Research on the Possibility of Civil Public Interests Protected by Individual Litigation in China: Based on the Path of Similarity of Interests

Abstract

The forms of civil public interests relief are mainly citizen suit, class action and test litigation in western countries. The contradiction between the demand of civil public interests relief and the supply of public subjects gradually appears in Chinese civil action. The limitation of Chinese public subjects in public interests relief and the non-finality of civil action relief further aggravate the contradiction. Public interests show the dual attributes of private benefit and public benefit, in which the similarity of private benefit is the theoretical basis of public interests protected by individual litigation. The similarity of private benefit not only provides the theoretical path of individual litigation, but also overcomes the contradiction between the traditional civil public interest litigation and the interest of litigation.