Modern Social Science Research

According to the hierarchy of validity between civil statutory law and civil customary law, civil customary law usually does not have the legal effect of being given priority over civil statutory law in judicial decisions. However, in specific circumstances, judges can break through the constraints of this formal hierarchy based on principle balancing (substantive reasons), especially in the commercial field where the lag of civil statutory law is more significant. When certain conditions are met, commercial civil customary law often plays a role in correcting civil statutory law in individual cases. The application of civil customary law in individual cases based on principle balancing, which breaks through the formal hierarchy of sources of law and takes precedence over civil statutory law, does not violate the principle of adjudication in accordance with the law and has the value of promoting the reform of civil statutory law.

Civil customs; Judicial application; Principle balancing; Legal reasoning