Research On The Judicial Application Of Socialist Core Values

Socialist core values,as the central embodiment of the Chinese spirit,are the soul of the socialist concept of the rule of law with Chinese characteristics and a strategic need to promote the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity.Under the proposal of the Supreme People’s Court’s Guiding Opinions on the Deep Promotion of the Integration of Socialist Core Values into the Interpretation of Judicial Documents,people’s courts at all levels nationwide have actively carried out judicial practice of applying socialist core values in the adjudication process,and the number of relevant adjudication documents has shown signs of explosive growth.However,behind this growth lurks the problem of partial misapplication,which needs urgent improvement.In addition,originating from the moral qualities of socialist core values,special attention to the delicate relationship between law and morality is needed in judicial adjudication,which should not turn into a mechanical justice that is only legalistic but not emotional,but also avoid the extreme of moral generalization.In this background,it is timely to study the application of socialist core values in judicial decisions.Before considering the specific issue of the application of socialist core values in judicial practice,it is necessary to clear the theoretical obstacles to their application.A prerequisite and fundamental matter is whether the application of moral principles promoted by the state,such as socialist core values,in judicial practice is justified.The judicial application of socialist core values cannot simply be seen as the import of moral philosophical concepts at the jurisprudential level,but should also consider the role of political institutions and political governance.In other words,it is not only a jurisprudential issue,but also related to political theory.In considering this issue,it is essential to avoid the tendency of over-politicization,but also impossible to ignore the political overtones contained in it.Therefore a political philosophy perspective is needed to elaborate on this issue.In the 1980 s,a political philosophy called communitarianism was formed in the course of criticizing the neoliberal school of thought that dominated the academy at that period.In the development of their theoretical system,the communitarians developed a unique view of communitarianism and right,and based on this,they tried to revise the principle of state neutrality,arguing that it is inevitable that the law reflects moral concepts,and that the country should affirm and have the obligation to guide a good view of life.By placing communitarian legal and moral thought in the context of China,we can find that it has certain commonalities with Marxist jurisprudence and traditional Confucianism,and can provide certain convenience for the construction of the rule of law in China.On the basis of finding the connection between communitarian legal and moral thought and Marxist jurisprudence,useful references can be gained from them for the administration of justice in China,and the legitimacy of applying moral concepts such as socialist core values to the administration of justice can be further explored.Taking judicial adjudication documents as effective research materials to carry out empirical research,we investigate the specific patterns of application of socialist core values in judicial practice based on quantitative analysis of large and small data as well as qualitative analysis of individual cases,and analyze the functions played by socialist core values in judicial adjudication from the positive direction to the typology,and from the negative direction to the application of socialist core values in judicial adjudication.The reasons for the misconduct are discussed.In view of the causes of the misconduct,several possible improvement paths are proposed.First,establishing the principles to be followed in the application of socialist core values and providing spiritual guidance for the judicial application of socialist core values.On the second,we promote the further incorporation of socialist core values into laws and regulations,and promote the realization of better judicial governance with a complete and reasonable legal normative system.Third,to clarify the positioning of multiple legal sources of socialist core values and provide the basis for judicial decisions.Fourth,to standardize the method of legal interpretation for the application of socialist core values,and to coordinate and properly deal with the relationship between legal provisions and socialist core values.Fifth,to strengthen the judicial guarantee for the application of socialist core values and to improve the institutional arrangement for the judicial application of socialist core values.