Studies On Civil Solidarity Pact Of France

In the course of the evolution of human civilization, the changes oflaw have invariably been driven by changes in realities. After mankindentered the 21st century, people's thinking and social morality have bothexperienced tremendous changes along with the expeditious economicgrowth and scientific and technological advances. Although marriage asa union of a man and a woman has long been recognized andconsistently followed by human beings as an objective law till this day,people have become more tolerant with homosexuals in the past half acentury due to the human rights movement and the homosexual rightsmovement. Such social tolerance has in turn encouraged homosexualsto fight for more rights, particular the rights to marry and establishfamilies that have been so far denied to them and exclusively enjoyedby heterosexuals. Consequently, the recognition of homosexualmarriage and family has become a subject of studies for a good manylegislators in most of the Western states. Each country chooses todebate this issue in its own way in keeping with its historical andcultural traditions and social actualities while making constantlegislative explorations. Many of these countries have enacted laws toprotect homosexuals' rights to become same-sex couples and establishfamilies. Some have even opened to them the door of marriage. TheCivil Solidarity Pact (PACS) of France is one form of legislation aimedat protecting homosexual families which is a product of struggle andcompromise between the modern and progressive and the traditionaland conservative in French society. As a special system in France, thePACS is a civil contract between two persons of the same or oppositesex for the purpose of living together. It is a mid-way system betweenmarriage and cohabitation.As a natural social phenomenon in human society, homosexualityin China dates back to a long time ago with a massive population ofnearly 40 million. Their marginalization and the social problems thusentailed have become a matter of concern to society and thegovernment. Nevertheless, none of China's Constitution, the Civil Codeand the Marriage Law addresses the issue of homosexual marriage, alegislative gap that leaves the protection of homosexuals unprovided forin China's law. As the times and society continue to progress, it isnecessary for Chinese jurisprudence studies to make correspondingchanges to keep abreast of the wave in many countries to legislate onhomosexual marriage and to make China's laws more suitable to itssocial realities. Studies on homosexual marriage are of positivesignificance not only to this particular group of people but also tosociety as a whole. However, the unavoidable fact is China's nationalcondition as a country dominated by traditional moral standards makesit difficult for China to pass a legislation recognizing and protectinghomosexual marriage in the near future. This being the case, the authorof this thesis studies same-sex partnership legislations of some keyWestern countries, the PACS of France in particular, and proposes thatat the current stage China establish a "civil solidarity pact" besidesmarriage by modeling on Frances' PACS system to extend certain legalprotection to homosexual couples pending the arrival of the rightconditions to propose a homosexual marriage law, the final objective ofendeavor.This thesis comprises four chapters as follows:Chapter One introduces the domestic and international backgroundagainst which France formulated the PACS and its legislative process.Chapter Two mainly analyzes the content and significance of thePACS system.Chapter Three dwells upon the legal basis for formulating ahomosexual marriage law in China and what China can learn from theFrench PACS system in its legislation.Chapter Four proposes the idea of establishing a Chinese versionof the "Civil Solidarity Pact" and some specific legislativerecommendations.