Study On The Procedure For Determining The Civil Capacity Of Natural Person

Capacity determination in civil actions refers to a special procedure whereby a subject with the right to initiate proceedings applies to the court to determine that an adult who has lost or limited legal capacity due to certain reasons or facts is a person without or with limited civil capacity.The purpose of initiating this procedure is to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of individuals lacking legal capacity,but inevitably results in restrictions on their independent will.Therefore,it is necessary to prudently determine the legal capacity of the respondent through a rigorous procedure,in order to avoid damage to their legitimate rights and interests due to procedural loopholes.However,due to insufficient recognition of the value of this system in existing legislation in China,the important safeguard function of this procedure in the system of adult guardianship has not been properly grasped.As a result,China’s regulations on civil capacity determination procedures have only been principled,and there are loopholes in specific regulations regarding the applicant,agent,court jurisdiction,appraisal system,guardianship,and other aspects.Ultimately,some organizations and individuals have taken advantage of procedural loopholes to arbitrarily deprive others of their legal capacity,leading to extreme phenomena such as being mentally ill,seriously infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of those who have been mentally ill,and greatly deviating from the purpose of China’s natural person capacity declaration system.In light of these deficiencies and loopholes in the civil capacity determination procedure,it is necessary to explore the nature of this non-litigation procedure,rely on the judge’s power to discover,strictly follow the principle of maximizing the interests of the respondent,and refine and improve the operational procedures for each stage of the procedure,including initiating,reviewing,and providing relief.The scope of the applicant should be moderately expanded,the appraisal system should be fully utilized to explore the residual mental capacity of the respondent and respect their autonomy,and the designated guardianship should be an essential stage of the procedure.In addition,the agent system should be improved,and post-judgment assistance should be provided to the respondent to realize their right to relief.