A Study Of The Credibility Principle In The Civil Litigation

The credibility principle which is called "the king provision" in the civil law is a basic moral rule of the market economy and a elementary law principle of modern law-governed society. This principle originally belonged to ethic rules. However, it has been introduced into the realm of private law, and became the most essential guiding principle of modern civil law in order to adapt to the needs of the rapid development of society.The credibility principle, which dated back to private law entered in the realm of Civil Procedure Law, one of the public laws, and became its fundamental principle, thus it provides us with a new perspective for researching substantive and procedural laws. The application of the credibility principle is of great theoretical significance to improve the principle and theoretical systems of China’s Civil Procedure Law.In judicial practice of civil case in our country, on the one hand, the court abuses discretion, and neglects the priciple position and the litigant right of party concerned procedure, which leads to miscarriages of justice or even judicatory corruption. On the other hand, the party abuses his litigation rights, evades litigation obligation. The increasing of the abusive litigation and the perjury cause lawsuits to become artificially complicated and delayed. What’s worse, it results in miscarriage of justice and undermines the authority of the judiciary.Because of the defects of the judicial practice mentioned above, this paper starts from the meaning of credibility principle, and compares the application of it in Anglo-American and Continent law systems. Based on its necessity and adaptability, it suggests the establishment of credibility principle in China’s Civil Procedure Law.