Exploring Transsystemic Fundamental Concepts in Private Law: Claim (Anspruch), Liability (责任), and Remedy

The core function of private law is the protection of rights, and the construction of the normative system for such protection begins with foundational concepts. These foundational concepts take different forms across legal traditions: the claim(Anspruch) in German law, liability(责任) in Chinese law, and remedy in English law. While these concepts appear markedly different on the surface, they are largely commensurable within the “FourElement Symmetry” analytical framework of legal relations, which opens up the possibility of transsystemic integration. This makes it possible to bridge divides between jurisdictions and legal families and develop a unified theory of private law.

YANG Xu is an Associate Professor at the Law School of Beijing Normal University. His main research fields are civil law, digital private law and legal methodology. His completed and ongoing research projects cover the theory of claims, the doctrine of legal transactions, the legal basis for personal information processing, the reconstruction of punitive damages, the typological method in private law, and the determination and filling of legal loopholes. His translations include Die Feststellung von Lücken im Gesetz (Claus‑Wilhelm Canaris, 2023), Methodenlehre des Zivilrechts (Jan Schapp, in progress), and Essays on Legal Transactions (Detlef Leenen, in progress).

Sandy Steel is Professor of Law and Philosophy of Law in the Faculty of Law at Oxford, Dr Lee Shau Kee's Sir Man Kam Lo Fellow in Law at Wadham College, Visiting Research Professor at Hong Kong University, and Global Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School (London). His work on various topics has been cited by courts across the common law, including the UK Supreme Court, the High Court of Australia, the Supreme Court of Canada, and the New Zealand Court of Appeal, and he has acted as a consultant on litigation concerning causation and duties of care for omissions. He has held visiting positions at NYU, Hong Kong University, the National University of Singapore, the WWU Muenster, Tel Aviv University, and Singapore Management University. He serves as an Advisor to the American Law Institute’s Principles of Civil Liability for Artificial Intelligence project.