美、日、澳商业判断规则比较——渊源、适用及其对我国的启示

Comparison of Business Judgment Rules Among the US,Japan and Australia——Their Origin,Application and Insight to China

作为公司治理高度发达的国家,美国、日本和澳大利亚各自都拥有一套成熟的商业判断规则。在规范渊源上,美国以判例作为法院裁判的基本指引;日本未将商业判断规则成文法化,但日本的董事责任免除制度或许可以提供规范依据;澳大利亚将商业判断规则纳入其成文法体系,此举在世界范围可谓少见。在司法适用上,美国在诉讼程序层面以“假定”理念为指引,进而设计出独特的举证责任分配规则及诉讼推进步骤:日本则在不同个案中总结商业判断规则基本要素,允许法官适度介入董事决策:澳大利亚在实践中勾勒出董事“安全港”的大体轮廓,并确定若干个典型的法院审查标准。这些国家的实践对我国商业判断规则的完善有着重要的启示作用。

As countries with highly developed corporate governance,the US,Japan and Australia have a set of mature business judgment rules of their own.In terms of the origin of norms,the US takes precedents as the basic guidance for court decisions;Japan has not codified business judgment rules,but Japan's exemption system concerning directors' liability may provide a normative basis;Australia has incorporated business judgment rules into its statutory law system,which is rare in tlie world.In terms of judicial application,the US,guided by the concept of"assumption"at the procedural level,has designed unicjue rules for the allocation of burden of proof and litigation procedures;Japan has summed up the basic elements of business judgment rules in different cases,allowing judges to mcxierately intervene in the directors'decision-making;and Australia has outlined the directors'"safe harbor"in practice,and determined several typical standards for court review.The practice of these countries has an imjxjrtant insight to the improvement of business judgment rules in China.