Study On The Judicial Rules For The Return Of Bride Price

Influenced by the custom of bride price,receiving or paying bride price has become an important part of the general public in concluding marriage.At the level of national law,the Marriage Law of 1950,the Marriage Law of 2001 and related regulations do not have clear and specific regulation on the bride price.When the party who paid the bride price asks the recipient to return the bride price because the purpose of marriage has not been achieved,the dispute between the two parties mostly focuses on whether to return the bride price,how much to return,and the scope of return,etc.If the two parties fail to negotiate and solve the problem and appeal to the court,the court is faced with the dilemma of lacking specific rules for adjudication,which makes it difficult to properly deal with such disputes.In 2003,the Judicial Interpretation(II)of the Marriage Law clarified for the first time the specific rules for the return of the bride price,which was followed by the Judicial Interpretation(I)of the Marriage and Family Division of the 2021 Civil Code.The introduction of this rule has solved the dilemma that disputes over the return of the bride price could not be based on,regulated to a certain extent the chaos of holding marriage ceremonies before reaching the legal age of marriage,and reduced illegal acts such as fraudulent marriages to claim money.In the case of registered marriages,it is stipulated that the paying party cannot demand the bride price from the receiving party,which protects the rights and interests of the receiving party;the inclusion of "hardship" into the consideration of the return situation reflects the protection of the rights and interests of the paying party.Therefore,the current rules are important for promoting the balance of the rights and interests of men and women and maintaining social stability.This article selects a large number of cases involving bride price return disputes from the official websites of the Chinese Judicial Documents Website and the Supreme People’s Court.Through a typological analysis of the cases,we find that in the bride price return cases nowadays,there are problems such as the lack of uniformity in the subject of litigation for the bride price return right,the lack of clarity in the object of return and the unreasonable conditions for the exercise of return,which make the phenomenon of "different judgments in the same case" in the bride price return dispute cases.The phenomenon of "different judgments in the same case" frequently occurs.Based on this,this paper proposes certain operational suggestions for the above problems,taking into account the historical background of bride price,the relevant controversies in academic circles and the application of judicial rules: firstly,the subject of bride price repayment claim is expanded,and the actual payer of bride price has the qualification of the subject of bride price repayment claim.secondly,the scope and proportion of bride price repayment are further clarified through the analysis of bride price and related concepts.And then,the scope and proportion of bride price repayment are clarified from the perspective of Then,starting from the essence that the purpose of entering into marriage is to live together,the definition of "living together" is taken as the basis for deciding whether the dower should be returned,and the definition of "difficulty in living" is returned to the standard of "absolute difficulty".The definition of "hardship" is returned to the standard of "absolute hardship",and the application of the "fault" factor is further refined in order to resolve the conflict between the existing legal rules and the practical judgment.Through the adjustment and regulation of the law,the current problem of high bride price can be solved.