I. Provisions on Judicial Interpretation (Fa Shi [2022] No. 6)
Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the General Provisions of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
Article 1: Where Parts 2 through 7 of the Civil Code have provisions on civil relations, the people's courts directly apply those provisions; Where there are no provisions in Parts 2 through 7 of the Civil Code, the provisions of Part 1 of the Civil Code shall apply, except where they cannot be applied on the basis of their nature.
For the same civil relationship, where the provisions of other civil laws are refinements of the corresponding provisions of the Civil Code, the provisions of that civil law shall apply. Where the Civil Code provides for the application of other laws, the provisions of that law shall apply.
Where the Civil Code and other laws do not have specific provisions on civil relationships, the provisions of the Civil Code on basic principles may be followed.
2. Internal circulation of the Civil Code
(1) General principles
First specific, then comprehensive, first sub-rules, then general, from leaves to roots, retrospective. In the order of applying the provisions of the Civil Code, it is generally necessary to first look for the provisions from the specific provisions of the relevant sub-parts of the Civil Code, then from the general provisions of the sub-parts, then from Chapters 2 to 10 of the General Provisions of the Civil Code, and finally from Chapter 1 of the General Provisions of the Civil Code, "Basic Provisions". Taking the application of law in interest disputes involving loan contracts as an example, the first step is to find a direct legal basis in Chapter 12 of the Contract Part (e.g., Articles 670, 674, 677 and 680); The second step is to look for the corresponding clauses (such as articles 466, 510, 579 and 589) from the "General Provisions" in the first subpart of the contract part; The third step is to find the basis from Chapters 2 to 10 of the General Provisions of the Civil Code (e.g., Articles 142, 143 and 153); The fourth step is to look for the relevant provisions on basic principles or customs from Chapter 1 "Basic Provisions" of the General Provisions of the Civil Code. This view is also broadly held in comparative law. The Code should be consulted in a backward order, since the following special provisions preclude the application of the preceding general provisions, and the preceding general provisions can only be applied if the special provisions cannot be found later.
(2) Exception rules
1. However, the adoption of the following specific provisions may lead to the escape of fair value, and there is no provision on how to deal with the violation of legal principles, in which case the overall interpretation should be adopted, excluding specific clauses, and selecting the clause that can best apply justice.
2. Not all issues not covered by the subparts can be applied to the provisions of the General Provisions, especially in the case of identity relations. For example, a contract concluded fraudulently may be set aside under the provisions of the General Provisions, but not all marriages contracted fraudulently are voidable. Accordingly, in the latter part of paragraph 1, the qualification of "except to those which by their nature cannot be applied" is made in order to avoid the applicable rules set out in this paragraph being too absolute.
2. Provisions of the Civil Code and other civil and commercial laws
For the same civil relationship, where the provisions of other civil laws are refinements of the corresponding provisions of the Civil Code, the provisions of that civil law shall apply. Where the Civil Code provides for the application of other laws, the provisions of that law shall apply.
However, there is a premise: it contains that this provision can only be applied if it is consistent with the spirit of the provisions of the Civil Code.
3. The relationship between principles and rules
Where the Civil Code and other laws do not have specific provisions on civil relationships, the provisions of the Civil Code on basic principles may be followed.
This is an enabling norm, and the basic principles can only be applied if they cannot be interpreted.