摘要
用益是信託制度的早期形式，現有對用益制度的研究未揭示出早期受益人如何約束受託人履行信任託付義務以及法律如何應對靈活多變的用益關係。在衡平法介入之前，相關判例表明普通法便試圖通過現有法律關係來約束受託人忠實履責，然而，用益關係中占有權與受益權相分離的特徵使得普通法無法全面有效地保障用益關係；衡平司法「趁虛而入」，在良心理念的基礎上，逐步確立了「注意義務」和「對價規則」，為受益人提供司法救濟；議會也試圖通過立法限制用益，但並未完全廢除用益。回溯用益從起源及其早期的發展歷史，權力的博弈構成用益制度發展的主線，這對我們引入和建構信托制度有著借鑑意義。
The Use is the early form of the trust. Existing studies of the origins of Use and its early regulation do not reveal how beneficiaries bind feoffees in the fulfillment of their fiduciary duties, nor how the early English law responded to the Use. Prior to the intervention of equity, there is precedent for common law attempts to bind feoffees to faithful performance of their duties through existing legal relationships. However, the separation of seisin and beneficial rights in the Use made it impossible for the common law to fully and effectively safeguard it. Equity “entered by exploiting a weak spot” and, on the basis of the concept of conscience, gradually established the duty of care and the rule of consideration, providing remedies for beneficiaries. Parliament also passed legislation to restrict Use, but did not completely abolish it. Tracing the origins and early development of Use, the power struggles that shaped its development form the main line of its evolution. This offers valuable insights for the introduction and construction of the modern trust system.
關鍵詞
用益—信託、地權、普通法、衡平法
use-trust, estate, common law, equity