Legal Theory Of Third Party Protection In Motor Vehicle Transactions

By the end of 2020,China had 372 million motor vehicles,according to the Traffic Management Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security.With the rapid growth of the number of motor vehicles,the motor vehicle trading market is increasingly active.The healthy development of the motor vehicle market undoubtedly requires clear and unambiguous legal rules.However,it is regrettable that the rules of ownership transfer of motor vehicles and the rules of third-party protection in transactions have been controversial in China.Article 225 of the Civil Code,which continues Article 24 of the Property Law,only stipulates the effect of confrontation in the registration of special movable property such as motor vehicles,but does not clearly state when the transfer of ownership becomes effective.In this regard,the academic and practical circles have produced a big difference,and there are mainly two views: "delivery theory" and "consensual theory".This paper advocates "delivery theory",and there are three main reasons: Firstly,the "delivery theory" system has stronger explanatory power,and it is in line with the legislative purpose;Secondly,the "delivery theory" conforms to the principle of formalism in the transfer of property rights in China.Thirdly,"delivery theory" is in line with transaction practice,and has been generally accepted by judicial practice.Therefore,a systematic interpretation should be made in combination with Article 224 and Article 225 of the Civil Code: the transfer of ownership of a motor vehicle shall be effective upon delivery,but without registration,it shall not be against a bona fide third party.Article 311 of the Civil Code continues Article 106 of the Property Law,which unifies the rule of good faith acquisition of movable and immovable property.There is a view that the bona fide acquisition rules are not applicable to special movable properties such as motor vehicles that use registration as a means of publicity.This paper holds that under the premise of unauthorized disposition,it is necessary and possible for the motor vehicle to apply the rule of bona fide acquisition.There are four main reasons: Firstly,the appearance of rights consistent with the possession and registration of the transferor can be used as the basis of reasonable trust for the counterparty of the transaction;Secondly,the registration antagonism rule is limited to providing negative trust protection for bona fide third parties,which has limitations on the protection of transaction security,while the bona fide acquisition rule is more comprehensive in the protection of transaction security;Thirdly,according to the meaning of Article 311,Paragraph 1,Item 3 of the Civil Code,it does not exclude motor vehicles and other special movable property.Fourthly,the application of the rule of bona fide acquisition of the real right of special movable property has been widely adopted in China’s judicial practice.Conformity of possession and registration by the assignor may be the appearance of a right reasonably trusted by the assignee.The good faith of the assignee is that "the assignee does not know that the assignee has no right to division and has no gross negligence".Unless the true owner can prove that the assignee is not good faith,the assignee should be presumed to be good faith."Transfer at a reasonable price" does not require the actual payment of the price,as long as the price agreed in the contract is reasonable.The bona fide acquisition of motor vehicle ownership is based on the completion of transfer registration.Article 225 of the Civil Code stipulates the rules of registration confrontation of special movable property such as motor vehicles.The interpretation of this rule has become a theoretical problem.Through the investigation of the theory of registration antagonism in France and Japan,we can find that: France adopts the concept of broad property,but does not clearly distinguish real right from creditor’s right,and its rules of registration confrontation are consistent with the real right change mode of meaning doctrine,so there is no theoretical dispute;however,while adhering to the dichotomy principle of property and debt,Japan inherited the mode of "meaning doctrine + registration confrontation" in French law,which caused a great controversy in the theoretical structure of registration confrontation.The theory of "incomplete real right change theory" and "third party claim theory",which are the representative theories of the Japanese theory of registration confrontation,violate the absoluteness of real right and the principle of "one thing one right",so they should not be used to explain the theory of registration confrontation in China.The theory of "appearance of rights" is consistent with the civil law system of our country which divides property and debt,and it is reasonable in the distribution of interests.This paper proposes to construct the theory of registration antagonism in China by referring to the "appearance of rights theory",that is,to interpret the rules of registration antagonism with the legal theory of bona fide acquisition.In the double transfer of motor vehicles,the confrontation between the two assignees is not the issue of which is the priority under the coexistence of rights,but the issue of the acquisition and loss of rights.The transferor transfers the motor vehicle to the first transferee by means of possession reformulation,but fails to register the transfer;the transferor then transfers the motor vehicle to the second transferee shall constitute an unauthorized disposition,on the basis of reasonable reliance on the appearance of the right consistent with the possession and registration of the transferor,the second transferee can obtain the ownership of the motor vehicle when it satisfies the requirements of bona fide acquisition.At the same time,the first assignee loses title and therefore cannot confront the second assignee.