Study On The Application Of Residence Right System In Civil Code

As the basic living means of citizens,housing constitutes an important material basis necessary for protecting the right of individuals to live.Housing system reform is a livelihood issue that people pay close attention to.In recent years,there has been an increasingly prominent contradiction between single housing supply sources,unsmooth supply channels,and multi-level residential needs of consumers.Solving this problem can not only help maintain social stability and meet the basic living needs of citizens but facilitate the protection of citizens’ fundamental human rights.The right of habitation system is an important institutional path to solving the above problem.The Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China has,for the first time,established the right of habitation system in China’s civil legislation through six articles,Articles 366 to 371.Overall,the legal system on the right of habitation in the Civil Code inherits the traditional version that is centered on the attributes of personal servitude.Based on security functions in marriage and family,such as maintenance,upbringing,or support and through exceptional norms such as paid establishment and allowable renting,this system breaks through the restrictions of personal servitude to some degrees,further extends the property attribute of the right of habitation,and highlights the system’s multi-system functions that are based on the promotion of housing utilization.The legal system on the right of habitation,as established in the Civil Code,aims to implement the basic requirements proposed at the 19 th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,i.e.“We will move faster to put in place a housing system that ensures supply through multiple sources,provide housing support through multiple channels,and encourages both housing purchase and renting”.This system can help achieve the goal of “making us better placed to meet the housing needs of all our people”,satisfy and support the residential interests of disadvantaged groups.It is also an important legal system designed to implement the“people-oriented” development thought.Upon the implementation of the Civil Code,the focus of theoretical research on the legal system on the right of habitation should be shifted from the legislative research that is centered on the normative design of the right of habitation system during the compilation of the Civil Code to the application of norms in this legal system to better exploit diversified functions of the right of habitation system.Since the implementation of the Civil Code,many problems and disputes around the understanding of the rules of the legal system on the right of habitation and how to ensure the better implementation of the legal system on the right of habitation have arisen.To solve the problems concerning the right of habitation during its application and work out a theoretical plan that can bring diversified functions of the right of habitation system into full play,it is necessary to combine empirical research,normative analysis,comparative analysis,multidisciplinary research,and other analysis methods.The practical and theoretical problems that have arisen in the application of this legal system since the implementation of the Civil Code should be focused on.Research should be conducted by following the logic sequence below: probing into the causes for the dilemma for the application of the right of habitation system established in the Civil Code,clarifying the theoretical basis for the application of the right of habitation,formulating a private law norm interpretation plan applicable to this system,and establishing a complete path of the public law system that applies to the right of habitation system.Reviewing the establishment of the right of habitation system in China’s civil legislation can help demonstrate the long-standing disputes concerning this system.Besides,it can lay a solid foundation for accurately analyzing and understanding the juridical practice and theoretical research disputes arising since the implementation of the Civil Code.Various understandings on the functions and attributes of the right of habitation system always existed from the early of the drafting of the Property Right Law to the compilation of the Civil Code.The demonstration on the right of habitation did not come to an end with the promulgation of the Civil Code.On the one hand,there are many inconsistencies in the interpretation and application of the establishment terms,contractual terms and registration terms for the right of habitation in the judicial practice conducted after the effectiveness of the Civil Code.There is also an objective circumstance that “judgments differ for the same case.” On the other hand,many controversies around the functions of the right of habitation system,and the subject scope,object type,establishment rules and change rules regarding the right of habitation exist in the research on the interpretation and application of the Civil Code.The disputes and controversies aforementioned are mainly caused by the following three problems: first,uncertainty and limitations of understanding towards the functions of the right of habitation system;second,incomplete private law norm system for the right of habitation system specified in the Civil Code;third,imperfect public law support system applicable to such right of habitation system.The three problems aforementioned must be thoroughly solved to get rid of the dilemma for the application of this system.Among the three problems,the first one,i.e.the uncertainty and limitations of understanding is the fundamental reason for causing the dilemma for the application of the right of habitation system.As its direct consequences,it is impossible to form a unified and definite interpretation and application conclusion on the norm of the right of habitation system to make up for deficiencies of the norm system itself or to establish an appropriate and effective institutional system at the public law system level to support the practical application of the system.Thus,understanding the functions of the right of habitation system in the Civil Code properly and accurately is an “Archimedes fulcrum” for solving the dilemma against the application of the right of habitation system upon the implementation of the Civil Code.However,the understanding of the functions of this system is not a single existence in the basic legal principle framework of the right of habitation.On the one hand,understanding the fundamental standpoint and value system for the right of habitation system in the Civil Code is the necessary support for making clear the functions of the right of habitation system.On the other hand,the purpose of understanding the functions of the right of habitation system is to establish an analytical framework for the application of the right of habitation under the guidance of these functions to guide the interpretation of private law rules and the perfection of the public law system.Thus,it is necessary to clarify the basic legal principles for the right of habitation from the following four aspects.Firstly,it should be understood that the right of habitation system in the Civil Code is an important part for ensuring a diversified housing supply pattern,an important path for promoting the market-oriented allocation of land elements,and important support for transformation towards green,low-carbon development.Secondly,the value of the right of habitation is identified from four dimensions,namely order,justice,efficiency,and fairness at the level of the value system.Thirdly,both internal and external functions of the right of habitation system in the Civil Code should be comprehensively sorted out and understood under the guidance of the understanding basis and value system.The former covers the housing security function for housing occupiers and the freedom security for housing owners.The latter covers four aspects: ensuring a diversified housing supply pattern,promoting the market-oriented allocation of land elements,promoting the transformation towards green and low-carbon development,and stabilizing the social order.Finally,an analytical framework applicable to the right of habitation system that is composed of the following aspects should be established: the basic structure of the dual types of the right of habitation,the interpretation path for the collaborative interaction between property rights and claims,and the overall thinking on the interpretation of private law norms and the improvement of the public law system.Deficiencies in the norms of the right of habitation system established in the Civil Code should be made up for through the interpretation and application of related norms.There are certain disputes around the subject,object,establishment,content,and relief rules concerning the right of habitation in the existing research.The key to solving the above disputes lies in following the dual structure of the right of habitation and the collaborative interaction between property rights and claims.Firstly,in terms of subject rules,on the one hand,it should be clear that natural persons,legal persons,and unincorporated organizations can become the subjects of the right of habitation.On the other hand,the unavoidable residential interests of family members and essential life service providers should be identified when residential stakeholders are confirmed.And the residential interests of other persons should be satisfied in combination with the agreement of both parties on house renting and the specific type of right of habitation.Secondly,in terms of object rules,it should be clarified that houses on homesteads can become the object of the right of habitation,but the establishment of the right of habitation should be restricted by the legal norms on the use of collective land.It should also be made clear that various types of apartments capable of being registered by law can become the objects of the right of habitation.Besides,the part for a complete set of housing can become the object of the right of habitation if it can satisfy the needs for living,become a space that can be independently occupied and controlled,and can be registered.Thirdly,in terms of content and rules,the bisection method that relates to both legal relationships for property rights and claims should be followed.On the one hand,the content of the legal relationship for property rights should be clarified according to the statutory requirements for property rights.On the other hand,an open framework for the interpretation of content regarding the relationship for claims should be established based on the principle of exercise autonomy.Besides,restrictions on the transfer and inheritance of the right of habitation in the Civil Code in terms of property rights changes should be eased with the aid of the legal relationship of claims for the right of habitation.Fourthly,in terms of establishment method,rules for establishing the right of habitation that cover the establishment of contracts,wills and judgments should be determined respectively.Fifthly,in terms of relief means,a relief framework constructed by the dual claim basis and triple paths for the relief of the right of habitation should be formed,and corresponding relief rules should be clarified in combination with the main types of infringement of the right of habitation.Rather than an isolated usufructuary system,the right of habitation system exists in the overall legal system.In addition to private law norms included in the Civil Code,such as General,Contracts,Marriage and Family,and Property Rights,this system also requires the support and guarantee from the real estate registration management system,the household registration management system,and the social public security system.Many disputes over the right of habitation system that arise in practical and theoretical research are actually not about the internal issues in the normative system for civil laws but about those of external public law support system.So,the guiding role of both internal and external functions of the right of habitation system in the Civil Code should be brought into full play.With the further connection between the right of habitation system and the real estate registration management system,the household registration management system,and the social public security system as a perspective,the above systems and other public law support systems should be improved.Institutional guarantee at the public law level should be provided to eliminate the concerns from various market players about the right of habitation in terms of rights protection,settlement,and social security.The functions of the right of habitation system established in the Civil Code should be better played through the extensive application of the right of habitation system.