The Study On The Legal System Of Farmers' Limited Cooperatives

Since the reform and opening-up,there were many important innovations arising from framers' wisdom and practice during the process of rural social development in China,and then a series of important legal systems coming into being.Based on the experience of practice,it is always an important path for the construction of rural legal system to study innovative practical activities in rural society.The farmers' limited cooperative is a special system that help farmers to introduce “foreign capital” in order to solve cooperative's financing problem,and prevent capital erosion;is a new rural cooperative management organization whose development is based on protecting the basic rights of the original farmers' members;a special form of farmer's cooperatives;it is important practice in the development of farmer's cooperatives.From the institutional perspective,it is a very useful exploration of the construction of the farmers' cooperative system,and it is necessary and urgent to develop farmers' limited cooperatives.In the important historical period of Rural Revitalization in China,farmers' limited cooperatives provide an effective way to solve problems,such as cooperative financing problem,coordinated urban-rural economic development,and modern rural society transformation.Based on the needs of practice,farmers' limited cooperatives creatively divide their members into patron members and investment members,members of patronage refer to members who use the service provided by the cooperatives in the legal system of traditional cooperatives;investment members refer to the members who do not necessarily use the service provided by the cooperatives,but provide capital for cooperatives.The rights of patron members to join and quit the cooperatives,make decision and share profits need special protection,while the rights of investment members to make decision and share profits should be reasonably reflected.The rights of these two kinds of members should be balanced to maximize the value of cooperatives.The system of farmers' limited cooperatives formed on the basis of solving practical problems is innovation of the legal system of farmers' professional cooperatives,which inherits the special legal status of farmer cooperatives.Under the legal attributes of the basic principles and purposes of Farmers' Professional Cooperatives Law,the limited one is different from the traditional one,because it divides members to patron members and investment members.The system of farmers' limited cooperatives is of research value with the core elements of the right to join and quit,decision-making power and profit distribution rights.Based on the experience of practice,through full investigation,at this stage,China's farmers' limited cooperatives have the following characteristics.First,considering the development of different types and standards of farmers' limited cooperatives,cooperatives such as “Farmers + Base” cooperatives,“Farmers + Base + Enterprise” cooperatives,“Farmers + Base + Enterprise + Financial Capital” cooperatives have better development.Second,the three types of cooperatives have already exceeded the frame of Farmers' Professional Cooperatives Law in the areas of members' rights to join and quit,decision-making power and profit distribution rights.They have the basic characteristics of the legal elements of farmers' limited cooperatives.In practice,farmers' limited cooperatives have been developed,and the better the development of cooperatives,the more typical the mode of farmers' limited cooperatives.Third,to some extent,the new agricultural business entities in China didn't confirm to Farmers' Professional Cooperatives Law.Some provisions of the law have limited the willingness of farmers to participate in the rural revitalization as a kind of separate legal entities.Looking at the international society,in the process of agricultural modernization,the development of agricultural cooperation and economy in many countries share the similar rules.The United States has legislated Uniform Limited Cooperative Association Act,in order to solve the cooperatives' financing problem in agricultural economic development,and actively respond to innovation of the cooperatives in practice.The act has effectively solved farmers' cooperatives' financing problems,and protected the interests of patron members and promoted the development of cooperative economy in the United States,through the distinction of provisions between patron members and investment members.At present,the development of cooperatives in our country share the similar background with the beginning of legislation of the limited cooperatives system in the United States.Both of them face the urgent demand for the industrialization and modernization of agriculture.Therefore,Farmers' Professional Cooperatives Law in the United States has the reference value to the construction of legal systems of farmers' limited cooperatives in China.Farmers' limited cooperatives arised from the experience of practice of the farmers' cooperatives in China.The legalization of farmers' limited cooperatives should be an important task in the current construction of legal system.Based on the development practice of our farmers' limited cooperatives and the experience and lessons of the legal system of the limited cooperative in the United States,the path of legalization of our farmers' limited cooperatives should follow the basic spirit of the Farmers' Professional Cooperatives Law.From the legal perspective,the members of the farmers' limited cooperatives should be divided into patron members and investment members;the restrictions on the rights of investment members to join should be appropriately liberalized;the structure of rights of patron members and investment members should be defined;the rights to join and quit,decision-making power and profit distribution rights of patron members and that of investment members should be regulated separately.The legislation should protect the interests of investment members and reflect the reasonable rights and interests of investment members so as to achieve the maximization of the value of the cooperative.