论法的安定性与民法法治——习近平法治思想在部门法中的体现

民法作为法律制度的一部分,对法治有其独特的表达。民法法治即表达了在民法领域实行与实现法治的理想状况。习近平同志曾经指出:"必须全面推进依法治国"。民法部门自然属于"全面"中的一份子。本文的研究即在于从民法这一部门法的视野去观察法治,特别是从法的安定性角度观察。民法法治有其不同于一般法治的特点,在立法、司法以及法律意识的养成和法律文化等方面,都有其特殊性。针对这些特殊性,民法理论与实务可以为法治建设做出自己特有的贡献。法治事业也是民法和其他部门法的事业。因此,开展法治建设的部门法研究,在方法论上也具有更为现实的意义。

民法与法治社会建设

民法是现代法治的基础,它蕴含着丰富的文化积淀及其人文气息。而民法理念是在人类历史发展过程中不断积淀起来的一种精神,是市民社会的一种价值追求。民法理念的本质是公平正义,它的核心是对于私权的尊重与保护、对于人格平等的追求以及私法自治理念的贯彻。民法理念随着社会经济的发展经历了一个由形式正义到实质正义的发展过程。对于我国民法理念的构建而言,要从与当前法治建设的角度出发,使其更为贴合我国社会经济发展的实际,从而更好的为社会经济服务。

Rights and Disagreement

Constitutionally protected rights remove political issues from the control of the democratically elected legislature. Since such rights therefore limit the power of the majority, recent work in rights theory argues that the constitutional protection of rights is inconsistent with the fundamental democratic idea of government by the people. According to this view, democracies should assign the power to resolve questions regarding the nature and extent of individual rights to the majority. Constitutional attempts to remove such questions from the public agenda, it is argued, are disrespectful to citizens who disagree with the views embodied in the constitutionalized rights. I argue that this critique： （1） is insufficiently attentive to the question of when legislation by the majority constitutes a legitimate exercise of political power; and （2） underestimates the importance of securing the constitutive conditions of democratic self-government.

＂Democratization＂ of judicial interpretation and the Supreme Court＇s political function

The new provisions on judicial interpretation work issued by the Supreme People＇s Court （SPC） explicitly establish two procedural institutions： ＂Citizen motion for project initiation of judicial interpretation＂ and ＂Seeking public comment.＂ Under the rubric of democratization, these create ＂primafacie democratic legitimacy＂ for it to carry out the political function of developing law through judicial interpretation, and also enable it to broadly absorb information or knowledge in the course of Chinese-style judicial interpretation, especially abstract interpretation. However, the ＂democratization＂ trend gives also the impression that the SPC hews so close to public opinion that it will find itself in a quandary if it becomes necessary for it to make an independent and wise judgment. The SPC must find an appropriate balance between following behind and standing aloof from public opinion. Therefore, we should not take any further steps in ＂democratization.＂ An acceptable strategy for the present would be for the SPC to retain abstract interpretation in a limited sphere while working on reforming the content, form and system of concrete interpretation and extending its scope of application, letting the two models of judicial interpretation coexist and compete for future development and choices.

The Role of Consultative Democracy in a Constitutional System and the Rule of Law in China

The rule of law in China should be advanced under a systems framework. The systems framework on which the Chinese rule of law relies is shaped by the socialist democratic system. Socialist consultative democracy, which responds to the core themes of the determinant of socialism, Party leadership, the democratic tradition of New China and native resources for constructing the rule of law, is an important resource for constructing the rule of law in China. In a constitutional system of＂ruling Party--political power--the people＂ that takes the sovereignty of the people as the logic of its starting point, consultative democracy plays the role of functional coupling. Popular sovereignty gains political legitimacy on the basis of multi- party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, thus translating the will of the ruling Party into the will of the state. Consultative democracy constitutes an essential process in national decision-making, affording a basis for the construction of the inherent logical sequence of ＂ruling Party--Consultative Conference--People＇s Congress.＂ The democratic supervision exercised by the Consultative Conference is an extension of political consultation; from it unfolds the systems framework of the rule of law in China.

The Role of Consultative Democracy under the Constitutional Framework and the Associated Rule of Law

The logical sequence of China＇s state governance is ＂governing party--consultative conferences--people＇s congresses--the people.＂ The ＂governing party--consultative conferences＂ link in the chain involves political consultation through people＇s consultative conferences. The ＂governing party--consultative conferences--people＇s congresses＂ link involves a process of obtaining legitimacy for the Party＇s views based on political consultations which are then translated into the national will by the system of people＇s congresses. The ＂people＇s congresses--the people＂ link involves the two-pronged logic of elections and governing the country according to law. The ＂governing party--the people＂ link is an illustration of the party＇s mass line, which essentially involves social consultation. Consultative democracy usually includes the political consultation in the ＂governing party---consultative conferences＂ link and the social consultation in the ＂governing party-- the people＂ link in the chain, both of which are connected through the system of people＇s congresses. This logically determines the inner relations between the Party＇s leadership, consultative democracy and the people＇s congress form of representative democracy and shapes the institutionalization of consultative democracy. That is, in the process of democratic decision-making, a circular system consisting of ＂political consultation-- legislative consultation--social consultation＂ is created to guide development of the actual system.