Application Dilemmas of the Rule Excluding Restitution for Illegal-Cause Performance and Its Alternative Approaches 

Zhang Lu ¹  Meng Jie ²

1 Southwest Petroleum University,Chengdu Sichuan，610500；

2 People's Procuratorate of Hai'an City, Jiangsu Province,Jiangsu Nantong,226601；

Abstract：The rule excluding restitution for illegal-cause performance refers to the principle that where a transfer of property is made for a purpose that violates mandatory provisions of law or contravenes public order and good morals, and the underlying juridical act is therefore invalid, courts shall deny the transferor’s claim for restitution. As an ancient legal maxim, this rule seeks to deter unlawful conduct by depriving the illegal performer of restitutionary remedies, thereby safeguarding the coherence and authority of the legal order. However, in the context of the implementation of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China, the application of this rule has encountered substantial doctrinal and practical difficulties. This article systematically examines the major dilemmas arising from the application of the exclusionary rule and, on the basis of a critical review of existing scholarly approaches, proposes alternative solutions. It aims to contribute to the development of a clearer and more coherent framework for resolving disputes concerning illegal-cause performance within the existing civil law system.

Keywords: illegal-cause performance; exclusion of restitution; application dilemmas; alternative approaches; Civil Code

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