| The bride price is an important part of Chinese traditional wedding customs and culture.In recent years,disputes arising from the bride price have occurred from time to time,and the number of disputes arising from the high price of the bride price has been on the rise,and such cases occupy a large proportion of marriage cases.The provisions of the Interpretation(I)of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of the Marriage and Family Part of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China(hereinafter referred to as "Interpretation(I)")on the return of the bride price are still the same as those in the judicial interpretation of the Marriage Law in 2003,and no changes have been made.This provision not only does not clarify the concept and legal nature of the bride price,but also does not clarify how to determine the scope of the bride price,the scope of the return of the bride price,the standard of the return of the bride price ratio,the subject of litigation and other issues.In addition,the judicial interpretation lacks the protection of women’s rights and interests and the principle of fault is not reflected in the judicial application.This article hopes to explore the ways and means to improve the bride price repayment rule by examining the basic jurisprudence,the problems encountered in judicial practice and the relevant legislation in foreign countries.On the one hand,in order to clarify various legal basic concepts in the dower return dispute,this paper traces the history of dower,and discusses the rationality of dower through the utility and significance of ancient and modern dower in the process of marriage conclusion.Secondly,the concept and characteristics of dower gift and the scope of dower gift are defined and analyzed.Then,we compare and analyze the different theories on the legal attributes of the bride price in academic circles and conclude that the legal nature of the bride price is a gift with the condition of dissolution,and the condition of dissolution is that the marriage relationship is not concluded.On the other hand,we select typical cases of bride price return disputes,summarize the common controversial focus of such cases,focus on these focus issues,analyze the limitations of the judicial interpretation in the process of judicial application and the necessity of improving the rules of bride price return disputes,and find a balance between theory and practice in the various issues arising in bride price return disputes,which should be combined with the case of bride price return dispute should be considered in the light of the time the two parties lived together and the local customs and practices.Finally,based on Chinese national conditions and customs regarding the bride price,and by summarizing and learning from useful experiences in foreign countries,we put forward concrete suggestions for the resolution of bride price return disputes from two aspects: first,respecting local traditional customs and reducing the possibility of conflicts between existing laws and regional customs and traditions;second,paying attention to the protection of women’s rights and interests and applying the principle of fault;third,increasing the use of mediation and reconciliation system to Third,the use of mediation and conciliation should be increased to reduce the waste of judicial resources. |
