Consensus and Divergences of the Legal Definition of “CI-SHAN”

Abstract

This article analyzes the divergence on the legal definition of “ci-shan” (charity) and the orientation of The Charity Law of the People’s Republic of China ( CLPRC ), in the context of legislative process, in particular the stage led by the National People’s Congress since 2013. This article also discusses the achievements and the shortcomings in the discourse of CLPRC , which will have impact on the future charity legislation as the national strategy “rule of law” in full swing.This article indicates the two confusions in the basic orientation of CLPRC . First, CLPRC with the tendency toward organic law ignores the behavior law’s logic of the charity institution; Second, there is the understanding of the basic legal relationship in a reverse priority, charitable legal system carries strong inertia of public law and needs a revising process of “privatizing public law.” Consequently, some issues should be called for special attention, especially in the following three aspects: The first aspect is that the related administrative framework is not enough to support/promote this charitable ideal of philanthropy (da ci-shan); the second aspect is that this charity law does not touch upon the tax system, and it is uncertain that the new authority will be in agreement with the fundamental preference of this charity legislature in the future tax legislation; the third aspect is that the basic orientation of the charity law will continue to be discussed in the public sphere, and the organic and public law complex is still very strong in the field of charity and philanthropy in the future several years.