On the evening of November 16, the 13th High-End Social Science Lecture of Shanghai Academy: My Personal Experiences of Participating in the Compilation of China's Civil Code, which was sponsored by Shanghai Academy and the Humanities & Social Sciences Office of Shanghai University, and organized by the Law School of Shanghai University, was successfully held at Siyuan Hall of Lehu Building, Baoshan Campus, Shanghai University. This lecture was mainly given by Professor Chen Su, Secretary of the CPC Party Committee of the Institute of Law, CASS, and was chaired by Professor Wen Xueguo, Executive Vice President of Shanghai Academy.and Vice President of Shanghai University. Professor Li Fengzhang, Vice President of the Law School of Shanghai University listened to the lecture with nearly one hundred of teachers and students.

Starting from the legislative process, this lecture explains about the preparation of a draft of law, repeated changes to some clauses of a law, and publication of the final law. Based on his personal work experience of participating in the compilation of China's Civil Code, Chen described in detail the legislative process, and shared his view about the requirements for legislators that he formed, based on his experiences of participating in the legislation work. Firstly, a legislator must have sufficient knowledge about law, and must be familiar with the provisions of relevant laws, and have a deep understanding about legal theory, since comprehensive legal knowledge can help ensure that legislation is well balanced. Secondly, a legislator must have abundant social experiences, and should know much about the ways of the world, so that the design of law well suits the actual situation of society, and a law or regulation that is prepared suits the current situation of the society. Thirdly, a legislator must have good logical thinking capability, which is an essential basic capability required for a legislator. Fourthly, a legislator must balance the interests of all parties, and during the preparation process of a law, they must consider the balance of interests, and protect the interests of the vast majority of people. Despite that these are factors that need to be taken into consideration during the legislative process; they also serve an important guiding role for college students' study of law.

Chen also pointed out that to obtain value in legal study, innovation is not enough: we must make legal study more effective and play a positive role for improvement of theory or institution. Three areas, namely, those systems in which there really exist defects, improper system arrangement, and the gaps in legislation, are some of the areas that law students should invest efforts to study.

(Article and photo by Shanghai University Law School)