Inside China's Legal System

Chang Wang is associate professor of law at College of Comparative Law, China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, as well as Chief Research and Academic Officer for China for Thomson Reuters. He also serves as adjunct professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School and William Mitchell College of Law in the United States, guest professor of law at the University of Lucerne Faculty of Law in Switzerland, and Guest Lecturer on American Law and Culture at Beijing Royal School in China. Chang holds a B.F.A. in Filmmaking from Beijing Film Academy, an M.A. in Comparative Literature and Comparative Cultural Studies from Peking (Beijing) University, an M.A. in American Art History from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota Law School. Chang has been admitted into law practice in Minnesota, the District of Columbia, and federal courts. He has published a book on comparative cultural studies and more than 100 academic articles on law, critical theory, and art history. Nathan H. Madson is an attorney living in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has an extensive background in international and domestic human rights, working and volunteering with such organizations as the Queer Legal Aid Society, The Center for Victims of Torture, The Advocates for Human Rights, OutFront Minnesota, and the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. Nathan has guest lectured on Chinese law and Chinese ethnic minorities at the University of Minnesota Law School and the William Mitchell College of Law, USA. In addition, his research includes non-normative methods of legal and public policy reform. Nathan received his B.A. in International Affairs from The George Washington University and his Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota Law School, USA. He has been admitted into law practice in Minnesota.

• DedicationList of abbreviationsAcknowledgmentsForeword 1Foreword 2About the authorsIntroduction: justice with a Chinese faceA ‘socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics’Historical reforms in Chinese lawComparing Chinese and American legal systemsAmerican perspectives on Chinese lawHuman rights commentary and the Chinese responseQuestions raised by the Chinese legal systemPositive developmentsThis bookPart I: Historical views1: Philosophical underpinnings of the Chinese legal systemAbstractConfucianismConfucius’s view of lawConfucius’s view of historyCritical thinking on ConfuciusThe resurgence of Confucianism in ChinaMenciusLegalismQin and the first emperorHidden rules and law in imperial ChinaLaw versus moralityPenal codesNo lawyers or legal profession2: China and the Western influenceAbstract‘100 years of humiliation’Unequal treaties between 1842 and 1949 and extraterritorialityNationalismThe Foreign Affairs Movement and the ti-yong dichotomyThe failed ‘100 days reform’ in 1898 and late Qing reformsRepublic of China‘The People’s Republic’Anti-Rightist Movement, Great Leap Forward and Great FamineCultural RevolutionThe trial of the Gang of FourThe case of Yu LuokeThe case of Zhang ZhixinTiananmenPart II: The players3: The judiciaryAbstractThe party and the judiciaryNon-independent judiciaryStructureSupreme People’s CourtAre fayuan courts?‘Judges’Judicial examinationJudicial corruptionProcuratoratesAccess to court information4: The policeAbstractDefinitionsOverviewGoverning lawRe-education through laborMaintaining stability or weiwen‘Guobao’ and ‘drinking tea’Internet policeDetention, torture and extrajudicial killingsYang Jia caseWen Qiang caseWang Lijun case5: The lawyersAbstractLawyers as a ‘bad element’History of the legal profession in ChinaLawyers in the PRCLegal educationRegulating lawyersNew rules for the punishment of lawyers‘They came for lawyers’Lawyers, law professors and troublemakers: Zhang Sizhi, Jiang Ping, Pu ZhiqiangLi Zhuang casePart III: Case studies6: Civil laws and casesAbstractGeneral principles of civil lawSelected civil lawsCommercial lawCivil procedureRepresentative cases7: Criminal laws and criminal casesAbstractCriminal lawCriminal procedureCriminal Procedure Law amendmentsThe case of Liu XiaoboRepresentative cases in criminal lawThe CPC and criminal law8: The curious case of Ai Weiwei and administrative lawAbstractTimelineProcedureThe ‘tax’ caseAdministrative law in ChinaPetitionPart IV: ConclusionAfterwordIs constitutionalism incommensurable with Chinese socialism?Important updatesConclusionAppendix 1: Constitution of the People’s Republic of ChinaPreambleChapter I: General PrinciplesChapter II: The Fundamental Rights and Duties of CitizensChapter III: The Structure of the StateChapter IV: The National Flag, the National Anthem, the National Emblem and the CapitalAppendix 2: The socialist legal system with Chinese characteristicsForewordI Establishment of the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristicsII Composition of the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristicsIII Features of the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristicsIV Improvement of the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristicsConcluding remarksAppendix 3: Charter ’08I ForewordII Our fundamental principlesIII What we advocateSelected readings and resources for further research in Chinese law and historyIndex