我国《涉外民事关系法律适用法》司法实践之检视

A Review of the Judicial Practice of the Law on Choice of Law for Foreign-Related Civil Relationships in China

对我国东部上海市、中部河南省和西部陕西省三个省市高级人民法院2011年4月1日至2016年12月31日适用《涉外民事关系法律适用法》所作裁判文书的分析可从另一侧面呈现我国近年来涉外司法实践的图景。法院受理的案件中大部分为涉外合同纠纷,再加上涉外侵权纠纷和不当得利纠纷的涉外债权纠纷则占了绝大部分;若更细致地比较三个法院所受理的涉外合同纠纷的具体类型及其所占比重,则统计结果可清楚地显示三地不同的发展水平和地方特色。在采用的法律选择方法上,意思自治原则广受法官偏爱,已然成为法律适用方法之王;当事人在开庭之前协议选择准据法的案例少见,而庭审中达成法律选择协议的案例占绝大多数;最密切联系原则适用的广泛程度仅次于意思自治原则,但法院运用该原则相当随意。我国法院在援引法条方面特点突出:援引新法中"债权"部分条文的案件占全部案件的比重达七成以上;错误倚重一般法律原则或规定的判决比例偏高;没有援引具体法条的判决书依然占有相当大的比例。

The landscape of recent Chinese choice-of-law decisions can be observed from the examination of decisions applying the Law on Choice of Law for Foreign-Related Civil Relationships from April 1.2011 to December 31.2016 by three high courts in Shanghai of Eastern China,Henan Province of Central China and Shanxi Province of Western China.The foreign-related contractual disputes account for the most cases seized by the courts,while these disputes plus those relating to tort and unjust enrichment account for the vast majority.The level of economic development and regional features of cases can be demonstrated from the detailed comparison of particular types and its percentage of foreign-related contractual cases seized by the three courts.In regard to choice-of-law approaches,the principle of party autonomy has become the king of all approaches,most widely adopted by judges.However,the vast majority of agreements on choice of law were reached by parties during trial and it was rare to reach the agreement before trial.The principle of the closest connection is the second most popular choice-of-law approach,but was applied rather randomly by the courts.In respect of applying articles of the Law on Choice of Law for Foreign-Related Civil Relationships,the features are prominent.More than 70%decisions applied the articles of the Chapter“Obligation”.The percentage is surprisingly high for those decisions wrongly applying general principles or provisions.There are still so many decisions without applying any provision.