涉外民商事审判实践中外国法的查明

Proof of Foreign Law in Foreign-Related Civil and Commercial Trials in Chinese Courts

本文针对当前我国法院涉外民商事审判中存在的重大疑难问题——如何查明外国法的问题进行了分析、论证,围绕谁有责任查明外国法、通过何种途径查明外国法、如何确定外国法的内容、如何认定"不能查明外国法"、不能查明外国法后的法律适用等关键问题,梳理了相关法律、司法解释的规定,探寻了司法解释条文的真意,同时指出了法院实践中存在的问题,例如推卸查明外国法的责任、没有充分利用有效途径查明外国法、不当认定"不能查明外国法"等,并针对这些问题提出了自己的看法,目的是为我国法院查明外国法并正确适用外国法作出裁判提供参考。

This paper analyzes a major difficulty in foreign-related civil and commercial trials in Chinese courts—how to prove foreign law on who is responsible for proving foreign law,channels to ascertain foreign law,how to identify the contents of foreign law,how to define "impossible to prove foreign law",the applicable law where foreign law cannot be ascertained.The paper clarifies relevant laws and judicial interpretations,identifies the true meaning of judicial interpretations,and comments on issues in judicial practice such as liabilities for omission to prove foreign law,failure to use effective channels to ascertain foreign law,improper finding that it is "impossible to prove foreign law".This paper intends to guide the correction proof of foreign law in Chinese courts.