Legal Research On The Return Of Betrothal Gifts

As a marriage custom, the system of betrothal gifts has a history of thousandsof years. At the present time, the delivery of betrothal gifts is still widespread. Withthe rapid development of economy and the constant improvement of materialstandard of living, the amount of betrothal gifts is also rising and their kinds arebecoming more and more miscellaneous. In addition, disputes over the return ofbetrothal gifts caused by breaking off of the engagement are increasing with years aswell. Despite the fact that our country has already introduced “Marriage LawExplanation Ⅱ” which has provided legal basis for judges when dealing with suchcases, its judicial explanations are too general and shallow, and as a result it can notcompletely adapt to current administration of justice which is complex and volatile.There are still many defects in our legislation, such as: the ambiguous definition ofbetrothal gifts, the controversy over the nature of betrothal gifts, the unclearness ofconfirmation standard of living together, the conflict between laws and customs etc.In judicial practices, due to the lack of uniform judgmental standards, it is very easyto cause the judges to abuse their right of discretion and the parties to doubt thefairness of the results of judgment. What’s more, vicious events such as intentionalinjury, autotomy and suicide of the parties happen from time to time in real life.Therefore, it is necessary to legally regulate the issue of the return of betrothal gifts,solve the conflict between laws and customs and guarantee the fairness of judicialjudgment, so as to reduce social conflicts and promote the harmony and stabilizationof the society.The writer starts with the concept and characteristics of betrothal gifts. Byanalyzing their historical evolution, differences and relation with related concepts,the writer arrives at his conclusions, which are as follows: The ultimate aim of thedelivery of betrothal gifts is for both sexes to be tied to each other in bonds ofmatrimony and maintain a long-lasting and steady marriage; Betrothal gifts are akind of bestowal that has its dissolution conditions.The conditions are that both sexes have not established a marriage and they have not lived together. The factwhether they have registered for their marriage or not can not be regarded as the onlycondition. By analyzing and inducing typical cases, the writer points out thedeficiencies of our country’s current legislation over the issue of the return ofbetrothal gifts, and puts forward specific ideas to perfect our legislation. Startingfrom the principles of respecting customs, protecting the legal rights of women andbeing fair, on the basis of specific situations, disputes over the return of betrothalgifts should be handled correctly and reasonably with factors such as whether thereare faults with either sex or not, the length of time that they have lived together, andthe belonging and using situations of betrothal gifts etc. into consideration, so as toregulate judicial behaviors and guarantee fairness and justice.