The legal system in China

China

The current state of the Chinese legal system is in flux. To instate a system similar to that in the United States or Western Europe means undoing thousands of years of cultural norms. Confucianism and Communism are currently entwined to influence the ways disputes have been settled. Mounting pressure to develop a "fair and transparent framework of laws" stems directly from the fact that China is inextricably engaged with foreign businesses that need the rule of law in order to operate efficiently and effectively in the Middle Kingdom. Economic development is prompting overhauls of China's key political and social institutions: and the judiciary is one of the most fundamental such institutions to receive attention. Although some progress has been made already and continues to be made, it is slow and sometimes painful. As the PBS Wide Angle series presents, "the transformation" of China's judiciary from a traditional Confucian/Communist one towards a Western courts-based one is "incomplete." The judiciary is also "far from independent," as senior judges are appointed by the state, whereas lawyers have been imprisoned ("The People's Court").

The Wide Angle production "People's Court" reveals some of the ways China's government is trying to create opportunities for justice on a small scale. For example, the mobile court system depicted in the film allows villagers to have access to a small claims court, when they might otherwise settle disputes by taking the law into their own hands. However, it is law on a larger level that is of greater importance. Small claims court options make it so that the Chinese public becomes used to the court system in general, thereby making legal action more normative than it is currently. The introduction of court systems is already showing how the system works in a uniquely Chinese model, and what kinds of evidence are required in a trial.

One of the difficulties with implementing the necessary changes to China's judiciary is a lack of cohesive ethic. The Chinese model still "does not technically have an independent judiciary or a legal system that operates outside the influence of the ruling Chinese Communist Party," ("The Legal System in China"). Decisions begin and end with the Communist Party. There is no ethic that suggests a judiciary should be independent of the government; such an ethic must be created if China's fledgling judiciary is to succeed.

The pressures put upon China to change its judicial model are mounting. Issues like intellectual property are rising to the top in a country that hosts significant amounts of foreign direct investment. Disputes ranging from corporate embezzlement to breach of contract end up being settled outside of court: without due process of law. There are increasing numbers of Chinese law students, but still, the country lacks a significant enough number of attorneys to properly represent people when the need to take legal action does arise.

Mediation and other alternatives to the courtroom have been championed in China for thousands of years. Individuals or companies may lodge complaints, but those complaints will rarely be heard in a fair manner. Because the government has the final say, it will rule in ways that favor the perpetuation of government policy rather than what is just.