四倍利率规则的司法实践与重构 利用实证研究解决规范问题的学术尝试

An Empirical Study of Judicial Practice of the“Four-Time Interest Rate Rule” in China and Its Implications for Reform

如何确立合理的民间借贷利率规则,是中国社会一直未能解决的法律、经济与政治问题,它困扰着中国法院对大量的民间借贷纠纷的司法裁判。对浙江省近年来的1421份判决书所进行的量化实证研究发现,我国目前适用的民间借贷利率不得超过银行同类贷款利率的四倍这一规则同民间借贷的逻辑相悖,应当予以废止。基于实证研究与已有文献,立法者应当把大量判决书所展现的审判法官在裁定利率保护中的一些集体智慧纳入到未来的规则重构中去,设立一种新的分类管制的民间借贷利率规则。

How to establish a reasonable interest rate rule for inter-- personal lending has been a cru- cial but unresolved legal, economic, and political problem in China, which makes it troublesome for courts to adjudicate cases involving inter--personal lending. The current law regulating interest rates for impersonal lending in China is the so--called ＂four--time interest rate rule,＂ which means interest rates for impersonal lending can be higher than rates for lending from banks but shall not exceed four times of the latter. Based on a statistical analysis of 1,421 judicial cases adjudicated by courts in Zhejiang Province in recent years, this paper came to the conclusion that the current four--time interest rate rule is not ap- propriate for the development of informal finance in China and therefore shall be abolished. A new regula- tion substituting the current one is better to separate inter--personal lending into three groups and regu- lates different groups with different interest rate rules.