On the Constitutionality of Compiling a Civil Code of China

Book excerpt: This book explains the urgent necessity to compile a Civil Code and calls for constitutional awareness in compiling that Civil Code, highlighting the need for it to be done in a democratic and scientific manner. It advocates “Pragmatic Methods” as a new approach to compiling a Civil Code of China and shares the author’s thoughts on the constitutionality of compiling a Civil Code, explains the object that is to be judged in terms of its constitutionality, and the constitutionality of legal interpretation, of legislative procedures and of legal application. The book also illustrates the author’s “mode of the codifying of non-basic laws” for compiling a Civil Code, and includes a detailed discussion on compiling a Civil Code to reveal how many valid laws there are China – a matter that is of vital importance to the compilation of the Civil Code.The Appendix includes statistics on the number of civil cases classified according to causes of actions, based on “Judicial Opinions of China” website, which is the first step of the author’s plan to investigate civil customs reflected in judgment documents with the help of big-data analytical methods.