对《电子商务法》违反安全保障义务条款“相应责任”的再解释

Reinterpretation of “Corresponding Liability” in the Provisions of the E-Commerce Law That Violate the Security Obligation

摘要: 《中华人民共和国电子商务法》第38条第2款规定，对关系消费者生命健康的商品或者服务，电子商务平台经营者对平台内经营者的资质资格未尽到审核义务，或者对消费者未尽到安全保障义务，造成消费者损害的，依法承担相应的责任。该条款中“相应责任”的表述过于模糊，赋予了司法裁判人员较大的自由裁量权，加之学界对其属于何种责任形态争论不休，致使司法实践中运用标准不统一。为消除对“相应责任”的模糊理解与司法实践中的适用弊端，本文将对比学界不同的学说理论，主张适用比例连带责任的新理论，来规范电商平台经营者与电商平台内经营者的半叠加分别侵权行为，在特定情况下，责任主体对于外在原因力重合的部分需承担连带责任，而对于不重合的部分则承担按份责任。且超出各自本应承担的部分，可对内进行追偿。

Abstract: Article 38(2) of China’s E-Commerce Law stipulates that e-commerce platform operators shall bear corresponding liability for damages caused to consumers when failing to fulfill their duty of reviewing the qualifications of merchants within the platform or neglecting consumer safety obligations, particularly regarding goods or services directly affecting consumers’ lives and health. The vague wording of “corresponding liability” in this provision grants judicial discretion to adjudicators while academic debates persist over its legal classification, resulting in inconsistent application standards in practice. To resolve ambiguities in the legal interpretation of “corresponding liability” and address practical application challenges in judicial practice, this paper compares various academic theories and proposes a new proportional joint liability framework. This model regulates semi-overlapping tortious acts between e-commerce platform operators and merchants within the platform ecosystem. Under specific circumstances, liable parties shall bear joint liability for overlapping external causative elements while assuming several liabilities for non-overlapping components. Furthermore, any excess beyond their respective obligations can be claimed from the platform operator internally.