《农村集体经济组织法》第56条第1款关于农村集体经济组织成员身份确认之诉的规定属于新设制度,对其研究应由立法论转向解释论。确认成员身份案件虽然不直接涉及民事权利义务争议,但是成员身份和能否享有一系列的民事权益具有直接相关性,在程序上应将其归为确认之诉而不是非讼案件,其实质是引入国家强制力解决集体经济组织特别法人的内部治理问题。立法未采取“先政府处理,后行政诉讼”的路径,成员身份确认系平等主体之间的关系,当事人可以直接提起民事诉讼。成员身份确认纠纷实行非协议仲裁、可裁可审、裁后可审制度,仲裁并非诉讼的前置条件。法院应当受理单纯请求确认成员身份的案件,《民事案件案由规定》应在二级案由“所有权纠纷”项下新增三级案由“集体经济组织成员身份确认纠纷”,列在“侵害集体经济组织成员权益纠纷”案由之前。

Membership confirmation in rural collective economic organizations (RCEOs) is crucial for developing new rural collective economies and realizing collective ownership, directly affecting farmers' property rights and rural social stability. Focusing on the legal interpretation of membership confirmation lawsuits, this paper employs normative and case analysis methods to address procedural aspects, clarify judicial divergences, and discuss rules for membership confirmation lawsuits, aiming to provide theoretical support for proper law application.
Textual interpretation of Article 56(1) of the Rural Collective Economic Organizations Law reveals no additional conditions for filing lawsuits, implying that mere membership confirmation disputes can be filed without specific civil rights infringement. Membership confirmation lawsuits are declaratory actions, while member rights protection lawsuits are formative actions. Parties can file standalone declaratory actions or combine them with collective resolution revocation or payment requests.
For membership disputes, Article 56(1)'s “directly file with the people's court” indicates a civil rather than administrative litigation path, bypassing prior government processing. The Civil Case Cause Regulation should add “RCEO Membership Confirmation Disputes” as a tertiary cause under “Ownership Disputes”, preceding “RCEO Member Rights Infringement Disputes”. Article 56(1) of the Rural Collective Economic Organizations Law provides three paths: mediation, arbitration, and litigation, with membership disputes following non-agreement arbitration, optional arbitration, and post-arbitration litigation systems, where mediation and arbitration are not prerequisites for litigation.