论我国民法上遗产诉讼的主体

The Subjects of Estate Litigation under the Stipulation of the Civil Code of PRC

在遗产诉讼及未来我国自然人之遗产破产中,谁是诉讼主体(尤其是谁是被告和被申请人)的问题,在我国民法典之继承编中并不清楚。首先要确定的是:概括继承原则还是个别继承原则?尽管我国公司法与合伙企业法也规定有个别继承,但从民法典第1121条及第1147条之规定看,概括继承应该是我国继承的一般原则。因此,继承人全体也就自然成为遗产诉讼的主体。尽管我国民事诉讼法理论上将诉讼主体区分为实体主体和程序主体,但是,我国2006年破产法已经否定了“程序主体”的这种做法——破产管理人只能以破产债务人(破产企业或者其他债务人)的名义起诉和应诉。因此,遗产管理人不能成为诉讼的主体,尽管他可以启动程序——这是其职责所在。但是,如果对遗产开始破产程序,由于“限定继承”的适用,必须把继承人的个人财产同遗产区分,就不能把继承人作为被申请人,只能针对遗产本身。因此,我国未来个人破产程序中必须有一个在继承人团体与每个继承人之间的阻隔主体——国外称为“破产财团”(我国未来如何称谓待定)。另外,在我国民法典规定无人继承财产归国家或者集体经济组织所有的情况下,国家或者集体经济组织也有可能成为遗产债权债务关系诉讼的主体。

Who should be the subjects(especially the defendant or the respondent)in the estate litigation and the estate bankruptcy for a natural person in China?This question is not clearly provided in the part of inheritance in the Civil Code of PRC.To answer this question needs to decide first which principle to be followed:the universal succession or the singular succession?Although singular succession is provided in the Company Law and the Partnership Enterprise Law,judging from the provisions of Article 1121 and Article 1147 of the Civil Code,the universal inheritance is the general principle to be followed in China.Therefore,all the successors will naturally become the subjects of the estate litigation.Although the litigation subjects are theoretically divided into substantive subjects and procedural subjects,the practice of procedural subjects has been denied by the 2006 Bankruptcy Law,and the bankruptcy administrator can only sue and respond to the lawsuit in the name of the bankrupt debtor(the bankrupt enterprise or other debtors).Therefore,the estate administrator cannot be the subject of the litigation,although he can initiate the procedure,which is his duty.When the estate bankruptcy procedure is started,because of the application of"limited succession,"the object of the procedure can only be the estate,and the personal property of the successor must be excluded,and thus the successor cannot be regarded as the respondent.Therefore,in future in developing the procedural law for personal bankruptcy in China,there must be a barrier subject between the successor group and each successor,which is called bankruptcy estate at abroad(it is yet to be defined in a Chinese term).In addition,the state or collective economic organization may also become the subject of the inheritance litigation that addresses the relation between the creditors and debtors,when the estate is left with neither a successor nor a legatee,as stipulated in the Civil Code.