Abstract：In the codification era, emphasis on rationalization and formal logic of law marked the transformation from rule by man to rule by law in a country’s judicial system.The Civil Code of the People’s Republic of Chinahas established a legislative model with the integration of civil and commercial law, yet more problems are exposed due to the deficiency of commercial law norms in the codification context. Compared with the explicit legal norms, it is more accepted that commercial trial thinking exists as the concept of commercial law, making it difficult to be fully implemented in judicial practice. Currently in China, it is infeasible to enact theGeneral Principles of Commercial Law and Commercial Codeat the legislative level in the short term. Therefore, how to highlight the distinctiveness of commercial law in commercial trial is particularly essential. However, in current researches on its distinctiveness, commercial law scholars still centered on theoretical studies. And the commercial trial thinking remains fragmented, with a huge gap with the systematic and structured thinking in the codification context, which severely constrains the thinking function in commercial trial.In the era of codification, researches on commercial trial thinking should transfer its emphasis from theory to norm and then to application, progressively achieving its systematic construction. It is imperative to highlight the distinct feature of commercial law regulation while actively refining judicial channels. Specifically, the content of commercial trial thinking should be grasped from three dimensions of “the distinctiveness of commercial relations, the standardization of commercial law concepts, and the refinement of judicial channels”. First, the distinctiveness of commercial relation should be clarified from the perspective of legal basis, proactively incorporating commercial elements and characteristics such as the profit-making nature of commercial entities, the high risk of commercial activities, and the benefit basis of commercial society. Current related studies are relatively sufficient but not systematic, so it is necessary to fully elaborate the distinctiveness of commercial relations from all aspects. Second, the concept of commercial law in the normative sense should be reinforced, so as to highlight its diverse regulatory concepts compared with civil law, including the concept of enhanced commercial liability and the concept of commercial externalism. Moreover, theories of commercial law will be driven to develop into commercial norms, thereby gradually realizing the transformation from commercial logic to legal norms. Compared with the abstract value or profit purpose of commercial law such as efficiency and security, the concepts of commercial law with stronger normative nature is more operable in commercial trial. Third, the traditional civil law adjudication methods and regulatory logic should be revised in judicial channels. In commercial trials, it must be fully acknowledged that commercial rights and interests are complex and uncertain, along with the weakening legal relations. The commercial autonomy spirit with greater respect must be entirely implemented in the balance between autonomy and regulation, to further expand the application of commercial features and concepts in practice. Since the values, principles and concepts of commercial law, at their cores, are the legal theory or even a kind of academic theory, emphasis should be placed on solving the problems of judicial channels in future study on commercial trial thinking. It is crucial but scarcely investigated in current studies on commercial law. Only with these efforts can the commercial trial thinking play a more substantial role in the era of codification, effectively making up for the severe deficiency and lag of commercial legislation, and laying the groundwork for the enactment of China’s General Principles of Commercial Law or even Commercial Codein the future.
李亚超. 法典化背景下商事审判思维的体系建构[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2025, 55(7): 33-44.
Li Yachao. System Construction of Commercial Trial Thinking in the Codification Context. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2025, 55(7): 33-44.
2025, Vol. 55 
