The Research Of Legal Interpretation And Its Application In The Guiding Cases

The Supreme People’s Court has published 11 batches amount to 56 guiding cases till now. With the quotation rate of guiding cases increased gradually, it seems that it will become common practice in the future and it’s time to study it systematically. Legal interpretation is the essence of modern jurisprudence, as the most important part of legal methodology and the key of legal application. This paper is trying to rethink the plights of judiciary law interpretation and the way out at present, also to find an approach that how to make a judgement, with an analysis that methods of legal interpretation how to be applied in the guiding cases. In other words, it’s a inquiry of methodology and it wants to show the living space of legal interpretation on purpose.The main part of this paper consists of five parts; it can be divided into theoretical and empirical research two sections according to the different focuses of subjects. The second and third part are the part of theoretical research sector, the fourth to the sixth part belongs to empirical research sector.In theoretical research sector, this paper locates and explores legal interpretation in guiding cases from the perspective of nature and function. It noted that legal interpretation in guiding cases is precedent interpretation connected facts and rules, vividly described and effectively expand the meaning of the law. It’s also authoritative interpretation made by judge other than official judicial interpretation, it creates rules in the form of cases and may push further development of the theory of legal interpretation, promote the growth of the law. And the three main functions:defining and clearing the area of legal concept, supplementing legal loophole in an effective way and Richterliche Rechtsfortbildung play an linkage and indispensable role in guiding cases.In empirical research sector, this paper focuses on the methods of legal interpretation directly and does further study in accordance with the order of current situation ---problems --- measures. Specifically, the forth part describes the application status of legal interpretation in guiding cases. It divides 43 guiding cases refer to entities into civil law, criminal law and administrative law three types and makes a simple statistical overview of each applicable interpretation method. Then based on the above research, we can find the applicable characteristics of legal interpretation method in the different legal branches. This paper discusses the plight during the application of legal interpretation under the current institutional framework in the fifth part, including:the design of case guidance system doesn’t pay proper regard to individual interpretation power of judiciaries; the lack of legal methods literacy leads to ambiguous legal interpretation; legal argumentation closely related to legal interpretation is undeveloped.The sixth part is trying to explore possible solutions for above challenges. To improve the application status of legal interpretation in the guiding cases, we should pay attention to the reasoning of the judgment and add original judgment documents (including the first trial, the second trial, retrial, etc.) as appendix firstly. Secondly, we should strengthen judiciary education and training and improve judges’legal methods literacy. What’s more, we need to promote the combination of theory and practice and push legal argumentation study of individual case.In a nutshell, some kinds of methods of legal interpretation have been applied in the guiding cases, but there are still many deficiencies. To be well applied. It needs to require perfect fit system, to upgrade the judge’s legal method literacy, to improve the legal education, but also to deep the research of legal theoretical.