A Study On The Judgment Of "Legitimate Interest" In The Third-Party Substitute Performance System

Article of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China(hereinafter referred to as"the Civil Code")provides for the system of substituted performance by a third-party,clarifying that a third party with a "legitimate interest" has the right to perform a debt on behalf of the third party,which is a new regulation of the Contracts Section and provides a legitimate basis for the protection of This system is a new provision in the Contracts Act and provides a legitimate basis for the protection of the interests of third parties.However,the lack of criteria for determining "legitimate interest" has led to controversy in academic circles and confusion in judicial practice.Subsequently,on 4 November 2022,the Supreme People’s Court formulated the Interpretation on the Application of the General Provisions Part of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China>Contracts(Draft for Comments)(hereinafter referred to as the "Draft for Comments"),article 31 of which provides an enumeration of third parties with "legitimate interests "Although it can be regarded as an expansive interpretation of the scope of third parties stipulated in Article 524 of the Civil Code,due to changes in social conditions,it is inevitable that the problem of not being able to exhaust all cases is faced.Therefore,it is still necessary to continuously improve the rules for the recognition of "legitimate interest".In the determination of "legitimate interest",the stability of the principle of the relativity of debts should be taken into account and,in order to avoid over-protection of third parties,the concept of "legitimate interest"should be narrowly interpreted,i.e.the third party should have a legal and material interest in the performance of the debt.The concept of "legal interest" should be interpreted narrowly to mean that the third party has a legal and material interest in the performance of the debt.In determining whether a third party has a "legitimate interest",the scope of the third party,the importance of the interest and the objective aspect of the determination are to be taken into account.In order to determine whether a third party has a "legitimate interest" in a more efficient and convenient way,a typology can be used.By sorting through judicial practice and by referring to the provisions of Article 31 of the draft opinion,three typical forms of third parties with "legitimate interests" have been summarised,including third parties with interests in property or claims,relatives with dependency relationships,and third-party companies with related relationships.In the specific determination,a comprehensive analysis should be made and whether the third party in the form in question is entitled to perform the debt on behalf of the third party should be carefully weighed.