The Need for Certainty and Written Form in Land Sale Contracts in China: A Legal Reform Recommendation

Authors

• Wei Wen, Univ. of New South Wales

Abstract

Despite the significance of land sale contracts, China's Contract Law (the supreme authority in contractual matters) fails to articulate whether written form is mandatory for land sale contracts as a prerequisite for contractual remedies. The result of this ambiguity is that urban and rural courts across China have delivered contradictory judgments on this matter, and Chinese claimants do not have clear rules or authorities to follow. This imposes unfairness on those claimants. This article examines and analyzes the uncertainty and its causes, reaching a conclusion that the solution to addressing the nationwide uncertainty is a legal reform-Contract Law should articulate that writing is mandatory for land sale contracts. The reform would have political, economic, social and legal significance, and would help advance China's supreme power's agenda. The reform is timely because China's supreme legislature is reviewing the future uniform civil code that could include this reform recommendation.

Disciplines

Common Law | Comparative and Foreign Law | Contracts | International Law | Jurisprudence | Law

Recommended Citation

Wei Wen, The Need for Certainty and Written Form in Land Sale Contracts in China: A Legal Reform Recommendation, 3 Cardozo Int’l & Compar. L. Rev. 383 (2020).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/ciclr/vol3/iss2/4