Research On The Legal Protection Of The Rights And Interests Of Small Farmers In Cooperatives

Farmers’ professional cooperatives shoulder the function of improving the degree of organization of small farmers,driving their cooperative operations,and increasing their income.Since the implementation and revision of the "Law on Farmers’ Professional Cooperatives" in our country,farmers’ professional cooperatives have made great progress in our country and made important contributions to the development of rural agriculture.Research on the legal protection of the rights and interests of smallholder farmers is not only conducive to ensuring that smallholder members participate in the democratic governance of cooperatives and benefit from the development of cooperatives,but also helps to standardize the operation of cooperatives,and effectively play the role of helping farmers and helping farmers to change the weak position of smallholders in the market.The Law on Farmers’ Professional Cooperatives stipulates a series of systems to protect the rights and interests of members of small farmers,including limiting the membership of cooperatives,stipulating that members of cooperatives are equal in status and implementing democratic management,adhering to the principles of return of patronage and limited capital remuneration,and guaranteeing the freedom of voluntary membership and withdrawal from cooperatives,etc.However,in practice,the protection of the rights and interests of small farmers is still facing difficulties.It is difficult for small farmers to truly participate in the democratic governance of farmers’ professional cooperatives and to obtain economic benefits fairly.Difficulty in participating in the democratic governance of cooperatives manifests itself in the fact that members of small farmers are excluded from management such as the board of directors,and the status of the general meeting of members,which is the main channel for them to participate in cooperative governance,is virtualized.Difficulty in obtaining economic benefits fairly is mainly reflected in the inability to obtain secondary rebates and the lack of legal guarantees for guaranteed bottom-line income from farmland investment.This dilemma is caused by a combination of reasons.The first is that the legislation of the rights and interests of small farmers’ members is out of standard,which is manifested by the imperfect membership system,failure of the supervision mechanism,and unclear rights relief;the second is the protection system of the common interests of small farmers’ members caused by the imperfect governance structure and the lack of willingness of small farmers to exercise their rights The third is the inappropriateness of the protection rules for the selfinterest rights of members of small farmers,which is reflected in two aspects:the excessively extensive surplus distribution rules and the lack of responsibility for distribution violations.By referring to the legislation of cooperatives in the United States and Germany,as well as the legislation of other commercial organizations in China,and combining the national conditions of our country and the characteristics of members of small farmers,this paper puts forward the following three suggestions for improving the legal protection system for the rights and interests of members of small farmers:First,improve the basic legal norms for the protection of members’ rights and interests,including improving the membership system of cooperatives,establishing a mandatory external audit system,and clarifying the judicial relief path for the rights and interests of small farmers;second,improving the governance structure to protect the common interests of small farmers,including optimizing the member assembly system,restricting the authority of the board of directors,and giving full play to the functions of the board of supervisors;Third,refine the distribution norms to protect the self-interest rights of small farmers,including the establishment of a compensation and reward system for management personnel,clarifying the legal status of the guaranteed minimum income of farmland shares,and clarifying the responsibility for illegal distribution.