申素平
论文题目：中国公立高等学校法律地位研究
作者简介：申素平，女，1975年03月出生，1998年09月师从于北京师范大学劳凯声教授，于2001年06月获博士学位。
摘 要
包括高等学校在内的整个事业单位体制改革问题是当下社会科学研究的一个热点。而如何恰当确定公立高等学校在法律制度中的地位，则正是高等教育体制中的一个基础问题。它关涉到如何运用法律手段对公立高等学校进行管理和规范，如何明晰公立高等学校与政府、社会、教师、学生等主体的法律关系，同时也更是重新审视公立高等学校自主权及分析当前高等教育领域中法律纠纷的前提。
所谓公立高等学校的法律地位，就是公立高等学校在我国法律框架中属于某类，以及它属于此类的权利、责任、能力和无能力是什么。这一问题可以从不同的角度分析。当公立高等学校与政府相对构成行政法律关系时，其法律地位是行政相对人，与其他公民、法人一样接受政府的行政管理和指导，并享有相应的权利；当公立高等学校与其他平等的公民、法人发生民事关系时，其法律地位是法人，享有独立的民事权利、履行民事义务并独立承担民事责任；除此外，当公立高等学校在《教育法》、《高等教育法》授权范围内自主组织教育教学活动、管理教师及学生的过程中，公立高等学校还应具有第三种地位——公法人中的特别法人。论文主要研究了公立高等学校的公法人地位及其内、外部法律关系。
公立高等学校的公法人地位具有以下含义，首先，公立高等学校是法人，具有一切法人所共同具有的法律地位。如拥有自己独立的财产，以自己的名义接受捐赠，签订合同，起诉和应诉等。其次，它是依行政法设立的公法人，其设立、废除、变更和内部组织规则由行政法规定，不受公司法的拘束。其享有的权利和负担的义务、责任主要是行政法上的，由行政法规定。而且它还可以享有公法人的某些特权，如财产不能扣押和强制执行，可以签订行政合同，工作人员可以属于公职人员等。第三，它是公法人中的特别法人，不同于行政机关等普通的公法人。它在行政法律关系中具有独立的人格，与设立它的国家或地方政府保持一定的独立性，独立负担实施公务所产生的权利、义务和责任，不同于普通行政机关等公法人，并且较少行政机关的官僚风气和繁琐程序，体现出相当的自主、自治特色。
公立高等学校是公法人中的特别法人这一论断虽未被我国立法所明确，但事实上，从确认公立高等学校法人的《教育法》及《高等教育法》的公法性质、从公立高等学校行使权力的公共性、以及公立高等学校为公益目的存在的特征来看，公立高等学校显然是符合公法人的评判标准的。而且，明确这一地位也正与西方法治国家对公立高等学校的法律定位以及当前公立高等学校公法人化的趋势相符合，它对于促进公立高等学校自主管理学术事务，免除政府的非法干预都是非常有益的。
虽然公私法人的分类尚未被我国立法所取，我国《民法通则》对公立高等学校的法律定位是事业单位法人，但这并不与本文的论点相矛盾。因为一方面，公私法的分类事实上正得到法学界的广泛关注和承认；而另一方面，事业单位法人只是我国民法对公立高等学校作为普通民事主体从事民事活动时的法律定位，并未涉及公立高等学校从事非民事活动的情况，而教学、研究等非民事活动却恰恰是公立高等学校日常从事的主要活动，是公立高等学校不同于其他公民、法人的独特性所在。因此，如果仅仅将目光停留在公立高等学校作为事业单位法人的民事主体资格上，并不能解决公立高等学校在教学、科研及其他内部事务上是否具有独立主体资格的问题。在这一点上，我国《行政诉讼法》中采用的“法律、法规授权的组织”这一概念同样也不足以说明问题。因此为了明晰其独立的行政主体资格起见，论文认为公立高等学校应是公法人中的特别法人。
作为公法人中的特别法人，公立高等学校与政府之间不是行政隶属关系，而是两个公法人之间的外部行政关系，具体说则是根据法律规定形成的以法律监督和行政指导为主的多重复杂关系。公立高等学校依据《教育法》、《高等教育法》享有独立的自主权，这种权利在性质上是一种公权力。非经修改法律，政府不得侵犯高等学校法定的自主权。论文建议，为了明晰和落实公立高等学校的自主权，同时也是为了保证高等学校正确行使其自主权，《高等教育法》不仅应列举规定公立高等学校的权力，而且应明确政府在高等教育管理中的权力，以及政府与高等学校共同享有的权力。同时，还应该在法律中明确政府对公立高等学校进行法律监督的内容和方式。这些都是《高等教育法》今后应加以完善的地方。
作为公法人中的特别法人，公立高等学校与教师之间构成的是一种特殊的行政法律关系。教师聘任制的逐步推行并不意味着公立高等学校与教师之间将转变为纯粹的民事关系，这一方面是因为公立高等学校所处的公法人地位，而另一方面则是因为教师聘任合同所具有的行政合同的特征。而且这也与教师权利救济的特殊性，即教师申诉制度与人事仲裁制度的行政性相吻合。论文建议，应继续加强对教师聘任办法的研究并做出相应的法律规范，研究并完善教师申诉制度与人事仲裁制度，并明晰二者之间的关系。
作为公法人中的特别法人，公立高等学校与学生之间所构成的也是一种特殊的行政法律关系，而其实质则是经过修正的特别权力关系。在这一关系中，公立高等学校与学生的地位是不对等的，公立高等学校为保证教育教学的正常进行，可以在法律授权之外制定内部规则，并依此在合理程度内限制学生的部分权利。而学生则需服从这一权力，若有异议，必须先经学生申诉等行政救济，而后在特定事项内才可提起行政诉讼。因此，建议加快完善学生申诉制度，以有效发挥其作为学生权利救济主要渠道的功能，并进一步研究和明确学生申诉制度与诉讼制度之间的合理联系。
作为公法人中的特别法人，公立高等学校是一类特殊的行政主体。其行政行为应当遵循法律优先原则，部分地遵循法律保留原则，有程度地遵循正当法律程序原则。同时，司法审查应介入对公立高等学校行为的监督与控制，这是法治社会的当然要求。但基于公立高等学校是一类特殊的公法人，因而司法审查在介入的范围、方式和程度上都应区别于普通的审查，尤其在公立高等学校的学术事务上，司法权力更应自我节制。在这一点上，美国法上的“司法节制”原则不失为一种借鉴。
Research on the legal status of Chinese public higher educational institutions
Abstract:
To reform the system
of institutions including higher educational institutions is a focal research
point in the recent social science. How to define the status of higher
educational institutions is a fundamental issue in the reform of the higher
educational system, which concerns that how to regulate and manage higher
educational institutions, how to make clear the relationship between higher
educational institutions and governments, communities, teachers and students
etc, and acts as a precondition to review the autonomous rights of higher
educational institutions and to analyze the legal disputes in the field of
higher education.
The legal status of a public higher
educational institution means the legal rights, duties, capacities and
incapacities. This issue can be analyzed from several different aspects. When a
public higher educational institution constitutes administrative legal
relationship with governments, it acts as the counterpart of the administrative
subject, receives administration and guidance from the government, and enjoys
corresponding rights as other legal subjects; when it constitutes civil legal
relationship with other civil subjects, it acts as the private legal person,
enjoys civil rights, performs civil obligations and bears civil
responsibilities independently. Besides, when a public higher educational
institution autonomously organizes educational activities and manages teachers
and students according to the “Education Law” and the ”Higher Education Law”,
it should have the third status---special public legal person. This
dissertation mainly researches on public higher educational institutions’
public legal personality and its internal and external relationships.
The public legal
personality of the public higher educational institution has the following
implications: first of all, the public higher educational institution has the
status as a legal person, which has its own assets, and receive endowments in
its own name, has the capacity to make a contract and takes part in the
judicial process as an accuser or defendant, etc. secondly, it is established
and can only be changed or terminated in accordance with administrative law.
Its internal organizing rules are governed by administrative law. It enjoys
some privileges pertaining to public legal persons such as signing
administrative contract. Thirdly, it is the public legal person with special
characteristics, different from the common public legal person such as
governments. It is independent of the government and has different
characteristics in performing its public affair tasks.
Although the status
as the special public legal person of a public higher educational institution
has not yet been clearly provided in our legislation, we can infer that from
the fact that the “Education Law” and the “Higher Education Law” which treat
public higher educational institutions as legal person have been recognized as
public law, and the power performed and the goal realized by public higher
educational institutions are of public nature. Furthermore, the special status
of public higher educational institutions, which will promote the autonomous
management of its internal affairs and prevent the government from illicit
intervention, is a irreversible trend in western countries.
The categorization of
public and private legal person has not been clearly accepted in china’s
legislation, but the division is getting more and more attention by law
researchers. The “General Principles of the Civil Law” does not regulate the
non-civil activities engaged in by public higher educational institutions.
Besides, the “Administrative Procedure Law” adopts an obscure conception of “the
authorized organizations by law”, which can not explain this problem either. On
the basis of above situations, it is necessary to recognize the special public
legal personality of public higher educational institutions.
As a special public
legal person, a public higher educational institution does not have the
internal administrative legal relationship with the government. Actually, they
constitute external administrative legal relationships which include legal
supervision, administrative guidance and other relationships. In accordance
with the “Education Law” and the “Higher Education Law”, a public higher
educational institution enjoys the independent autonomous rights which in
nature are public power, and governments should refrain from infringing. In
order to clarify and properly implement the autonomous rights of public higher
educational institutions, the “Higher Education Law” should be amended to not
only list the rights of public higher educational institutions, the power of
the governments in managing higher education and the shared power by both
public higher educational institutions and the governments, but also clarify
the extent and procedure of the legal supervision of the governments to public
higher educational institutions.
As the special public
legal person, a public higher educational institution constitutes special administrative
legal relationship with its teachers. The gradual spread of teachers
appointment system does not make the public higher educational
institution-teacher relationship a civil one. In order to improve corresponding
legislation, the dissertation suggests that more researches should be done into
teachers appointment system, teachers appealing system and personnel
arbitration system.
As the special public
legal person, a public higher educational institution also constitutes special
administrative legal relationship with its students which in nature is a
special power relationship. For the smooth going on of education, a public
higher educational institution can lay down some internal rules according to
which some rights of its students may be constraint to some extent. If students
dispute the internal rules, they must first exhaust the administrative remedies
such as the students appealing procedure, then they can institute judicial
proceedings as to some specific affairs. The dissertation recommends to perfect
the students appealing system and rationalizes the relationship between the
students appealing system and the judicial procedure.
As the special public
legal person, the act of a public higher educational institution should wholly
or partly follow the principle of law priority, law reservation and due
process. At the same time, judicial means should intervene in the activities of
public higher educational institutions for supervising and controlling.
However, in intervening, the judicial power should not act too excessively. We
can learn something from “the doctrine of academic abstention” established and
developed in American judicial system.
