Application Of The 302 Article Of Contract Law In Railway Passenger Transportation Contract

With constant development of China railway,it has leaped to the era of highspeed train and reached out to the world as a business card.As the railway speeds up,an increasing number of people choose railway.Public transportation industry is born with risks.When large passenger flow boosts railway undertaking greatly,it also causes many passenger casualties during the transportation at the same time.A great diversity of situations can lead to passenger casualties,among which,some are related to carrying of rail carriers.For example,vehicles not inconformity with safety requirements and improper driving behaviors could cause casualties,etc.In some cases accidents are caused by the third party.For instance,other passengers or even criminal suspects in the carriage may directly injure.Compared to the various reasons for passenger casualties,substantive laws and regulations against railway passenger casualty cases,seem to be too simple and principled.It’s worth discussing that whether Article 302 of Contract Law can,as main substantive law basis for passengers to ask railway carriers to undertake violation responsibility,simply apply to passenger casualty cases under all circumstances.All sorts of case laws in practice and legislative conflicts in the railway filed have added difficulty in hearing this kind of cases.It is undoubted that “the same case yet different judgments” has generated huge disadvantages and influence.Non-uniform judgment standards have severely damaged judicial public faith force,and also affected social development and stability.Therefore,we shall make theoretical discussion,clarify vague understanding and insist on honest and trustworthy civil principles.By reasonable explanation of articles of laws,we can judge and solve based on legal principles and human feelings,to drivefor unification of judicial adjudication standards and better protect its fairness and authority.Contract Lawarticle 302 serves as substantive legal basis for railway passenger casualty cases.According to related hearing in the railway transportation court in recent years,we find that this article has caused relatively terrible tendency for legalism as it is extended too broadly.In some case laws,although railway carriers do not lead to passenger casualty in laws,they are still judged to shoulder the violation responsibility,which certainly adds risks for carriers and also violates basic principle of constitutive requirements of contract violation liability.It is urgent to make reasonable and regularized reduction explanation of Contract Lawarticle 302 in order to make sure that this kind of case hearing is substantially fair.The author thinks we shall add the element of “relating to carriers” and regard cause-and-effect relationship as precondition of violation liability establishment of carriers.This article is comprised of five parts.The first part generally introduces railway passenger transportation contract,makes clear of content to be discussed and comes up with questions.The second part consists of law application idea and interpretative theory,has listed several specific ideas in details,and reviewed legislation purpose of the article to pave the way to better and correctly explain the laws.The third part states specific influence of deepened railway reform upon application of Contract Lawarticle 302.It mainly aims to introduce unique system background and historical evolution in the railway transportation field and prove the influence of railway reform upon disposal of passenger casualty cases,further arguing basic ideas of the author.In the fourth part,it illustrates key components of violation liability of carriers in the railway passenger transportation contract,and stresses that cause-and-effect relationship is the precondition and foundation for violation liability establishment,and railway carriers shall not bear violation liability when they are irrelevant to passenger casualty.In the final part,it initially build violation liability model for the railway carriers.Based on violation types and degrees of contractual obligations of railway carriers,it classifies and builds several situations when carriers shall undertake all liability for damage,mitigate liability or not bear liability,finally making the article applicable to judicial practice.