Public Benefit in the Chinese Charity Law-From the"Two-element Theory"to the"Four-tier Theory"
Although the Chinese Charity Law regards"public benefit"as an essential attribute of charitable activities in the regulatory aspect,it does not provide a specific definition for this important concept.This lack of precise definition makes it challenging to formulate a systematic set of rules needed to identify charitable activities,thereby hindering the effective i-dentification of various types of legal charitable activities in practice,which has sparked a dis-cussion among academia about the concept of"public benefit"in the Chinese Charity Law.Af-ter a series of debates,the mainstream view among academics believes it is necessary to trans-plant the most classical"two-element theory"of defining the concept of"public benefit"from the theory of charity law of common law countries.This theory decomposes the concept of"pub-lic benefit"into two parallel elements:the"public"element and the"benefit"element.By describing the connotations of these two elements and emphasizing each of them independently and in combination,it gives a specific definition of the concept of"public benefit",thereby providing foundational rules for identifying legal charitable activities.Although the Chinese Charity Law has not appeared to directly adopt the"two-element theory",by analyzing the"public"element and the"benefit"element,it can be found that the relevant provisions of the law and its supporting administrative regulations and government rules have substantively reflec-ted the connotations of"public"element and the"benefit"element.Still,the problems of i-dentification suggest that merely transplanting the"two-element theory"from charity laws of common law countries is not sufficient for effectively identifying the diverse and complex legal charitable activities in the Chinese practice.In this sense,to effectively identify different types of legal charitable activities,it is necessary not only to transplant the traditional"two-element theory"but also to construct the"four-tier theory"on the connotations of these two elements.More importantly,this theory establishes identification rules ranging from"the public in gener-al","a section of the public",to"specific individuals"within the"public"element and from"direct benefits","indirect benefits",to"subjective benefits"within the"benefit"element.In conclusion,this definition not only constructs a concept of"public benefit"that has a logical connection between form and content but also provides a pathway that combines theoretical inno-vation with legislative feasibility for the future amendment of the Chinese Charity Law.
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