民事诉讼当事人的自我责任

Self—Liability of Party in Civil Procedure

民事诉讼当事人的自我责任是指当事人应当对其诉讼行为所引起的法律后果承担责任。当事人的自我责任是构建现代民事诉讼制度的重要的程序法原理。自我责任主要通过为当事人设定行为负担而具体化。民事实体法的意思自治原则、裁判事实的建构性、对抗与判定的程序结构、当事人的理性选择、法院裁判的可接受性为自我责任提供了学理上的依据。强调对当事人的程序保障是现代民事诉讼的时代特色,只有在为当事人提供充分程序保障的前提下,让当事人承担自我责任才具有正当性。

The party is one of the most important subjects in civil proceedings, and his or her act is closely interrelated to the process of civil proceedings and the outcome of judgment. Self--liability of party is one of the doctrines for constructing a modern civil procedure. The liability here means that a party should take the unfavorable outcome for his or her failing to undertake certain acts or failing to undertake these acts timely when certain acts are necessary to obtain favorable outcome. Self--liability is generally taken shape by imposing burden of act on the party. Since a party has the freedom to act or not in the litigation, in most cases conducting some litigious acts is only a kind of burden. Self--liability of the party is not only provided in the principles of the civil pro- cedural law, but also materialized in some concrete systems and legal norms constituting these systems. Principle of disposition, principle of debate, system of court mediation, and the open and close of most procedures reflect the doctrine of self--liability. The practice of self--liability in civil procedure has its profound reasons. The principle of will autonomy in civil substantive law, the character of constructiveness of adjudicative facts, the structure of procedure of adversary and judgment, the rational choice of parties, and the accepta- bility of judgment provide the theoretical basis for the principle of self--liability. The possibility of choice made by the party in certain circumstances is the precondition for the party to take self--liability. And the symmetry of the severity of legal consequences and the acts of the party should also be taken into consideration when sets the conditions for imposing self--li- ability. EmFhasis on procedural protection of parties is the era feature of modern civil procedure. Only under the condition of sufficient procedural protection provided by the courts can the party＇s self--liability has soundness. The procedural protection mainly includes three aspects. Firstly, the court should provide conditions for the party to conduct the procedural act. Secondly, the court should exhaust its duty of clarification. Lastly, the court should aid the party in evidence collecting when necessary.