A Study of PRC’S New Marriage Law （2001）

[[abstract]]Marriage law, a major component of the civil code, governs legal matters concerning marriage in society. As China’s economy and society progress, great changes have taken place in the Chinese’s belief in and attitude towards marriage. Unseen problems have arisen in family and marriage. In an attempt to perfect its socialistic legal institution of marriage, amendments and additions were made to Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China, which was promulgated in 1980, at its 21st meeting by the PRC National People’s Congress Standing Committee on April 28 2001. The new law has been written to live up to expectations very different from those in 1950 and 1980. The first one in 1950 was passed to dismantle the traditional feudalistic marriage system. The amendment in 1980 was completed after the Cultural Revolution to reinstate the rule of law. Since China opened its door for economic development, extramarital affairs have seemed more rampant than ever. At the core of the family and marriage problems lies “underground lover” (dubbed Baoernai or Baoerye by the Chinese). Therefore, the new law was written in 2001 mainly to tackle legal matters arising from underground lover, including alimony and divorce awards, domestic violence, abuse, abandonment, divorce, child custody and access. The new law redefines and distinguishes extramarital affair, bigamy, and unlawful cohabitation, and states distinct legal procedures accordingly. Divorce award is even hailed as a breakthrough in marriage law. Traditionally, the Chinese lacked the understanding of marital torts. Neither the wrongdoer nor the victim realizes the legal consequence of the wrongdoing. Domestic violence knows no boundary, even in China. It was identified as a social problem that the government recognized the need to solve by passing a law. In recent years, marital violence has been on the rise around the world for various reasons, including social, personal, legal and cultural. The author’s views are expressed in this study on monogamy, bigamy, domestic violence, divorce awards, void marriage, and voidable marriage. The legal systems on either side both assure their citizens the right to marriage, gender equity and monogamy. However, they are different in forms of marriage, legal age for marriage, disqualifying diseases for marriage and definition of consanguineous marriage, void marriage and voidable marriage. The legal systems on either side also differ in nature of divorce, legal institution, adoption of French terminology, divorce procedures, divorce awards, governing authorities, division of joint possessions, child custody and access, and resumption of marriage.