The General Rules of Civil Law (Third Draft) (hereinafter referred to as “Third Draft”) has been submitted to the 5
th
Session of 12
th
NPC for review on March 13
th
. Today, we will review some important points about the General Rules of Civil Law.
The General Rules of Civil Law constitute a very important part of the China Civil Code, it has been reviewed by the Standing Committee of NPC three times and has received public comments each time since its first appearance. In this post we will look at several legal changes in the Third Draft.
A.Limitation of Action.
The limitation of actions regarding applications to a court for protection of civil rights is two years according to the current effective General Principles of Civil Law. While in the Third Draft, it has been extended to three years. This means that in the future if someone owes your money, you have one more year to consider whether to sue her/him or wait for her/him to get your money back.
B. Civil Status of a Fetus
According to the currently effective General Principles of Civil Law, an individual shall have the capacity for civil rights from birth to death and shall enjoy civil rights and assume civil obligations in accordance with the law. Only the currently effective Succession Law contains a provision regarding a fetus’ right to the decedent’s estate, specifically, at the time an estate is partitioned, a reservation shall be made for the share of any unborn child.
In the Third Draft expands on the protections which are provided for the rights of a fetus. In limited instances where a fetus becomes the subject of a protected legal interest, such as an inheritance and as the recipient of a gift, a fetus shall be deemed as having the capacity for civil action.
C. Special Legal Persons
This is a new content in the Third Draft. Official organs, rural collective economic organizations, cooperative economic organizations and grass-roots self-governing mass organizations, all terms of art for various official and social organizations under Chinese law, well have the status of “legal person” under the Third Draft, similar to that of a company. These entities will be allowed to conduct such civil actions as necessary for the performance of their core functions.
D. Individual with Limited Capacity.
A minor who has reached the age of six, rather than the age of ten, will be considered a person with limited capacity for civil conduct, and may independently perform civil juristic acts which are purely to benefit the minor or the performance of which is compatible with the age and intelligence of the minor. According to this, a 6 years old child is legally capable to independently buy a pencil for himself/herself in a convenience store according to this provision.
E. Virtual Property Will Be Protected by Law.
If your accounts for online games were stolen, you may ask for legal protection according to the Third Draft. Data and network virtual property has been included in the protection of civil law according to the Third Draft.
F. Protection on Personal Information
Anyone who has spent some time in China has received spam phone calls from strangers with offers such as “Mr. Xi, do you want to sell your house located in ……?” or “Ms. Liu, have you ever considered to buy insurance for your child?” Callers have your name, number and often other personal information.
In the Third Draft, provisions for the personal information protection have been included. The personal information of a natural person shall be protected by the law. No organization or individual may illegally collect, use, process or transmit personal information, or illegally buy or sell, provide or make public personal information. According to this provision, if you are required to provided your cell phone number and ID number when you register an account in a website, such website is obligated to protect your personal information.
G. Liability Exemption for those Who Provide Emergency Assistance
The Third Draft encourages people to help others for a just cause. A person who causes harm to any recipient in providing emergency assistance shall not bear civil liability, unless such harm arises from gross negligence. It is hoped that this provision will encourage bystanders to intervene more often when they witness and accident, rather than avoid the situation in fear of be tagged with unwanted liabilities.