论宗教活动场所的法人类型定位——兼评《民法总则》的得失

On Legal Person Categorisation of Religious Organisations

我国学界在民法典中宗教活动场所的法人类型定位问题上仍然存在严重分歧。要从根本上解决这一问题,必须首先将宗教活动场所法人类型定位作为一项制度而非纯粹的法律认知技术,并从其制度功能层面确定法人类型定位的技术性和实质性选择标准。技术性标准是法人定位应当符合周延性和确定性,实质性标准则是法人定位应当有利于保障内部当事人的意思自治和确保外部当事人的交易安全。结构主义模式无法满足任何一项标准,而功能主义模式则能符合所有标准。因此,民法典应采纳功能主义模式,将包括宗教活动场所在内的所有宗教组织一体界定为非营利法人下的宗教法人。《民法总则》的相关规定既有重要的历史进步意义,也有值得反思的缺陷。

Chinese academic circles still hold serious disagreements on the issue of legal person categorisation of religious activity places.In order to solve this problem fundamentally,we should first take legal person categorisation of religious premises as a system,not merely a legal cognition technic,and then determine the technical and substantial criteria of legal person categorisation from its functional perspective.The technical criteria should include adequacy and certainty.The substantial criteria should include safeguarding the religious activity places＇autonomy of will and ensuring the counterparts＇transaction security.Structuralism fails to meet any of these criteria,while functionalism can meet all of these criteria.Therefore,the civil code should adopt functionalism and define religious premises as religious legal persons,which are non-profit legal persons.From this perspective,the General Provisions of the Civil Law of the People＇s Republic of China has made a significant historical progress,yet there still exists some legislative defects worthy of our reflections.