The History And Future Development Of Good Faith Principle In Civil Litigation

When Chinese Civil Litigation had been revised in 2012, the principle of good faith had been written into the code as a basic principle, making this principle stipulated explicitly in our country. However, the explicitly stipulated principle had not meet people’s expectations, because it was ambiguous about the application to the specific connotation and extension, and no effective system could be provided to the participants in the litigation procedure. It was considerably necessary to study the principle of good faith in a more specific and detailed way. The research about China’s contemporary development of Civil Litigation must be founded on a carding and comparative study about the history and contemporary development process for the principle of good faith to sort in order to obtain reliable answers.To study the formation of the principle of good faith, it should be traced back to the Rome Civil Litigation firstly, and find out the contemporary significance of the principle of good faith in the Rome Civil Litigation contained through a modern perspective, and further, clarify its origin and development to find the the proper meaning and role it played in civil litigation. Through the historical perspective, we can found that the principle of good faith had a developmental trajectory from Roman civil procedure to the inherited by Reichskammergericht and General Gerichtsordnung for Prussian. Under the influence of France Civil Litigation Code, the principle of good faith had been disappeared for a time in the Europe. But due to the civil litigation’s own needs and the favorable external environment, the principle had recovered in the early twentieth century in German Civil Litigation.For the principle of good faith’s diversified meaning and inclusive application, it must be discussed in a very detailed way. After carding the connotation of the principle of good faith, it could be divided into three aspects for meticulous discussion, the literal interpretation, the basic principle in civil litigation and the aspect about specific system. The principle of good faith had a nature of constitutional provisions and the nature of historicity, therefore, we should use the methods for the interpretation of constitutional provisions to explain it. That was the suitable methods for the current situation of the development of civil litigation in China. When we focused on America, which was most advanced county in today’s interpretation of constitution, a conclusion would be drew through the comparison between the method of originalism and the integral interpretation method that the principle of good faith should be interpreted with integral method.Specific system of civil litigation was needed to explain the principle of good faith in a holistic approach. And the typically discussion about the regulated subjects of the principle of good faith and essence reflection through concrete system, made the principle of good faith play effective role in civil litigation of China.