as Patrimony: A Comparative Law Perspective

从法律概念与功能两个层面来研究信托制度,可以认为信托的法律性质是独立的目的财团。对英美法、混合法和东亚大陆法系地区的比较法考察表明,普遍接受的信托“双重所有权”是对概念的误读。法律虽然将信托财产置于受托人的名下,但不否认信托财团的独立性,理论上必须认真对待信托是否享有法人地位的观点。信托作为独立的财团,可以自由设定目的,这是当前信托被广泛适用于金融领域的基础。商业实践的发展将促进对信托法律性质的理解。

Trust is a confusing institution. While common law scholars are debating how to classify trust law, their civil law colleagues still hesitate to introduce trusts into their countries, which thought to be against principles of law of things. This essay probes into the nature of trusts from a perspective of comparative law combined with functional analysis. Trust should be defined as patrimony by appropriation, and the dual ownership of trust assets is a misunderstanding of trust law. Both common law and civil law students could find corresponding concepts of patrimony in their own legal systems. The development of business trusts is raising academic interests, and will help establish innovative explanations for the nature of trusts.