Study On Judicial Application Of Crime Clause In Life Insurance Contract

It is very common in practice for the insured to cause casualties to himself due to intentional crimes,and the insurer may often invoke the criminal clause in Article 45 of the Insurance Law to claim to refuse to pay the insurance benefits.In accordance with the principles of utmost good faith,public order,and good morals,and avoiding abuse of the insurance system,the criminal clause has sufficient theoretical basis,and the concept of no compensation for intentional crimes can be widely recognized by the public.However,in the judicial practice in China,there are many problems in the application of the criminal clause.The courts in different regions adopt non-uniform judicial standards in the adjudication of similar cases,and sometimes even reach diametrically opposite adjudication results.The main contradictions focus on the different definitions of the concept of“crime” in the Insurance Law and the Criminal Law,the understanding of“intention”,the identification procedure of the insured’s crime,the causal relationship,and other aspects.Judicial interpretation is not enough to completely solve the above problems,and does not accurately define the applicable standards of this clause.In addition,different countries(regions) in the world give different opinions on the degree of recognition of the criminal clause,and the theory of “preferred protection of beneficiaries” has had a great impact on the insurance legislation of major countries(regions) with civil law system.This paper consists of four chapters:Chapter 1 elaborates the theoretical basis of the criminal clause,compares and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the mainstream theories such as the theory of violating contingency,the theory of deliberately risking suicide,and the theory of punishing crimes,and explores the legislative purpose and value orientation of the criminal clause from the perspective of public policy and in combination with the principle of utmost good faith,avoiding stimulating crimes,abuse of the insurance system,and evading moral risks,and fully explain the destructive effect of the insured’s criminal act on the actuarial basis of insurance premiums,thus providing theoretical support for the rationality of no compensation for intentional crimes.Further,based on the difficulties facing the procedure and conclusive comments for determining the crime when the insured died,this paper extends the differentiated consideration of “crime” in the field of criminal law and insurance law,proposes that the application of the criminal clause does not need to be preceded by criminal trial,and deeply analyzes the impact of the high probability of death or injury caused by criminal acts,the principle of legality,the responsibility for crime and the capacity for criminal responsibility on the application of the criminal clause.It also clarifies that the legality of the criminal clause shall not agree to exclude or change the content and the insurer’s obligation of explanation shall not affect the effectiveness of the clause.Moreover,it briefly distinguishes and analyze the similarities and differences of similar concepts such as deliberately framing insurance accidents and suicide clause.Chapter 2 conducts an empirical analysis on judicial cases involving criminal clause in recent years,and summarizes the research samples after database retrieval,and makes data-based analysis on similar cases which the criminal clause applies,such as resisting arrest or being sentenced to death,general illegal acts,causality,subjective mentality,public policy,etc.,calculates and counts the judgment results,and summarizes the judgment tendency of the court.In addition,it explains the focus issues on the application of this clause under the current legal provisions,such as: it shall not apply for the general illegal acts of the insured,the casualties of the insured shall be limited within the stage of crime implementation,and it is more appropriate to apply Article 44,Suicide Clause,of the Insurance Law to commit suicide for fear of punishment.Chapter 3 introduces the extraterritorial legislation with respect to the criminal clause,focusing on the interpretation of the legislation for criminal clause,judicial practice,and the views of relevant scholars in the United States and Taiwan region.The application of the concept of “preferred protection of beneficiaries” in the Anglo American legal system in this clause is questioned.Chapter 4 expounds the judicial application criteria of criminal clause and its improvement in China,the application of several causation principles in criminal clause,such as theory of comparative conditions,theory of equivalent causation,principle of proximate cause,and predicts the broad application prospect of the theory of proportional causation in the future.At the same time,great importance shall be attached to the role of intervention factors on the casualty of the insured,and the physical fitness of the insured shall not affect the application of this clause.The discrimination between criminal intent and negligence shall be based on the general public’s cognition,and it shall be clarified that the intention in this clause means the intention of the insured when he/she decides to commit a crime,but he/she cannot be required to have intention for his/her own casualties.Suggestions are put forward for the improvement of the legislation and judicial application of the current criminal clause: its application may be extended to the period of custody or serving a sentence of the insured,the field of property insurance and criminal negligence.It is advisable to establish an exemption period of the criminal clause by referring to the “suicide clause” to achieve the purpose of the buffer period.