The Path and Techniques for Applying the Principle of Good Faith

Abstract

The process of identifying legal norms that align with the facts of a case is referred to as “application.” When the legal norms in question are specific and can be broken down into clear constitutive elements, they are easier to apply; otherwise, they pose challenges. The principle of “good faith” is inherently a “principle,” and its lack of specificity makes it difficult to apply. The prerequisite for applying the principle of good faith is to include it as a point of contention. Transforming it into one of the points of contention based on the original claims is a practical issue in case handling. Filing a motion is a litigation right and action of the parties, while listing and organizing the points of contention falls under the court’s authority. The essence of dishonest behavior is tortious, thus necessitating the combination of traditional constitutive elements with descriptions of dishonest litigation behavior. In the process of applying legal norms to case facts, a crucial step is to highlight the suspected dishonest litigation behavior of the parties as a focal point of dispute. The points of contention in a case can be introduced through two paths: one is by a party’s motion, becoming part of their request; the other is by the judge’s authority. This article focuses on “application,” aiming to create “rules” based on established “principles,” covering conditions of application, limitations, references, stages, and fields of application. The final two sections, “Judicial Interpretation and Case Guidance,” shift our perspective from the abstract to the practical, accompanied by an analysis of legal rules, which constitutes the “explanation” within the paper.