A Judicial Case Study on Inheriting Membership Shares in Rural Collective Economic Organizations - An Empirical Analysis of 132 Judgment Documents

Abstract

The government Decision on Several Major Issues Concerning Comprehensive Deepening of Reform stated that the shares of collective assets should have the right of inheritance, thus bringing the issue of inheritance of shares in rural collective economic organizations into public view. In 2016, the government issued the Opinion on Steadily Advancing the Reform of the Collective Property Rights System in Rural Areas, which encouraged localities to carry out practical exploration of inheritance of shares in rural collective economic organizations. Since then, numerous practical cases concerning inheritance of shares in rural collective economic organizations have emerged across the country, but because of the delay in legislation, different standards have been applied in handling related issues in different places, resulting in a large number of "same case but different judgments." Through a comparative study of rural collective economic organization theory and the collection of 132 civil judgments involving inheritance of shares in rural collective economic organizations from various places for empirical research, it was found that the scope of heirs was unclear, the proportion of non-collective members who could inherit was unclear, and the procedures for inheritance were unclear. Therefore, this study aims to provide judicial application suggestions for clarifying the scope of heirs, clarifying the proportion of non-collective members who could inherit, and clarifying the procedures for inheritance, in order to provide some reference for future judicial practice.