Case 丨 Those Things of the Civil Code (391): Is Death Compensation An Inheritance?

Aforementioned: This case tells the story of an inheritance dispute. After Zhang Nan sued, his brothers and cousins also sued the perpetrator of the car accident and the insurance company, and the first-instance ruling was considered to be a duplicate lawsuit and inadmissible, but the court of second instance held that this was not a duplicate lawsuit and could be accepted.

I. Case Overview

December 30, 2021 Liaoyang Intermediate Court (2021) Liao10 Min Zhong No. 2120:

The appellants Zhang Nan, Zhang Wei, Zhang Wujun and Zhang Jianguo appealed to this court in connection with a dispute with the appellees Dalian Chuangyi International Logistics Co., Ltd., Yingda Taihe Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd. Dalian Branch motor vehicle traffic accident liability dispute, against the (2021) Liao1011 Min Chu No. 678 Civil Ruling of the Taizihe District People's Court of Liaoyang City.

Zhang Nan, Zhang Wei, Zhang Wujun and Zhang Jianguo appealed:

1. The four appellants have the qualifications of litigation subjects.

Under normal circumstances, if the victim dies due to a traffic accident, the heirs of the first order exercise the right to claim, and if there is no heir of the first order, the heirs of the second order exercise the right of claim.

The second paragraph of Article 1128 of the Civil Code stipulates that if a brother or sister of the deceased dies before the deceased, the children of the deceased's brothers and sisters shall inherit the throne by subrogation. It can be seen that after the civil code came into effect, the legal definition of subrogated heirs was expanded to nieces (daughters) and nieces (daughters).

This is a huge difference from the provisions on inheritance before and after the entry into force of the Civil Code, and now the victim's second-order heirs in this case predate his death, so each appellant is eligible for subrogation as a child.

1. On the question of the temporal effect of the law. Article 14 of the Several Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the civil code> of the people's republic of China < the time effect of the civil code of the people's republic of china: Where the deceased has died before the implementation of the civil code, and the inheritance has not been inherited and no one has been bequeathed, and the children of his brothers and sisters request subrogation, the provisions of the second and third paragraphs of article 1128 of the civil code shall apply, except where the estate has been disposed of before the implementation of the civil code.

The circumstances of the victim in this case are in line with this provision, his sibling died before the entry into force of the Civil Code, but his estate has not yet been disposed of.

1. The nature of death benefits is inheritable.

Death compensation has the attributes of tangible property, although it is not an inheritance in the strict sense, but in terms of its treatment, it has always been treated with reference to heritage in mainland practice.

From the original intention of the legislation, the death compensation and the disability compensation are the same, both are the price that the injured party should pay for his behavior, because the victim has died, in fact the deceased can not exercise the right to claim, so it is inherited by the victim's heirs, based on the inheritance relationship, the victim's heirs can inherit the right, and then exercise the right to claim against the injured person.

1. The appellant's commencement of the proceedings was in accordance with the original intent of the amendment of the civil succession legislation. Death compensation is compensation arising from the death of the victim, which is both compensation for the injured party and punishment for the perpetrator.

The victim in this case has already passed away, and if the appellee does not need to be compensated according to the first-instance judgment, it is easy to promote the undesirable value orientation of "no compensation for damages, bumping into white collisions", which is contrary to the judicial concept of promoting the core values of socialism.

2. The Court's view

Article 3 of the Several Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the < of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China on the Temporal Effect of the > of the Civil Code stipulates: "In civil dispute cases arising from legal facts before the implementation of the Civil Code, where there are no provisions in the laws or judicial interpretations at that time and the Provisions of the Civil Code do, the provisions of the Civil Code may be applied, except where the lawful rights and interests of the parties are clearly derogated from, the legal obligations of the parties are increased, or the reasonable expectations of the parties are deviated from." ”

1. It stipulates: "Where the deceased dies before the implementation of the Civil Code, and the inheritance is not inherited and no one receives a bequest, and the children of his brothers and sisters request subrogation, the provisions of the second and third paragraphs of Article 1128 of the Civil Code shall apply, except where the estate has been disposed of before the implementation of the Civil Code." ”

The heires Zhang Desheng died before the implementation of the Civil Code, and the appellants Zhang Nan, Zhang Wei, Zhang Wujun and Zhang Jianguo, as nephews and nieces of Zhang Desheng, did not have the qualification of subrogated succession subject according to the laws and regulations at that time, but according to the provisions of the Civil Code, the four appellants enjoyed the qualification of the subject of succession of the subrogated heirs, and in order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the parties, the provisions of the Civil Code should be applied in this case.

The four appellants submitted relevant bills during the second-instance trial, proving that they had paid the relevant expenses for handling Zhang Desheng's funeral, and the case should be tried substantively.

Although Zhang Nan had filed a lawsuit, the legal relationship on the basis was not the same legal relationship as the case, and Zhang Wei, Zhang Wujun, and Zhang Jianguo had never filed a lawsuit, and the parties to the previous lawsuit were different from the subsequent lawsuits, so this case did not conform to the situation that the matter was no longer ignored.

1. Revoke the Civil Ruling of the Taizihe District People's Court of Liaoyang City (2021) Liao1011 Min Chu No. 678;

2. The case was instructed to be tried by the Taizihe District People's Court of Liaoyang City.

This ruling is final.