Interpretation and perfection of the jurisdiction of personal insurance contract disputes
Humanistic interpretation in the judicial system
Dafeng Municipal Court Wu Hanguo Ji Junkun
Keywords: Jurisdiction-oriented ideology Insurance object (object) The domicile of the insured, the domicile of the insured and the domicile of the beneficiary
Abstract: Taking the insured as the object of insurance contract is a preliminary interpretation of humanistic thought in judicial system. Taking the domicile of the insured and the beneficiary as the selection factor to consider the jurisdiction of the insurance contract is an advanced sublimation of humanistic thought.
1. Jurisdiction differences of personal insurance contract disputes
With regard to the jurisdiction of disputes over personal insurance contracts, Article 26 of the Civil Procedure Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates that a lawsuit arising from disputes over insurance contracts shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court where the defendant has his domicile or where the subject matter of insurance is located. ? However, Article 12 of the new Insurance Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates that personal insurance is insurance with human life or body as the insurance subject. ? When there is a dispute between the beneficiary of life insurance and the insurance company, they will generally bring a lawsuit to the grassroots people's court where the insured lives according to the Insurance Law, while the insurance company will defend on the grounds that the person is not the subject matter of the insurance contract, and think that the plaintiff should apply the principle of general jurisdiction to the case, and the jurisdiction of the case should belong to the grassroots people's court where the defendant lives. In judicial practice, whether the subject matter of the life insurance contract includes a person and whether the people's court supports the jurisdiction objection of the insurance company is controversial.
One view is that the subject matter of a life insurance contract should include people. This view holds that the defendant's objection to jurisdiction is unreasonable, because the subject matter of life insurance contract is human life and health, and the subject matter of life and health is human itself, so the subject matter of such insurance contract is of course the insured, and the grassroots people's court at the insured's domicile in the dispute over life insurance contract has jurisdiction over this case, and the jurisdiction objection of the insurance company should be rejected.
Another view is that life insurance contracts have no subject matter. This view holds that in life insurance contracts, the general principle of jurisdiction should be applied to the jurisdiction of disputes, with health and life as the object of insurance contracts, but the body of the insured is not insurance 1.
The subject matter, so the personal insurance contract disputes can only be under the jurisdiction of the basic people's court where the defendant lives.
2. Reasons for disputes over the jurisdiction of life insurance contract disputes
The main reasons for the dispute over the jurisdiction of life insurance contract disputes are as follows: First, the legal provisions themselves are not clear, and there are different interpretations of the provisions. The procedural law stipulates that the litigation of insurance contract disputes shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court where the defendant has his domicile and the subject matter of the insurance contract is located, while the insurance law stipulates that the subject matter of the insurance contract refers to the property as the subject matter of insurance and its related interests or human life and body. The two articles are not connected, let alone explain what is the subject matter and what is the subject matter. Some people think that people's life and body are not the subject matter of the insurance contract, while others think that the subject matter of insurance is the subject matter of insurance. There is no difference between them. The second is the conflict caused by the different interests of the parties. As defendants, insurance companies often consider their own interests and hope that the case can be under the jurisdiction of the court where the insurance company is domiciled. The beneficiary of a life insurance contract is often the insured, the applicant or a third person closely related to the insured. Considering the litigation cost, geographical location and human harmony, it is also hoped that the case will be under the jurisdiction of the court where the insured lives.
Jurisdiction analysis of personal insurance contract disputes
? The benevolent loves others, the people are precious, the monarch is light, and the country is second? This is the essence of China's traditional ideology and culture, the core and main content of humanism, and the basic idea that the jurisdiction system needs to uphold. Benevolent people love others, that is, the construction and implementation of the legal system need people-oriented and persistence? People? It is the original intention and ownership of system interpretation, construction and execution. It means that the legal system should protect the legitimate interests of all sentient beings, especially the vulnerable groups, which is the essence of fairness and justice. The purpose of the jurisdiction system stipulated by law is to ensure the orderly, balanced and efficient litigation, so the most fundamental principle of determining the court with jurisdiction over a case should be to maximize the purpose of litigation, thus safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the parties and realizing the rule of law in the country. To sum up, the establishment of case jurisdiction,
Lawmakers should consider the following values: first, it is convenient for the parties to participate in litigation, and the determination of jurisdiction should be convenient for the plaintiff and the defendant to participate in litigation activities, which involves multiple factors such as space, time, economy and law; Second, it is necessary to facilitate the courts to exercise judicial power fairly and effectively, and the grassroots people's courts have jurisdiction over cases of first instance and try them on the spot nearby, so as to facilitate the people's courts to find out the facts; Third, the burden of the court must be balanced. The determination of jurisdiction should take into account the reasonable division of litigation burden between different places and courts at all levels, and should not allow a certain place or a certain level of courts to operate overload. To sum up, the essence of value is that the establishment of judicial power must conform to the humanistic thought: people-oriented, fairness and justice.
The above factors must be reflected by the defendant's domicile, the place where the contract was performed, the place where the contract was signed, the plaintiff's domicile, the location of the subject matter and other factors related to the case. In order to realize the above value, the establishment of jurisdiction should be realized by factors related to the case. If the factors related to the case are not enough to realize the above value, legislators or judges should consider appropriately perfecting and expanding the factors related to the case when establishing jurisdiction.
Based on the above considerations, the author thinks that the grass-roots people's courts that can exercise jurisdiction over personal insurance contract disputes should cover the defendant's domicile and the insured's domicile, and the specific reasons include the following:
First, from the legislative intent, is the person an insurance contract? Theme? .
The procedural law stipulates that disputes over insurance contracts shall be under the jurisdiction of the court where the defendant has his domicile and the subject matter of the insurance contract is located. The insurance law stipulates that the subject matter of an insurance contract refers to the property as the subject matter of insurance and its related interests or human life and body. ? Target? Contrast? Theme? Generally speaking, it is an abstract concept, abstract? Target? This concept covers life span and people, so it is more specific? Theme? The concept should cover the person, so from the legislative intent, the subject matter of the insurance contract should include the person, and the grass-roots court of the insured's domicile has jurisdiction over the dispute over the life insurance contract.
Second, the subject matter of insurance is a whole concept in the civil procedure law.
The civil procedure law defines the subject matter of insurance as an inseparable clause: life insurance contract? Target? It is a person's right to life and health, and its subject is a person with materialistic characteristics. Article 12 of the Insurance Law stipulates that personal insurance is insurance with human life or body as the subject matter of insurance. ? The purpose of this clause is to explain what life insurance is,
Instead of excluding life insurance from the jurisdiction of the people's court where the subject matter is located. Furthermore, denying the jurisdiction in the procedure by the content of the insurance concept in the substantive law is to deny the jurisdiction in the procedure. Target? And then what? Things? The act of artificial separation.
Three, the establishment of the sole jurisdiction of the defendant's domicile court faces two dilemmas.
If the defendant's domicile is determined as the sole jurisdiction for disputes over life insurance contracts, it will inevitably lead to passivity in the court's trial work, resulting in the following consequences: First, the grass-roots courts in the defendant's domicile cannot hear a large number of disputes over life insurance contracts. According to incomplete statistics, Dafeng City tried 500 personal insurance contract disputes on 20 10 * *, and Yancheng City is expected to accept 5000 personal insurance contract disputes on 20 10. If disputes over life insurance contracts can only be under the jurisdiction of the basic people's court where the defendant lives, then the most direct consequence is that a large number of life insurance contracts will flood into the provincial, provincial or capital basic people's courts. Second, the personal insurance contract disputes tried and concluded by the basic people's court of the insured's domicile will inevitably face an embarrassing situation: the substantive judgment has no legal basis. Jurisdiction system is one of the most important systems in civil litigation system. Only when the court has legal or agreed jurisdiction over the case can it be tried according to law, otherwise the court has no right to make substantive judgments. How to deal with the previous effective judgment will be a very difficult problem. No matter how to deal with it, it will have a far-reaching negative impact on judicial justice and judicial image.
Fourth, protect vulnerable groups and maintain the credibility of the insurance industry.
From the standard contract concluded by the insurance company, the way of promoting insurance, the degree of clear explanation of special terms, the cumbersome claims procedure, and the negative attitude towards claims, both the insured (beneficiary) and the insured are in a weak position. Especially, after some beneficiaries (insured) and policyholders of personal insurance contract disputes have insurance accidents, their family material conditions have deteriorated, and the right to appeal to the defendant's domicile after the claim fails is undoubtedly a kind of hardship and deprivation, and it is also a question of the credibility of the insurance industry and a disappointment to social justice and fairness. It is unfair for the disadvantaged groups who have paid the premium but cannot claim compensation to centralize all disputes over life insurance contracts under the jurisdiction of the court where the defendant lives. This also violates the concept of people-oriented, justice for the people and protection of vulnerable groups.
Five, the requirements of the theme of judicial justice and efficiency.
For life insurance contract disputes, we pursue both substantive justice and procedural justice. Fairness and justice require that the domicile of the insured and the domicile of the defendant insurer are both optional jurisdictions, because the litigation rights of both parties are equal, and the court of the insured's domicile often has more advantages in the occurrence and identification of insurance accidents; Efficiency also needs the jurisdiction of the court of the insured's domicile, because life insurance is often signed in the insured's domicile, and insurance companies generally set up branches in the insured's domicile, and set up departments and staff to handle legal affairs accordingly. Therefore, considering the fact-finding and the material basis for both parties to appear in court, covering the jurisdiction of the court where the insured is domiciled will help improve judicial efficiency. In this way, the organic unity of judicial justice and litigation efficiency is realized.
Suggestions on amending the jurisdiction system of insurance contract disputes
The jurisdiction dispute of life insurance contract disputes inevitably brings confusion to judicial practice, which makes the trial of life insurance contract disputes always in an uncertain state of jurisdiction. In order to solve this dispute once and for all, improve the jurisdiction system and lay a solid foundation for realizing social fairness and justice, the author suggests that on the basis of the existing jurisdiction system, the jurisdiction system of life insurance contract disputes should be further improved and judicial interpretation of life insurance contract disputes should be issued. The specific suggestions are as follows: A lawsuit arising from an insurance contract dispute shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court where the defendant's domicile, the subject matter of insurance or the insured's domicile are located. The parties may agree to be under the jurisdiction of the people's court where the applicant and the beneficiary reside, except as otherwise provided by laws and judicial interpretations or as otherwise agreed by the parties to the insurance contract in accordance with Article 25 of the Civil Procedure Law. ?
The main reason why the people's court of the domicile of the applicant and the beneficiary is the jurisdiction court of personal insurance contract disputes is the same as that of the insured. However, considering the principle of equal protection of the litigation rights of both parties, the author suggests that the court of the domicile of the applicant and the beneficiary be the jurisdiction court that can be negotiated by both parties, which not only protects the interests of the vulnerable groups to a certain extent, but also takes care of the insurer's litigation rights, achieving the best combination of regulation and effect.
As the first lifeline on the road of judicial justice, the jurisdiction of life insurance contract disputes is more significant. China is a unitary country, and the jurisdiction system should
Help to promote the unification of the legal system and the application of the law. The jurisdiction system should also strive to promote judicial justice, safeguard the procedural interests of vulnerable groups, provide fair judgments for the parties, and properly balance the workload of courts at all levels.
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