傳統上,在處理民法與商法的適用關系時,依"特別法優先"的法律適用原則,商法有特別規定的優先適用,商法未作特別規定的,適用民法的一般規定。這種做法忽略了商法未作特別規定的,尚應區分為"無需作出特別規定"和"應當作出特別規定而未作特別規定"兩種情形。對該兩種情形的處理有著截然不同的規則。商法無需作出特別規定的情形,適用民法的一般規定;而商法應當作出特別規定而未作特別規定的,則構成商法的漏洞,應以法律漏洞填補的方法予以補充。填補商法漏洞而形成的規范本質上仍屬于商事特別法的范疇,如果對商法未作特別規定的情形,不加區分地均適用民法的一般規定,無疑抹殺了商法漏洞的特別法屬性,導致特定事項缺失規范的目的性和正當性。我國編纂中的民法典采民商合一體例,雖部分解決了商事特別法的規則,但商法漏洞仍不可避免,而民法總則引入的法律適用條款對解決商法的漏洞尚顯制度供給不足,應通過法律解釋和完善法律漏洞填補規則的路徑,協調好民法和商法漏洞填補的一般性規則。整理商事立法和判例的資料,提出關于商法的解釋、商事習慣法的認知以及商法學理的探究等方面的見解,并形成公認的商事法理,是商法學的當代使命。

The relationship between the applicability of civil and commercial law has traditionally been handled in accordance with the legal principle of the"priority of special law."Commercial law has priority application when special provisions are involved,but the general provisions of civil law apply where no special commercial law provisions exist.However,this practice ignores cases in which commercial law has no special provisions.It is necessary to distinguish between situations where"no special provisions are required"and"special provisions should exist but do not."The rules for handling the two situations are totally different.Where commercial law does not need special provisions,the general provisions of the civil law should be applied;but where commercial law ought to have special provisions but none exist,that constitutes a lacuna that should be remedied through the appropriate means.The norms formed by remedying gaps in commercial law still essentially fall into the category of special commercial law.If the general provisions of civil law are applied indiscriminately whenever commercial law lacks special provisions,this will undoubtedly obliterate the special law character of the gaps in commercial law,resulting in a lack of normative purposiveness and legitimacy for specific items.The fact that the civil law drawn up in China integrates civil and commercial law has partially solved the problem of rules for special commercial law,but lacunae in commercial law are still unavoidable,and the clause on the application of law introduced under the general rules of civil law lacks the institutional supply that could remedy these lacunae.Legal interpretations and improved rules for remedying such gaps should be used to harmonize the general rules of civil law and remedy lacunae in commercial law.The contemporary mission of commercial law is to sort out information on commercial legislation and jurisprudence;to provide insights into the interpretation of commercial law and the cognition of customary commercial law;explore the principles of commercial law;and form a recognized body of legal principles for commercial affairs.