论权利的“相对性”及其在当代中国的应用——来自英美财产法的启示

The Establishment of "Relativity" of Rights and Its Application in Contemporary China:Enlightenments Gained from Anglo-American Property Law

在对财产权利的确定上,我国继受大陆法系形成的传统认识,主要是采取立法预先确立的绝对办法,而英美法上却通过"产权"这一术语的承载运行,普遍创设了一种"相对性"的办法,承认一系列独立权利的平行继起,直待发生冲突时再来具体比较谁更优而确定个案的保护范围。由此,人们对财产权的认识就可跳出大陆法系下绝对所有权伞形结构的框架、而转化为一种线形结构,就此提供一个开阔的想象空间和逻辑导引,通过引入时间维度,每个人都可以利用这个空间来创设自己所需又针对未来的丰富安排;借助其内在逻辑,又能促使各种财产权利之间保持平等、往复回溯和独立交易,而使对土地利益的多种灵活利用成为可能。借鉴英美财产法的一些逻辑与经验,我国可创设或更新一些制度,以有效缓解我国现有体制问题激发的农地利用、小产权房等民生矛盾。

China has inherited from the Continental Legal System an absolutist ap- proach to ascertaining rights, whereas the Anglo-American law has taken an approach of relativ- ity through the operation of the term ＂title＂. According the relativity approach, all rights are parallel unless disputes arise which make it necessary to prioritize one particular right over an- other for the purpose of ascertaining the ambit or extent of protection of rights on a case-by-case basis and property rights can be perceived as linear in structure, rather than umbrella-like as perceived in civil law jurisdictions. Out of this perception there arises open space for reflection and for logic instruction. In a temporal dimension, everyone can use this space to create his own needs and to make adequate arrangements for the future. Meanwhile, this approach can ensure the equality, the independence as well as the retrospectivity of various property rights, enable us to make flexible use of a variety of land interests and effectiveIy alleviate many problems re- sulting from the defects of the current institutions and affecting people＇ s livelihood, such as those relating to the use of agricultural land and housing with ＂small property rights＂.