The Constitution of the Republic of China is the fifth and current constitution of the Republic of China (ROC), ratified by the Kuomintang during the Constituent National Assembly session on 25 December 1946, in Nanjing, and adopted on 25 December 1947. The constitution, along with its Additional Articles, remains effective in ROC-controlled territories.

This contribution provides the important and timely bilingual version of the Chinese Civil Code and the Supreme People’s Court’s Judicial Interpretation of the Temporal Effect of the Civil Code. Providing translations by a diverse group of esteemed legal scholars, on Contract Law, Tort Law, Marriage, Family and Succession Law, General and Personality Provisions and Property Law, this unique resource will be important for all those with an interest in Chinese Law.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, various attempts have been made by legal scholars to draft a Civil Code in China. However, only since the 1980s, when the ‘open-door’ policy was implemented, has Chinese Civil law become the basis for the development of a socialist market economy. Since the adoption of Chinese contract law (1999), property Law (2007) and tort Law (2009) in recent years, the basic construction of a socialist civil law system has been formulated. For the completion of a systematic civil law structure, a Civil Code has now been further advocated by society. The Draft Civil Code, prepared by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences headed by Liang Huixing, is the first Draft Civil Code since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. The English translation of this code aims to provide a source for western scholars to provide some knowledge on recent developments of Chinese civil law. Also available as a Paperback edition (978-90-04-17915-8).