Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.5, 2020

The Significance of Administrative License in the Civil Law Sense

(Abstract)

Wang Yi

Administrative license is closely related to the validity judgment of civil law behavior. From the perspective of civil law, the administrative organs, under administrative license, allow citizens, legal persons or other organizations to engage in specific activities. Some of these activities are approved factual behavior; some are approved civil law behavior; and some depend on particular situations, sometimes belonging to the former, sometimes to the latter. Correspondingly, some provisions for administrative license in laws or administrative regulations are mandatory provisions falling under simple norms; some are mandatory provisions falling under complex norms; and some depend on situations, sometimes belonging to the former and sometimes to the latter. Where a party intends to rule out the application of such mandatory regulations by virtue of agreement on the intent of civil law behavior, Article 153 (2) of the draft Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China (General Principles) shall be cited to hold that the agreement is absolutely invalid. Where the civil law behavior of a party violates mandatory provisions falling under complex norms, Article 153 (1) of the draft Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China (General Principles) shall be invoked to judge its validity.