Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2013

Constructing the Relationship between Civil Code and Special Civil Law

(Abstract)

Xie Hongfei

The biggest challenge to civil code comes from the flourishing of special civil law. In terms of function, special civil law can be classified into three types: supplementary special civil law, policy-oriented special civil law and administrative special civil law. There are two relational models between civil code and special civil law in the world: de-codification and re-codification. Central to their relationship is whether the consumer act and the laborer act should be incorporated into civil code. As de-codification does not adjust the relations of consumption and labor, it undermines the position of civil code as the basic law of market economy, while retaining the purity of civil code. On the other hand, although re-codification is in conflict with the value orientations of traditional civil code and the traditional civil law system, it defends the position of civil code. Chinese civil code in the future should not only target itself towards a pure private law, but also incorporate and integrate policy-oriented special civil law, so that it can become a basic law of market economy and family life, which is truly innovative and exemplary in the long run.