Women and Justice: Keywords

Legislation

中华人民共和国民法典(第五编 婚姻家庭编) (The Civil Code, Book Five (Marriage and Family)) (2020)


Divorce and dissolution of marriage, Forced and early marriage, Trafficking in persons

Book Five (Marriage and Family) of the Civil Code consolidates previous private-law legislations on marriage, adoption, and families. It distinguishes between void and annullable marriages, with void marriages include bigamy, prohibited blood kinship, and underage marriages. While marriage resulting from human trafficking are not typically considered void, it can be annulled on the ground of coercion. An application to annul the marriage must be filed within one year from the termination of the coercive activity or regaining personal freedom. Additionally, the general five-year time limit for the right of revocation in Article 152 does not apply to marriages annulled due to coercion or unlawful curtailment of physical freedom. Regarding divorce, the Civil Code provides two distinct channels: divorce through contract for couples with agreements on divorce, assets, and children, and divorce through court proceedings (litigation) for those without such agreements. Courts must attempt to mediation in the later, granting divorce in specific circumstances, like bigamy, domestic violence, maltreatment, unbearable additive acts, or loss of “mutual affection.” Divorce through contract introduces a new 30-day “calm period,” where divorce can proceed only if the divorce credentials are collected from the Civil Affairs Department within another 30-day time window. Unilateral withdrawal of divorce applications is allowed within the “calm period.” This creates obstacles for those seeking immediate and irrevocable divorce through contract.

《中国人民共和国民法典》第五卷(婚姻和家庭)囊括了以前关于婚姻、收养和家庭的法律。它区分了无效婚姻和可撤销婚姻,其中无效婚姻包括重婚、禁止的血亲关系和未成年婚姻。虽然人口贩运导致的婚姻通常不被视为无效婚姻,但可以以胁迫为由宣布婚姻无效。废除婚姻的申请必须在胁迫活动终止或恢复人身自由后一年内提出。此外,第一百五十二条中关于撤销权的一般五年时限不适用于因胁迫或非法限制人身自由而被宣布无效的婚姻。关于离婚,《民法典》规定了两种不同的渠道:对有离婚、财产和子女协议的夫妻,通过合同离婚;对没有此类协议的夫妻,通过法院诉讼(诉讼)离婚。在后一种情况下,法院必须尝试调解,在特定情况下,如重婚、家庭暴力、虐待、无法忍受的附加行为或情感破碎,法院才会准予离婚。此外,通过合同离婚引入了一个新的 30 天“离婚冷静期”,只有在30天后从亲自到民政部门领取离婚证书,离婚才能进行。而且,在“冷静期”内允许单方面撤回离婚申请。这给那些通过合同寻求立即和不可撤销离婚的女性造成了障碍。



《深圳经济特区性别平等促进条例》(Gender Equality Promotion Ordinance of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone) (2019)


Domestic and intimate partner violence, Employment discrimination, Gender discrimination, Sexual harassment

The Gender Equality Promotion Ordinance is a “workaround” measure within Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. This means that the local workaround rule, like the Ordinance, takes precedence in situations where it conflicts with national legislation, administrative regulations, or provincial legislation within the jurisdiction of the Shenzhen. The Ordinance, attempting to create women-friendly communities in Shenzhen, is an innovative “workaround” in three ways. Firstly, it provides clear definitions of “gender equality” and “gender discrimination.” Specifically, “gender discrimination” excludes special protection over women based upon biological reasons like pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding, by referring to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (“CEDAW”). Secondly, regarding the long-term mechanism, the Ordinance has established a governmental agency dedicated to promoting gender equality. The agency is empowered to determine the existence of gender discrimination in disputes and implement the Ordinance’s rules. Thirdly, in domestic violence, in addition to standard police and judicial protection measures, including the right to obtain a habeas corpus, the Ordinance set up a mechanism to provide temporary shelter for victims. However, it is worth noting that the Ordinance does not provide a specific rule governing the economic and property rights of rural women who marry external men.

《深圳经济特区性别平等促进条例》是深圳经济特区内的一项“变通”措施。这意味着,在深圳管辖范围内,如果地方性条例与国家立法、行政法规或省级立法产生冲突,地方性变通条例具有优先权。《条例》试图在深圳创建妇女友好社区。它在三个方面是一个创新的 “变通办法”。首先,它对 “性别平等 ”和 “性别歧视”进行了明确的定义。具体而言,“性别歧视”参照《消除对妇女一切形式歧视公约》,表明性别歧视不包含因怀孕、生育、哺乳等生理原因对妇女的特殊保护。其次,在长效机制方面,该条例设立了一个专门负责促进性别平等的政府机构。该机构有权确定纠纷中是否存在性别歧视,并执行该条例的规则。第三,在家庭暴力方面,除了标准的警察和司法保护措施(包括获得人身保护令的权利)外,《条例》还设立了为受害者提供临时庇护所的机制。然而,值得注意的是,该条例并未对与外来男子结婚的农村妇女的经济和财产权利做出具体规定。