[News from the News Center] From March 11-13, YSU invited 6 experts, including, Prof. YoshikiKurumisawa and Associate Prof. WenYuanchun from Faculty of Law, Waseda University, Prof. Chen Xiaojun, Prof. Gao Fei and Prof. GengZhuo from Institute of Land Legal System, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, and Dr. Shang Yandong from College of Humanities and Law, North China University of Science and Technology to held lectures on the present and future of the legal system of farmland in China and Japan and exchanged ideas with YSU teachers of law discipline.
Gao Fei gives his lecture. (Photographed by Li Jufeng, School of Humanities and Law)
On the morning of March 12, GaoFei, winner of the national 100 excellent doctoral thesis, gave a lecture entitled “study on the special legal person system of collective economic organizations”. He proposed that the study of rural collective economic organizations should be carried out under China’s Constitution and public ownership economic system; the nature and connotation of rural collective economic organizations should be analyzed based on the General Provisions of the Civil Law; it is precisely because the rural collective economic organization is unique in asset character, membership, social function, and member sharing that it is regarded as a special legal person; it is necessary to clarify the private nature of collective land ownership, enrich the ownership power, restore the income power, refine the disposition power, and reduce the scope of land requisition. After the speech, Gao Fei exchanged ideas on the core issues of the collective economic organizationwith the teachers and students present.
Chen Xiaojun gives her lecture. (Photographed by Shang Yandong, School of Humanities and Law)
On the same day, Chen Xiaojun, vice president of the China Civil Law Research Association, gave a speech on the topic of “the thoughts on the latest revision of China’sLand Management Law”. She said that the existing Land Management Law cannot meet the needs of reform and development, and the revision of the Land Management Law is urgently needed; it is the task of civil law scholars to initiatethe discussion on the revisionof the Land Management Law and leave a reasonable “institutional interface” in the connection with private law; we should implementthe constitutional principle of equallyprotectingthe property rights, concern the specific interests of the private rights subject, and care for the right to use the homestead at the same time; we should properly handle the relationships between the natural resource attributes and asset characters of the land, between private rights and public power, between administrative control and market regulation, and between the primary and secondary functions of the land. Prof. Chen also specifically proposed the recent and future researchedin land management law should be systematic studies of the overall system. After the speech, Chen Xiaojun exchanged views with the teachers and students on the issue of “exit mechanismof homestead”.
YoshikiKurumisawa (right) gives his lecture. (Photographed by LunHaibo, School of Humanities and Law)
On the evening of March 13, Prof. YoshikiKurumisawa, with the theme of “farmer’s rights and collective self-management of the farmland: the basic principles of farmland system in a sustainable society”, introduced the history and thestatus quoof Japanese farmland law from the perspective of sociology of lawin detail. Associate Prof. Wen Yuanchun served as the translator at the lecture. Prof.YoshikiKurumisawa started with the question “Why can’t farmland be freely traded?”, and examined the formation and development of Japanese farmland system from a historical perspective, including the introduction of private ownership, the establishment of landlord system, post-war farmland reform and post-war farmland law, the implementation of the farmland mobility policy through the farmland lawrevision. Then hediscussed the main issues of the evaluation and construction of farmland systemfrom the dual perspectives of farmer’s rights and self-managementof the farmland, to achieve the great goal of sustainable development. After the speech, Prof.YoshikiKurumisawa gave detailed answers to the questions raised by the students about “the distinction between land as a family property and asset property”, “the relationship between legal dogmatics and legal sociology” and “subjectivity and objectivity of legal interpretation”.
The symposium (Photographed by Li Jufeng, School of Humanities and Law)
On the afternoon of March 12, the symposium on “practical subjects on the legal system of farmland in China and Japan” was held in the Humanities Building. YoshikiKurumisawa, Chen Xiaojun, Wen Yuanchun, GaoFei, GengZhuo, Shang Yandong, and YSU teachers and some students in the law department attended the symposium. At the symposium, in-depth discussions were conducted about land transfer, ownership certification, homestead allocation, village committee’s functions in land management, collective membership, land consolidation, land allocation, village-land relationship, the content of Japan’s Farmland Law and the reform of the Japanese farmland system.
These activities is also part of the “studies on the enlightenment of the Japanese farmland system to China’s farmland reform”, aHumanities and Social Sciences Fund Project of the Ministry of Education led by Dr. Lun Haibo. These lectures and exchanges deepened the understanding of the farmland system in China and Japan, and helped to promote the communication and reference of the farmland system between China and Japan at diversified levels.
[Translated by Xing Tong]
