A Research On The Return Of Betrothal Gifts

Betrothal gifts as the traditional folk marriage customs have a long history and continue to this day in China.Especially in some remote rural areas of the country,the economic development is relatively backward,so betrothal gifts disputes occur very frequently.Under such circumstances,only the Supreme People’s Court promulgates a judicial interpretation on the application < The People’s Republic of China Marriage Law > Interpretation of Several Issues(Ⅱ).This judicial interpretation provides a legal basis for the resolution of betrothal gifts disputes.But the judicial interpretation only uses a few words to explain the rule of betrothal gifts returning,which makes the judge has encountered many difficulties in dealing with betrothal gifts disputes.The phenomenon of excessive judge’s discretionary power and different judgments on the same case has appeared,leading to widespread controversy in academia and practice.This paper discusses the return of betrothal gifts from the perspectives of theoretical analysis and judicial practice.The legal nature of the betrothal gifts is defined as the donation with the conditions of release which are the end of the common life in the name of husband and wife.From two typical cases of different types: Ma et al.accusing Yang et al.of betrothal gifts dispute case and Ding accusing Huang 1 of engagement property dispute case,it is found that the scope of betrothal gifts,the number of betrothal gifts returned,the subject of litigation in the case,the calculation method of prescription of action,and the burden of proof are still unclear.According to the particularity of the return of betrothal gifts,it is proposed to follow the principles of respecting folk customs,fairness and protecting women’s legitimate rights and interests,and attach importance to the application of the basic principles on the premise of lacking legal rules and not violating the basic legal provisions.In order to remedy legal loophole of rules for the return of betrothal gifts,it is proposed to clarify the scope of betrothal gifts precisely,define the meaning of “common life”,and remove the regulation on “hard life” from judicial interpretation.On this basis,the principle of fault is added to ensure the justice of the judgment.According to the circumstances of cases,the subject of litigation and the starting point are specifically determined.At the same time,in order to solve the problem of the lack of collecting evidences in judicial practice,it is recommended to confirm the inversion of responsibility of presenting evidence.In order to break the dilemma in the judicial practice of the dispute of betrothal gifts,some suggestions are put forward to improve the return rules of betrothal gifts.