Joint Tort Out Of Un-internuncial Connection

In the"Tort Liability Law of the People's Republic of China"passed at the 12th session of the 11th Standing Committee of the National People's Congress held on Dec. 26th, 2009 and came into force on Jul.1st, 2010, un-internuncial joint tort was expressly stipulated for the first time and was made to be a tort liability mode stipulated and adjusted by law.In December 2003, the Supreme People's Court enacted"Interpretation on Issues of Applicable Laws Regarding the Trial of Cases on Personal Injury Compensation"(hereinafter referred to as"Personal Injury Interpretation"). Article 3 of the said"Personal Injury Interpretation"stipulates that:"The concurrent intent or concurrent negligence of more than 2 persons causing personal injuries to other(s), or their harmful acts despite no concurrent intent or concurrent negligence combining directly with the same consequence of injury would constitute joint tort, and they shall undertake joint liability according to the stipulations of Article 130 of General Principles of Civil Law. On the event that despite no concurrent intent or concurrent negligence, several respective acts conducted by more than 2 persons combine together indirectly to cause the same consequence of injury, such persons shall undertake respective compensation liabilities according to the seriousness of negligence or the proportionality of causative potency."This article was the first relatively explicit stipulation on joint tort out of un-internuncial connection. Upon the mode of"direct combination"and"indirect combination"of the joint act, the Supreme People's Court incorporates the joint tort out of un-internuncial connection of direct combination as the subject of joint tort field and the persons concerned shall undertake joint liabilities; and the concerned persons of the joint tort out of un-internuncial connection of indirect combination are stipulated by law to undertake shared liabilities.Although the"Personal Injury Interpretation"enacted by the Supreme People's Court elevated the research on joint tort out of un-internuncial connection in civil law field from scholars'study to the stipulations of judicial interpretation and adjusted judicial provisions, the distinguishing of"direct combination"and"indirect combination"and the stipulations on liability undertaking do not fully make clear and define the inferior causation and liability undertaking of the special tort act of joint tort out of un-internuncial connection. Along with the issuance of"Tort Liability Law of the People's Republic of China", the lawmakers chose to distinguish and stipulate the types and corresponding liability undertaking from the point of causation. Thus, at the same time of specifying this special joint tort, the appointment of liability system in our civil law is improved, and the joint tort act, joint tort out of un-internuncial connection and joint dangerous act in our civil law are distinguished fundamentally.Structurally the thesis consists of 5 chapters:Chapter 1 is the introduction of joint tort out of un-internuncial connection, conducting analysis starting from its basic definition, components and basic classifications.Chapter 2 is the comparison of joint tort out of un-internuncial connection with relevant conceptions. With the clarification of joint tort act and joint dangerous act, the comparison of joint tort out of un-internuncial connection to the former two conceptions is conducted to distinguish the similarities and differences of these relevant conceptions.Chapter 3 is the analysis on joint tort out of un-internuncial connection with transverse comparison method by introducing the stipulations on joint tort out of un-internuncial connection in Germany, Japan, Chinese Taiwan Region, UK and the US.Chapter 4 is about the liability undertaking of joint tort out of un-internuncial connection, introducing the reasons for the concerned persons in joint tort out of un-internuncial connection of cumulative causation and of partial causation to undertake respective joint liabilities and shared liabilities.Chapter 5 comes last to address the independent value of joint tort out of un-internuncial connection and to give conclusions. The definition of joint tort out of un-internuncial connection reflects that the lawmakers do not only consider the protection of victims, but also the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of the tort act doers.