Jurisprudential Introspection On "Good Person Law"

Acting bravely,helping others,helping the poor and helping the dangerous are the virtues inherited by the Chinese nation for thousands of years.They are also excellent qualities worthy of promotion in contemporary China,which are of great significance to the construction of the rule of law today.However,these traditional virtuesare not optimistic in today's environment.In recent years,there have been some cases in which the unselfish acts have been led to legal liabilities.Rescue action is undoubtedly a kind of good deeds but not good repayment sometimes,and even undertakes legal responsibility so as to damage the interests.This is a wrong orientation,which is tantamount to guiding people to "hand free regardless of themselves",and regard doing good deeds as a foolish act of "pull somebody's chestnut out of the fire".This wrong orientation is dangerous for a healthy society.It not only corrupts the social atmosphere but also makes people doubt the rationality of the law,which is not conducive to the healthy development of the construction of the rule of law.Modern rule of law is the rule of good law.The authority should formulate good laws to punish evil and promote virtue,and protect the legal rights of the rescuers.It is precisely on the basis of deep reflection on such a situation that Article 184 of the General Principles of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China newly promulgated stipulates that the rescuers shall not be liable for civil damages caused by voluntary emergency relief.Article 184 is customarily called "Good Person Law" by the people and jurists."Good Person Law" is the ultimate result of the game between citizens and the various interests behind it.It is the embodiment of the basic principle of human rights supremacy,the legal basis,the legislative purpose and the aim of the General Principles of Civil Law.It is also the full affirmation and effective protection of emergency relief.However,there are still some defects in the content of "Good Person Law",and many problems are not explained thoroughly.The discussion in this paper will be based on these problems to further sort out and explain.This paper is divided into three parts:The first part is about the basic issues of "Good Person Law".It discusses the origin and establishment process of "Good Person Law" in China and the West.It compares the provisions of "Good Person Law" in ancient China with that in foreign countries,and focuses on the elements of "Good Person Law" and the distinction between the relevant concepts.The essential elements of "Good Person Law" are that the rescuer must be a natural person,the rescue act is sudden,altruistic and rescuing purpose,and the actor does not bear civil liability.It also discusses the distinction of related concepts,the distinction between the concept of "action" in "Good Person Law" and the concepts of "act of justice and courage","cause-free management","emergency relief" and "helping others".Shows that "Good Person Law" is an independent concept,which is different from the concepts of "act of justice and courage","cause-free management","emergency relief" and "helping others for pleasure".The second part is the jurisprudential analysis of "Good Person Law" from the legal basis,principles,social value three aspects of analysis.First,the legal basis of "Good Person Law" is embodied in three aspects: law and humanity,law and morality,law and socialist core values.Law is closely related to human nature;law comes from human nature;law embodies,expresses and realizes human nature.Good law does not violate human nature but should conform to human nature.Secondly,the basic principles of "good law" include the principle of rule of law,the principle of public order and good customs,the principle of social standing and the principle of procedure,which are the fundamental guarantee for the correct implementation of good law.Thirdly,the social value of "Good Person Law": the value of fairness and justice,the value of order coordination and the value of human rights protection.The legislation of "Good Person Law" embodies the equal treatment and protection of the law to the rescuers.Although the law of our country,especially the criminal law,punishes the evil and promotes the good,it does not treat the "good and evil" equally.It is not equal in quantity,but applies more power to "punish the evil",but does not pay enough attention to "promote the good".Rescuers are doing good,the protection of the rescuers is "promoting good",which is unique in China's legal system and puts the protection of rescuers and victims on the equal.This is a major breakthrough in our legislative theory and has a far-reaching impact.The third part is about the problems and improvement analysis of "Good Person Law".The problem is that there are defects in the unlimited immunity of the responsibility of the rescuer and the protection of the rights and interests.The "Good Person Law" can protect the good behavior in an all-around way,even excessively,but it lacks the protection of the rights and interests.We should improve the "Good Person Law",affirm the right of the rescuers to give evidence,strictly restrict the people who apply the "Good Person Law",and require that the content of the exemption be based on.A unified internal mechanism should be set up to guarantee the rescuers interests from public law,private law,and other aspects.