Index

Ethan Michelson

doi:10.1017/9781108768177.015

Index

absent defendants. See in absentia trials (缺席审理)

All-China Women’s Federation

reporting of domestic violence by plaintiffs to, 5, 7, 248, 331, 348, 355, 366, 374n.35

Amnesty International, 471

An, Chenxi (安晨曦), 86

Anti-Domestic Violence Law (2015)

child custody not addressed by, 383

evidence for the affirmation of domestic violence outlined in, 56

impact of, 387, 472

provisions on burden of proof deleted from, 54

provisions on personal protection orders, 40

apology letters (认错书). See pledge letters

Article 32. See Marriage Law (2001) – ARTICLE 32

Article 46. See Marriage Law (2001) – ARTICLE 46

assistant judges. See judges – ASSOCIATE (审判员) and ASSISTANT JUDGES (助理审判员)

Australia and New Zealand

battered woman syndrome accepted as a type of post-traumatic stress disorder, 353

child custody determinations, 390

gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357, 363

Baker, Hugh D. R., 391

battered woman syndrome

and Canada’s landmark Canada R. v Lavallee ruling, 353

as a defense in a murder trial mounted by Peking University’s Center for Women’s Law Studies and Legal Services, xiv, 354

as a defense in the murder trial of Guo Qinjuan, 363

expert witness testimony by Chen Min on, 353, 360, 362, 367, 377

neither used nor affirmed by courts, 360

Walker’s (Lenore) theory of, 353

breakdownism (破裂主义). See also faultism; pledge letters

Article 32 (preserved as Article 1079 in the 2020 Civil Code) on breakdown of mutual affection, 42, 46, 50

duration of marriage used as an indication of the strength of mutual affection, 141, 230

judges’ discretionary application of, 17, 44, 64, 245, 247, 262, 265, 268, 329, 462

legislative spirt of “preventing frivolous divorce” supported by, 44, 462

public notice divorce trials’ satisfaction of, 51

SPC guidance for the determination of. See Fourteen Articles

bride prices (彩礼) and dowries (嫁妆)

and defendants’ threats of physical harm, 91

in decisions with gendered content, 129

returned in compensation for a divorce adjudication, 95, 405

bureaucratic capacity

the divorce twofer as a function of, 460

as a factor in Chinese implementation of global legal norms, 16, 66, 76, 462

Bush, George W., 81

caiding decisions (裁定书)

definition of, 111

inadequacy of their use for the study of withdrawals prior to 2014, 115

judicial confirmations of private mediation agreements and case withdraws designated as, 111

rules prohibiting posting decisions online, 112

rules prohibiting posting decisions online lifted, 112

women at higher risk than men of withdrawing their lawsuits, 233, 233Figure6.8, 236

Canada

child custody determinations, 390

gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357, 363

R. v Lavallee ruling, 353

Cao, Yin, 87, 89

case management systems, 175

Chen Min (陈敏)

on the denial of divorce petitions, 89

domestic violence publications (including the 2008 Guidelines) written by, 354

expert witness testimony in the homicide trial of Guo Qinjuan, 362

expert witness testimony in the homicide trial of Zhang Dianru, 367

expert witness testimony on “battered woman syndrome,” 353, 360, 377

reference to documentation of threats by abusers, 364

work at the China Law Society, xiv, 353

Chen Xiaoyong (陈小勇)

on the denial of divorce petitions, 41, 53, 68

child custody. See also children – CHILD-SNATCHING

child support payments (抚养费) by abused women, 400, 402

child support payments (抚养费) by abusive husbands, 58

concessions made by women in public notice trials, 329

concessions yielded in exchange for divorce, 312, 320, 329, 347, 378, 388, 404, 406, 411, 453

first-attempt divorces denied by judges to avoid contentious claims, 78, 169, 311, 328

joint legal custody (轮流抚养), 126, 282, 388, 413, 435, 439

judges’ dismissal of domestic violence allegations in determinations of, 64, 401, 405, 448

patriarchal cultural beliefs guiding street-level bureaucrats’ rulings, 4, 33, 383, 399, 402, 450, 458

tactics used to reduce appeals and complaints, 23, 328, 395

visitation rights provided by the Marriage Law, 384, 389

child custody – LEGAL STANDARDS FOR DETERMINING

and the best interests of the child principle cited by court rulings, 17, 33, 382, 385, 410, 411, 456

joint legal custody (轮流抚养), 384

multiple children and only-daughters providing the best chance to mothers. See under child custody – QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

1993 Opinions on. See 1993 Several Concrete Opinions Concerning Handling Child Custody Matters in Divorce Trials

nursing babies granted to mothers, 384, 451

opinions of children solicited by judges, 407

physical possession privileged over domestic violence allegations, 8, 75, 229, 374n.35, 382, 387, 390, 396, 400, 403

child custody – QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS

selection of cases for study of child custody decisions, 397

child custody – QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

analytical approach described, 415

coding in outcome measures, 126, 132, 135

fathers favored over mothers in China’s court decisions, 5, 34, 410, 451

impact of urbanization, 386, 413, 415, 433, 450

and joint legal custody (轮流抚养), 126, 413, 435, 439

macroscopic picture of key patterns of judicial decision-making provided by, 412

measure lacking for infant or nursing children as a limitation of, 451

multiple children and only-daughters providing the best chance to mothers, 34, 389, 411, 413, 426

only-sons rarely granted to mothers, 34, 417, 426

physical possession by litigants, 419Table11.2, 429Figure11.2, 433, 449

twins split up in child custody determinations, 436

variables of explanatory interest, 415, 416Table11.1, 417

word clouds in judges’ holdings analyzed, 278Figure8.1, 279

children. See also sex ratios and birth; son preference

custody of. See child custody

harming by abusive men to exact revenge on their wives, 389

impact of labor migration on, 257, 382, 393

judges’ disregard of risks to, 411

narratives about the connection between divorce and juvenile crime, 84, 379

the privacy of minors protected in the 2013 Provisions, 135

procreation used as evidence of mutual affection, 246, 293, 294, 319

upbringing of considered in denying divorce petitions, 9, 246, 247, 269, 293

children – CHILD-SNATCHING

basic personal freedoms of children lost due to, 388

by fathers and their family, 382, 388, 404

logic of, 389

China Institute of Applied Jurisprudence

2008 Guidelines published by, 37, 354

China Judgements Online (中国裁判文书网)

battered woman syndrome as a term rarely found on, 360

citing of the 2015 Opinions in, 376

citing of the term “notice of cooling-off period” (冷静期通知书), 70

identification of dispute type and decision type, 111

postings from Henan and Zhejiang Provinces, 105, 109, 116n.6, 118, 122, 124n.15, 152, 209n.12

rules about posting divorce decisions on, 103, 112, 117

simplified procedure utilization rates measured using, 177, 177n.6

use by the SPC to establish best judicial practices, 151

Chinese lunar New Year. See Spring Festival

Chongqing

“notice of cooling-off period” issued by Yubei District People’s court, 83

domestic violence claims in divorce cases from, 25

Civil Affairs Administration

divorce litigation compared with Civil Affairs divorces, 21, 24

marriage and divorce registration fee abolished by, 20

Marriage Registration Regulations (2003), 19, 189, 190Figure6.1, 191

surge in divorce rates processed by, 19

uncontested divorces by agreement processed by, 2, 14, 19, 21, 453

warning of irrational divorces by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, 79

Civil Code (2020)

cooling-off periods stipulated in Article 1077 of, 70, 71, 72, 81, 191

domestic violence not clearly defined by, 37

Marriage Law (1950, 1980, and 2001) replaced by, 22

preservation of Article 46 of the 2020 Marriage law, 37

civil damages

Article 46 of the Marriage Law on, 37

evidentiary standard for claiming, 56

civil law tradition, 36

Civil Procedure Law. See also 1992 Opinions of the SPC on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Civil Procedure Law; 2015 Interpretations of the SPC on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law

Article 64 on the burden of proof, 53, 288

on declaring a defendant missing, 51

on filing petitions in the defendant’s place of hukou 户口 or 户籍), 47, 138

on head judges of collegial panels, 162

on judicial mediation, 177n.5

on petition withdrawals, 177n.5, 226

on protection orders, 40

on the simplified civil procedure, 48, 166, 184

two chances given to civil litigants and criminal defendants, 67, 264

collegial panels. See judges – COLLEGIAL PANELS

Confucian family values

blending with socialist morality, 42, 60, 79

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

China’s ratification of, 12, 459, 466

cooling-off periods (冷静期)

“notice of cooling-off period” issued by Chongqing Yubei District People’s court, 83

“notice of cooling-off period” issued by Sichuan Province’s Anyue County People’s Court, 84

in Article 1077 of the Civil Code (2020), 70, 81

controlling rising divorce rates as the objective of, 81

denial of divorce petitions as an informal type of, 69, 71

psychological intervention as the objective of, 89

six-month statutory waiting period as, 69, 70

coping strategies. See judges – COLLEGIAL PANELS

courts. See also Organic Law of People’s Courts

divisions of, 27

as leaky sieves for divorce cases, 215, 215n.14, 217, 235, 272

2007 Measures of People’s Courts on Collecting Litigation Fees, 21, 48, 157, 228

courts – BASIC-LEVEL COURTS. See also People’s Tribunals

adjudicated outcomes of, 19

as the first stop in the divorce litigation process, 22

Henan and Zhejiang Provinces compared, 26, 27, 179

place in China’s four-tier court system, 26

rural setting of, 119

types of, 26, 139

courts – COURT DECISIONS. See also child custody; divorce adjudication outcomes in China; pledge letters

blind spots of, 115, 236

contents and organization of, 31, 110, 236

judicial work flow reflected in written court decisions, 62

keyword and keyphrase construction of measures, 125

voices of legal advocates absent from, 32

courts – COURT REFORMS. See also Supreme People’s Court (SPC) – FIVE YEAR OUTLINES

and the judge quota system. See judges – quota system

judicial efficiency and minimizing social unrest as the guiding imperatives of, 387, 395

courts – INTERMEDIATE COURTS

appelate cases handled by, 23, 26

expert witness testimony admitted in, 354

in Henan and Zhejiang, 109, 150

criminal reconciliation

case of Li Suzhen (abusive man), 335

institutionalization in China’s criminal courts of, 371

in judicial performance evaluations systems, 371

criminal sentencing. See leniency in criminal sentencing; probation

death sentence. See leniency in criminal sentencing

decoupling

addressed by world society theory, 12, 13

of China’s divorce courts from world society models. See global legal norms – CHINESE VIOLATION OF

institutional. See decoupling of appearance and reality (or rules and practices) inside China’s divorce courts; gap studies in the field of law and society

marital. See decoupling of married spouses

related to economic decoupling between two countries, xvi

decoupling of appearance and reality (or rules and practices) inside China’s divorce courts. See also gap studies in the field of law and society

contribution of legal ambiguities to, 15

decoupling of laws that champion the freedom of divorce from practices that undermine it, 41, 456, 461

definition of decoupling, xv

the divorce twofer as an instance of. See divorce twofer

impact on cases involving domestic violence, 33

limitations of country-level indicators to explain it, 16

role of local institutional norms and practices, 18

Sida Liu’s research on, 17

decoupling of married spouses

definition of decoupling, xv, 12, 454

decoupling-book.org

online court decisions from Henan’s 183 courts available at, 109

supplementary online material available at, xviii

divorce adjudication outcomes in China

control variable of female judge participation, 140

control variable of legal representation, 141

control variable of the duration of marriage, 141

Henan and Zhejiang adjudication trends compared, 60Figure2.1, 61, 193

Henan and Zhejiang samples used for the study of, 5, 104, 109, 146

Henan’s restrictiveness compared with restrictiveness in Zhejiang, 460

impact of gender injustice on. See gender injustice

impact of public awareness of gender injustice on judicial decisions, 472

impact of the Marriage Registration Regulations (2003), 189, 190Figure6.1, 191

online listings. See China Judgements Online (中国裁判文书网)

policy-induced bump in age at marriage reflected in Henan and Zhejiang’s online divorce decisions compared, 150

property division. See property division

terms used to identify dispute type and decision type of statements or petitions, 111

urbanization as a gender-equalizing pressure on divorce litigation practices, 139, 304, 308, 330, 461

divorce adjudication outcomes in China – QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. See also Sisyphean quality of Chinese divorce litigation

brief overview of China’s court decisions, 33

case examples as a window on the real lives of divorce litigants, 104

illumination of patterns less visible in quantitative data, 412

institutional logics driving judges’ divorce decisions illuminated by, 238, 244, 247, 250, 260, 263, 269, 346, 458

limitations of, 270, 412

divorce adjudication outcomes in China – QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS. See also child custody – QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS; Fourteen Articles – VOCABULARY

brief overview of China’s court decisions, 33

civil procedures applied, 132

claims of physical separation, 132, 133

dendrograms of the coappearance of words and clusters of words within individual holdings, 289Table8.2, 290, 291Figure8.2, 297

evidentiary discourse used to invalidate plaintiffs’ legally valid evidence, 284, 288, 292, 296, 297, 328

gender gap in the probability of success, 232, 233, 233Figure6.8Chapter8

Henan and Zhejiang adjudication trends compared, 104, 448

hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) of the top 50 words in domestic violence cases, 289, 291Figure8.2, 295

ideological words deployed to deny divorce petitions. See under political ideology

lexicons of adjudicated denials, 271, 279, 281Table8.1, 289, 289Table8.2, 290

lexicons of judicial holdings in first-attempt divorce decisions, 276, 278Figure8.1, 279, 290, 291Figure8.2

minimal citing of the Fourteen Article by judges in spite of its allure, 287

selection of case examples, 151

divorce litigation. See also divorce twofer; mediation; Sisyphean quality of Chinese divorce litigation

Civil Affairs divorce compared with, 21, 24

key steps in the divorce process, 20Figure1.1, 22, 24, 48

rural character of, 119

self-advocacy and agency of litigants, 244

service of process system, 52, 62

tactics used to reduce appeals and complaints. See under divorce twofer; child custody

divorce petitions. See divorce twofer

divorce twofer

China’s clampdown on divorce associated with, 24, 32, 61, 187, 193, 194Figure6.2

as a creative coping strategy for overworked judges, 4, 89

dangers faced by abused women prolonged by, 333, 336, 346, 347, 473

defined as the institutionalized practice of denying first-time petitions, 1

docket-shrinking property of, 68, 187, 214Figure6.7, 216, 234

endogenous institutional logics explaining its institutional roots, 66, 96, 102, 460

divorce twofer – SECOND ATTEMPTS

courts as leaky sieves for divorce cases, 215, 215n.14, 217, 235, 272

do-overs allowed in divorce litigation, 68

domestic violence (家庭暴力). See also murder – OF ABUSERS BY BATTERED WOMEN; murder – OF BATTERED WOMEN BY THEIR ABUSERS; murder – THREATS

China’s official commitment to combatting, 40

criminal cases handled by procurators, 57, 346

cultural narratives about false claims made by female plaintiffs and, 98, 324

defined by the SPC. See 2001 Interpretations of the SPC on Several Issues Regarding the Application of the Marriage Law; 2008 Guidelines on Judging Marital Cases Involving Domestic Violence (2008 Guidelines)

defined in terms of expressions for physical and verbal abuse commonly used by plaintiffs, 127

evidence of. See evidence of domestic violence

homicides in China related to, 336, 473

incidence of allegations by female plaintiffs, 127, 239

incidence of allegations by male plaintiffs, 239

incidence of criminal domestic violence cases, 357

institutional decoupling impacting laws protecting victims of. See decoupling of appearance and reality (or rules and practices) inside China’s divorce courts

married couples as the focus of this book, 1n.1

normalization by judges. See under gaslighting efforts

reporting by calling 110 (equivalent of 911), 248, 347

reporting by plaintiffs to public authorities, 7, 248, 331, 347, 348, 355, 365, 374n.35

termination via labor migration. See under labor migration

dowries (嫁妆). See bride prices (彩礼) and dowries (嫁妆)

Drori, Gili S. and Georg Krücken, 462

Du Shuanghua (杜双华), 99

Du Wanhua (杜万华), 42, 74, 80, 84, 92

on the legislative spirit of breakdownism, 82

due process

globally institutionalized rights of criminal suspects, 65

sacrificed for the sake of judicial efficiency, 17, 97, 170, 175, 186, 383

Edelman, Lauren

legal endogeneity theory of, 15, 454

endogeneity. See legal endogeneity

England and Wales

gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357

women’s representation among divorce-seekers in, 25

evidence of domestic violence

defendants’ challenging of, 10–11, 254, 255, 258, 259, 260, 263, 266, 408

disaffirmation by judges, xv, 2, 9–10, 53, 64, 231, 238, 243, 252, 257, 258, 260, 264, 269, 396, 403

medical documentation of injuries, 9–10, 56, 93, 241, 252, 253, 259, 267, 403, 408

minimization and negation in police reports of, 9

photographic, 56, 231, 241, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 407

pledge letters as. See pledge letters (保证书)

police reports. See police

“violence words” in allegations by plaintiffs, 241, 242Table7.1

“violence words” not found in judges’ holdings, 243

evidence of domestic violence —PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE STANDARD

affirmation by a judge in Zhejiang, 250

disaffirmation and dismissal by judges, 53, 55, 279, 403

emendation to “beyond reasonable doubt standard,” 54n.9

relaxing of evidentiary standards, 53, 55, 251, 396

reaffirmation in the 2015 Interpretations of the SPC on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law, 54

US Civil Courts on, 54

fake divorce, 44, 99, 101

fathers’ rights movement, 390

faultism

discursive strategies deployed by judge to circumvent divorce standards based on, 326

grounds for divorce stipulated by Article 32 of the Marriage Law, 46, 143

no-fault “breakdown of mutual affection” (感情破裂) standard of the 1980 Marriage Law (Article 25), xv, 3, 64, 462

no-fault “irreconcilable differences” standard equated with breakdownism, 3

privileged over breakdownism in the 2001 Interpretation, 46, 286

rarity of successful first-attempt divorce petitions on fault-based grounds, 11, 238, 244, 247, 250, 260, 263, 265, 269, 272, 326, 346, 457, 458

first-attempt divorce petitions. See also divorce twofer

Fourteen Articles

on divorces granted when defendants can be declared missing, 51

dubbing of the SPC’s guidance on the breakdown of mutual affection, 43

extending of existing ambiguities rather than offering clarity, 44

minimal citing by judges in spite of its allure, 287

physical separation addressed in, 49

reconciliation potential (有无和好的可能) addressed in, 44, 244, 284, 285n.7, 301, 328

Fourteen Articles – Vocabulary

evidentiary words in judges’ holdings, 296Table8.3, 297, 298Table8.4

key words and terms, 289, 289Table8.2, 290

words in judges’ discourse of adjudicated denial drawn from, 273, 283, 287, 289Table8.2, 290, 293, 298Table8.4, 299, 328

words in judges’ therapeutic discourse drawn from, 288, 289Table8.2, 294, 297, 298Table8.4, 299

France

caseload management by divorce judges in, 17, 77, 395

gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357

mandatory conciliation hearings, 22

freedom of divorce

decoupling of laws that champion the freedom of divorce from practices that undermine it, 456, 461

ideological opposition to. See frivolous divorce (轻率离婚)

legal ambiguity allowing decoupling of laws that champion the freedom of divorce from practices that undermine it, 41, 44, 64

practical prohibition of, illustrated in Waiting by Ha Jin, 41

freedom of marriage

enshrinement as a Chinese legal principle, 11

frivolous divorce (轻率离婚)

ideological opposition to, 42, 63, 247, 273, 294, 327

and the logic of the breakdownism standard, 44, 462

stereotypes about irrationally suspicious women filing for divorce frivolously, 97, 226, 236

and withdrawals that did not return as subsequent-attempt petitions, 235

Gansu Province

bombing of Yongle County People’s Court by a litigant, 92

He Jie (battered woman case), 8

gap studies in the field of law and society

institutional decoupling of China’s divorce courts related to, 14, 454

and the “paradox of empty promises,” 14, 462, 466

the law on the books and law in action discussed by, 13

gaslighting efforts

defendants’ denials given more credence than plaintiffs’ allegations, 256

disaffirmation of evidence by judges. See under evidence of domestic violence

identified in salient vocabulary used by judges, 275, 276, 295

judges as advocates for absentee defendants, 257

judges’ discretionary application of breakdownism. See breakdownism

normalization of domestic violence by judges, xv, 2, 7, 9–10, 53, 55, 231, 238, 243, 252, 258, 260, 261, 264, 269, 287, 294

pledge letters misused by judges. See pledge letters

police warnings ignored by judges. See police

political ideology deployed by judges. See political ideology

in village mediation, 9

gender

absence of same-sex marriage in China, 129n.20

and defendant obstructionism, 308, 317, 425

exposure to judicial discourse of adjudicated denial, 297, 298Table8.4, 299, 301

factors associated with male and female homicide offenders, 357

gender of those who killed their intimate partners, 357

impact on child custody court decisions, 34

impact on leniency in criminal sentencing, 372

men’s overrepresentation among plaintiffs in public notice trials, 306Table8.6, 308

of litigants. See sex ratios and birth

urbanization as a gender-equalizing pressure on divorce litigation practices, 139, 304, 308, 330, 461

women’s representation among divorce-seekers, 25

gender equality/gender justice

the divorce twofer’s benefits to courts and judges at the expense of, 1, 379

enshrinement in China’s legal principles, 11, 37, 66

and the gap between public promises and performance, 13

gender injustice. See also patriarchal cultural beliefs

child custody and divorce adjudication guided by patriarchal cultural beliefs, 2, 4, 33, 34, 426, 458

of conservative rural courts, 139

courts as a mechanism of, 66, 100, 325, 329, 453

in Henan and Zhejiang case outcomes, 460

impact of public awareness of gender injustice on judicial decisions, 472

impact on divorce adjudication outcomes in China, 33, 153, 232, 233Figure6.8, 301, 302, 303Figure8.3, 304

the personal voices of divorce litigants as a window on the human toll of, 104

Germany

gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357

influence on China’s modern legal system, 35n.1

global cultural norms. See also macro-comparative cross-national research; world society theory

contribution of global scripts, including “developmental idealism,” 463

global legal norms

domestic violence offenders considered unfit to serve as custodial parents, 383

limits of its influence on the freedom of divorce reflected by divorce in China, 15, 18, 34

and the no-fault “irreconcilable differences” standarno-fano-fano-fau, xv, 3, 16

research on. See macro-comparative cross-national research

global legal norms – CHINESE IMPLEMENTATION OF

bureaucratic capacity as a factor, 16, 66, 76

global norms of gender equality embraced by, 12, 37, 66, 462

influence on world society penetration, 470

orthogonal institutional logics neutralizing the implementation of, 17, 65, 463

global legal norms – CHINESE VIOLATION OF. See also legal ambiguity

and child custody determinations, 411

endogenous institutional logics as a factor, 3, 18, 64, 66, 462

global legal norms – FOUR DIRECTIONS OF INQUIRY REGARDING CHINESE VIOLATION OF

China’s domestic laws that address divorce rights and domestic violence, 11

China’s international legal commitments, 12, 459, 466

gap and impact studies, 14, 454

legal endogeneity theory, 18, 66, 454

Guangxi Province

murder of a judge from Luchuan County People’s Court, 92

Rongan County People’s Court divorce case, 91

survey of frontline judges about threats to their physical safety, 90

Guidelines on Judging Marital Cases Involving Domestic Violence. See 2008 Guidelines on Judging Marital Cases Involving Domestic Violence (2008 Guidelines)

Hafner-Burton, Emilie M. and Kiyoteru Tsutsui

ordinal measure of government repression of, 465

on the “paradox of empty promises,” 14, 461

Hathaway, Oona A.

“fair trial index,” 465

He Jie (battered woman case), 8

He, Xin, xv

Heimer, Carol A.

on endogenous organization practices, 15

Henan and Zhejiang Provinces compared

age at marriage, 149Figure4.7, 150

basic level courts in, 26, 27

caseloads of judges, 27, 121, 197Table6.1, 198

caseloads of judges impacted by development, 121, 198

child custody decisions selected for analysis, 397

court fees, 49

divorce adjudications in. See divorce adjudication outcomes in China

first-instance adjudicated divorce decisions, 121, 122Table4.2, 152

gender injustice case outcomes compared, 460

gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357, 363

homicide rates related to domestic violence in, 336

judicial resources compared, 52, 109, 178, 198, 199Table6.2, 201, 201Figure6.3, 205

minority nationalities in, 142

People’s Tribunals in, 29, 165

personal details about litigants, 130, 131Figure4.5

postings online compared, 113, 113Figure4.3, 114

postings to China Judgements Online compared, 105, 109, 118

public notice trials held in, 304, 306Table8.6

representativeness of, 104, 122, 122Table4.2, 147Figure4.6, 150, 194Figure6.2, 195

residential addresses of plaintiffs and defendants, 139

rules on posting decisions online, 103, 112

urbanization measured in, 106, 119Table4.1, 121, 138

websites scraped from, 9n.4

Henan and Zhejiang Provinces Compared

gender of those who killed their intimate partners, 357

Henan Province. See also Henan and Zhejiang Provinces compared

caseloads in comparison with Zhejiang, 27, 121, 197Table6.1, 198, 211

Decisions on Preventing and Combatting Domestic Violence issued in 2006, 262n.32

mediation surge in, 60

problem of “many cases, few judges,” 180, 181, 182Figure5.1

Henan Province – Court Cases

Fangcheng County People’s Court divorce case, 230

Fugou County People’s Court divorce case, 254

Guangshan County People’s Court homicide case, 359

Huixian Municipal People’s Court divorce case, 257

Huojia County People’s Court divorce case, 9–10

Jiaozuo Municipal Shanyang District child custody case, 401

Linzhou Municipal People’s Court twins custody case, 436

Luohe Municipal Shaoling District People’s Court divorce case, 262

Luohe Municipal Yancheng District People’s Court divorce and child custody cases, 230, 247, 399

Luohe Municipal Yuanhui District People’s Court divorce and child custody case, 404, 406

Luoyang Municipal Jianxi District People’s Court child custody case, 381

Lushi County People’s Court child custody case, 401

Minquan County People’s Court divorce and domestic violence case, 349

Miyang County People’s Court domestic violence case, 259

Nanyang Municipal Wancheng District People’s Court homicide case, 373

Nanzhao County People’s Court divorce and child custody case, 404

Nanzhao County People’s Court domestic violence case, 258

Puyang County People’s Court child custody cases, 400, 410

Puyang Municipal Intermediate People’s Court homicide case, 335

Qingfeng County People’s Court divorce cases, 248, 254

Shangcheng County People’s Court divorce case, 253

Shangcheng County People’s Court domestic violence case, 69

Shangqiu Municipal Liangyuan District People’s Court domestic violence case, 239

Song County People’s Court divorce and child custody case, 229

Song County People’s Court domestic violence case, 349

Taikang County People’s Court divorce case, 232

Tanghe County People’s Court divorce and child custody case, 405

Xichuan County People’s Court child custody case, 410

Xin County People’s Court child custody case, 402

Xingyang Municipal People’s Court divorce case, 245

Xinyang Municipal Shihe District People’s Court divorce case, 230

Xinye County People’s Court homicide case, 376

Xixia County People’s Court divorce cases, 247, 352

Xun County People’s Court divorce case, 231

Yucheng County People’s Court domestic violence case, 332

Yuzhou Municipal People’s Court child custody case, 400

Zhecheng County People’s Court child custody cases, 58, 400

Zhengzhou Municipal Erqi District County People’s Court divorce case, 284

Zhengzhou Municipal Intermediate People’s Court homicide case of Yao Shuangxia, 259

Zhengzhou Municipal Zhongyuan District County People’s Court domestic violence case, 259

Zhongmu County People’s court divorce case, 8–9

Zhumadian Municipal Intermediate People’s Court homicide case, 358

Henan Provincial Academy of Social Sciences Research Team

on “domestic relations trial reform” (家事审判改), 81

on socialist family values promoted by Xi Jinping, 79

Heritage Foundation, 81

homicide. See murder

Hong Kong

gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357

women’s representation among divorce-seekers in, 25

Htun, Mala and S. Laurel Weldon

family law index, 463, 465

Hu Haipeng (胡海鹏), 87, 88

Hu Mingyu (胡明玉) and Xince Shen (沈新策), 394

human rights

Amnesty International, 471

core UN international treaties endorsed by China, 12

country-level indicators of state responses to human rights and gender violence, 466

Hunan Province

murder and suicide of a litigant at Yongzhou Municipal Lingling District People’s Court, 92

the problem of “many cases, few judges” in, 88

Several Provisions on Preventing and Combatting Domestic Violence issued in 1996, 262n.32

Hunan Province – Court Cases

case illustrating the discretionary application of “persistent and frequent” domestic violence, 56

child custody case, 389

Hengyang County People’s Court divorce case of Ning Shunhua, 95, 248

in absentia trials (缺席审理)

failure to withhold consent, 128, 313, 425

prevalence of, 10

routinely conducted without formally declaring defendants missing, 10, 51

serving of court papers via public notices to defendants, 51

in absentia trials (缺席审理) – PUBLIC NOTICE DIVORCE TRIALS (公告离婚)

and false claims of missing defendants, 98

frequency of, 306Table8.6

ordinary civil procedure applied in, 62

portrayal in a Legal Report (今日说法) episode, 99

and the success of divorce, 51, 64

women’s severe disadvantage in the context of, 324, 329

India

gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357

income inequality in, 469

lawyer feminization in, 470

institutional decoupling. See decoupling of appearance and reality (or rules and practices) inside China’s divorce courts

Japan

gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357

influence on China’s modern legal system, 35n.1

women’s representation among divorce-seekers in, 25

Jiang, Jinliang and Zhu Zhenyuan, 44, 192

Jiang, Jue, 84

Jin, Ha, Waiting, 41

attrition and burnout of. See judges – OVERWORK (超负荷工作)

Chinese law on. See Law on Judges

evidentiary discourse used to invalidate plaintiffs’ legally valid evidence, 284, 288, 292, 296, 297, 328

lay assessors. See People’s Lay Assessors (人民陪审员)

judges – ASSOCIATE (审判员) and ASSISTANT JUDGES (助理审判员)

on collegial panels, 30, 155, 156, 163

deputizing of, 162, 457

elimination of the title “assistant judge,” 163, 171, 172

identification on court decisions, 30, 110, 124, 163

promotion of assistant judges to associate judgeships, 172, 174

judges – COLLEGIAL PANELS (合议制)

application of ordinary and simplified civil trial procedures by, 49

fake collegial panels, 161

head judges (审判长) on, 163

participation of assistant judges. See under judges – ASSOCIATE (审判员) and ASSISTANT JUDGES (助理审判员)

participation of lay assessors. See under People’s Lay Assessors (人民陪审员)

public notice trials conducted by, 52

the vanishing three-judge collegial panel in China, 177, 180, 186

judges – Female

decisions by female solo judges in rural courts, 139

feminization of the Chinese bench, 30

Henan and Zhejiang Provinces compared, 106

judge sex as a control variable, 140

lower numbers of female judges in rural areas, 139

vulnerability to threats of physical violence, 91

judges – FRONTLINE JUDGES (一线法官or 办案法官)

caseloads of, 156, 158, 179n.8, 210n.13

expansion of the ranks of, 30, 162

numbers of, 30, 90

threats to their physical safety, 90

judges – NUMBERS OF. See also judges – QUOTA SYSTEM (员额制)

counting of, 146, 210n.13

judicial resources in Henan and Zhejiang compared, 52, 201Figure6.3

People’s Daily article on “many cases, few judges,” 158

population size as the primary determinant, 178, 198, 199Table6.2, 201, 205

judges – OVERWORK (超负荷工作)

attrition and burnout of, 77, 95, 158, 179, 186

docket-shrinking property of the divorce twofer as a solution. See under divorce twofer

Henan and Zhejiang courts compared, 180

impact on domestic violence and divorce petition rulings, 4, 17, 185, 186, 472

SPC president Xiao Yang (肖扬) on overwork (超负荷工作) and caseload pressure, 178, 179

judges – PHYSICAL SAFETY THREATENED

case of Chen Dinghua (Ning Shunhua’s abusive husband), 94

impact on judicial decision-making, 87, 91, 95, 96, 304, 396, 411

Rongan County People’s Court divorce case, 91

judges – QUOTA SYSTEM (员额制)

“many cases, few judges” problem intensified by, 30, 174

and judicial efficiency, 173, 186

personnel slots allocated to judges reduced by, 30, 174

judges – SOLO JUDGES (独任法官)

application of the ordinary procedure advocated for, 186

mediation conducted by, 177n.5

petition withdrawals handled by, 177n.5, 226

public notice trials not conducted by, 52

use of collegial panels in ordinary simplified trial procedures compared with, 49

judicial coping strategies

divorce twofer as one of, 4

impact on child custody determinations, 411

routines and simplifications used by street-level bureacrats, 4, 456, 458

simplified civil procedure as. See trials and trial procedures – SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE

judicial efficiency

due process sacrificed for the sake of, 17, 97, 170, 175, 186

and the judicial performance evaluation system, 4, 17, 86, 96, 101, 164, 212, 221, 377, 395

judicial mediation. See mediation – JUDICIAL MEDIATION

judicial performance evaluation systems (绩效考核体系)

judicial efficiency as a measure of, 4, 17, 78, 86, 96, 101, 164, 212, 221, 377, 395

maintenance of social stability as a measure of, 4, 90

risk-averse practices of judges incentivized by, 87, 227, 327

well being of judges impacted by, 95

justifiable self-defense. See leniency in criminal sentencing – JUSTIFIABLE SELF-DEFENSE (正当防卫)

Kuo, Lily, 80

labor migration

and AWOL defendants, 52

left-behind children, 382, 393

marital violence refugees participating in, 8, 75, 257, 352

migrants living away from their places of hukou, 137

separation due to, 49

Spring Festival as an annual divorce rush for migrant workers, 118, 337

Law on Judges

on assistant judges (1995 version), 161

on assistant judges (2017 version), 163, 174

on professional duties and responsibilities of judges (2019 version), 268

lawyers

estimates of unique lawyers and legal workers appearing in court decisions, 147

fees charged by, 21

feminization in China of, 470

and other legal advocates, 32

lay assessors. See People’s Lay Assessors (人民陪审员)

Lazarus-Black, Mindie

on “cultures of reconciliation,” 79

legal ambiguity

and the best interests of the child principle cited by court rulings, 17, 33, 382, 385, 410, 411, 456

decoupling of freedom of divorce from practices that champion it due to, 41, 44, 456, 461

of the definition of domestic violence as persistent and frequent, 47, 56, 259

of the Fourteen Articles, 44, 286

judges’ discretionary application of breakdownism due to, 4, 17, 44, 64, 456, 461

of the simplified procedure, 166, 167

legal endogeneity

assessment of influences in macro-comparative cross-national research, 463, 466

Chinese violation of legal norms explained by, 18, 66, 454

endogeneity theory of Edelman (Lauren), 15

the gap between legal ideals and actual performance explained by, 14, 454

the institutional logic of the divorce twofer explained by, 66, 96, 102, 454, 460

legal endogeneity theory of Edelman (Lauren), 454

neutralization of (exogenous) global legal norms by (endogenous) local institutional norms, 18

and organization practices discussed by Heimer (Carol), 15

Legal Report (今日说法), 99

leniency in criminal sentencing. See also probation

case of Guo Qinjuan (homicide trial), 362

case of Yao Shuangxia, 370

case of Zhang Dianru (homicide trial), 367

conspicuous rates of, 358

and gender, 372

impact of reforms introduced in 2015 on, 331, 367, 474

in exchange for compensation, 335, 371

influence of forgiveness on, 372, 373, 377

life sentences rather than death, 354, 355, 371

and reconciliation. See criminal reconciliation

leniency in criminal sentencing – JUSTIFIABLE SELF-DEFENSE (正当防卫)

case of Xu Ping (Guangshan County People’s Court homicide case), 359

Chen Min’s representation of murder as, 361

inconsistent affirmation of, 358, 360, 368

rejected in the trial of Liu Shuanxia, 353

2015 Opinions on its application to domestic violence, 355, 376

Lhamo (拉姆) (battered woman case), 374n.35

Li, Hongxiang (李洪祥), 63, 70

Li, Ke, xv, 25, 47, 133, 394

on “collusion,” 388

sample of claims of domestic violence in rural southwest China, 24

Li, Suzhen (abusive man), 335

Li, Xiuping (李秀平), 55, 227

Liebman, Benjamin L., 124n.15

Lipsky, Michael

on coping mechanisms developed by lower-level participants to complete their tasks and hit performance targets, 459, 462

theory of street-level bureaucracy, 4, 454, 455, 457, 458

litigants

divorce plaintiffs and defendants distinguished, 24

women’s representation among divorce-seekers, 25

Liu Shuanxia (variously 刘栓霞 and 刘拴霞) (battered woman case), 353, 364

Liu Wei (刘巍)

battered woman syndrome defense in a Chinese murder trial attempted by, 354

Liu Xiuzhen (刘秀珍)

battered woman syndrome defense in a Chinese murder trial attempted by, 354

Liu, Sida

on adherence to local practice rather than global norms, 17

loose coupling. See decoupling of appearance and reality (or rules and practices) inside China’s divorce courts

Ma Yi’nan (马忆南)

on the reluctance of judges to grant divorces, 73

macro-comparative cross-national research. See also child custody – QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS; divorce adjudication outcomes in China – QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

analysis of vignette data related to, 467

assessment of endogenous and exogenous influences, 463, 466

assessment of influences in macro-comparative cross-national research, 468

limitations of, 16, 137, 464

methodological strategies used to surmount challenges of, 467

marital decoupling. See decoupling of married spouses

marital preservation. See also frivolous divorce; stability maintenance

China’s political ideology of family harmony and, 4, 69

Marriage Law (1950)

age at marriage, 148

arranged marriages banned by, 392

enactment of, 36

on freedom to divorce, 40

judicial mediation aimed at marital reconciliation, 22

Marriage Law (1980)

age at marriage, 148

“breakdown of mutual affection” (感情破裂) (Article 25) added to, 43

homicides resulting from judicial clampdown on divorce feared by drafters of, 43, 333, 379, 380

legislative intent of the breakdownism standard (Article 25), 43, 462

visitation rights provided by, 384, 389

Marriage Law (2001)

Article 36, 384, 387

domestic violence prohibited but not defined in, 37

Marriage Law (2001) – ARTICLE 32

on breakdown of mutual affection (preserved as Article 1079 in the 2020 Civil Code), 43, 46, 50, 63, 286

fault-based standards listed in and their inadequacy, 46, 71, 72, 143

statutory physical separation period shortened by, 49

word clouds for, 279, 283, 290

Marriage Law (2001) – ARTICLE 46

on claiming civil damages, 37, 250, 277

fault-based standard for the granting of civil damages, 250, 277

introduction in 2001 of, 37

preservation as Article 1091 in the 2020 Civil Code, 37

Marx, Karl, 41, 79n.9

Maynard-Moody, Steven and Shannon Portillo, 66, 455

mediation (调解)

China’s vanishing trial associated with the rise of, 61, 175

decoupling of appearance and reality (or rules and practices) inside China’s divorce courts traced to adherence to, 17

inclusion in word clouds for Article 32, 279, 283

marital reconciliation and preservation as the focus, 9, 23, 81, 332

rules prohibiting posting decisions online, 112

mediation – JUDICIAL MEDIATION

and child custody rulings, 387, 404

designation of closed cases as mediation decisions, 111

as the first step of the Chinese divorce litigation process, 9, 19

marital reconciliation as the aim of, 22, 23, 231, 274, 405

mediation – VILLAGE MEDIATION

gaslighting efforts of, 9

marital reconciliation and preservation as the focus of, 8

Merry, Sally Engle

research in Beijing, xiv

study of disputes in American lower courts, 272

migration. See labor migration

minority nationalities

basic-level courts in areas with concentrations of, 26

Lhamo (拉姆) (battered woman case), 374n.35

paucity of information about litigant ethnicity, 142

Mnookin, Robert H. and Lewis Kornhauser, 453

mothers-in-law

defense of their own daughter against attacks by son-in law, 334

fraught relations with daughters-in-law, 71, 391, 401

murder

case of Deng Yujiao (public sympathy for), 364

gender of those who killed their intimate partners, 357, 363

impact of judicial clampdown on divorce on rates of, 43, 333, 379, 380

of judges by disgruntled litigants, 93

risks faced by women leaving abusive men, 336

sentencing. See leniency in criminal sentencing; probation

as an unintended effect of judges’ prolonging of marriages, 473

murder – OF ABUSERS BY BATTERED WOMEN

after failure to get relief from public authorities, 365, 366

battered woman syndrome defense attempted by Liu Wei and Liu Xiuzhen, 354

case of Guo Qinjuan, 364

case of Li Yan (李彦), 355

case of Yao Shuangxia, 370

domestic violence as a factor among female homicide offenders, 357

Guangshan County People’s Court homicide case, 359

Nanyang Municipal Wancheng District People’s Court homicide case, 373

numbers of women in Chinese prisons accused of, 356

public sympathy for, 355, 472

Yuyao Municipal People’s Court domestic violence case, 366

murder – OF BATTERED wOMEN BY THEIR ABUSERS

cases. See He Jie (battered woman case); Lhamo (拉姆) (battered woman case); Li Suzhen (abusive man); Liu Shuanxia (variously 刘栓霞 and 刘拴霞) (battered woman case); Xue Aihua (battered woman case)

jealousy and possessiveness associated with cases of men, 229, 353, 357, 373, 375n.36

risks faced by women leaving abusive men, 336, 345

Yinzhou District People’s Court attempted homicide case, 335

Yiwu Municipal People’s Court attempted homicide case, 334

murder – Threats. See also judges – PHYSICAL SAFETY THREATENED

by defendants toward children, 374n.35, 409

by defendants toward a plaintiff’s family, 57, 255, 366

natal family

abuse of victims and parents-in-law by husbands, 400

domestic violence victims’ escape to, 5, 6, 229, 231, 335, 352, 399, 400, 401

mentioning in litigant’s statement as evidence of gender, 129

Netherlands

gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357

1992 Opinions of the SPC on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Civil Procedure Law

on applying the simplified civil procedure, 166

on mediation in divorce litigation, 22n.10

on missing person declarations for divorce trials, 50, 52

on second-instance trials, 67

1993 Several Concrete Opinions Concerning Handling Child Custody Matters in Divorce Trials (1993 Opinions)

“infant standard,” 384, 386, 451

on child support, 385

legal standards determining child custody, 384

on joint legal custody (轮流抚养), 384

Ning Shunhua divorce case, 95, 248

one-child policy

and son preference, 101n.13

rescinding of, 81

shortage of women in rural areas resulting from, 139

stereotypes about a selfish generation of only-children, 97

110 (equivalent of 911)

reporting of domestic violence, 248, 347

ordinary procedure. See trials and trial procedures – Ordinary Procedure (普通程序)

Organic Law of People’s Courts

on basic-level courts, 26, 29

loose formula for determining numbers of judges (2018), 198

on head judges (审判长) on collegial panels, 162

on assistant judges (2006 version), 162

on assistant judges (2018 version), 163

on solo judges serving on collegial panels, 164, 165

patriarchal cultural beliefs. See also gaslighting efforts; son preference

child custody determinations impacted by, 391, 395, 411

rural courts’ support of, 383

street-level bureaucrats’ biased judgements guided by, 4, 17, 458

Peking University’s Center for Women’s Law Studies and Legal Services, xiv, 354

People’s Lay Assessors (人民陪审员)

identification on court decisions, 110, 124, 163

increased participation of, in response to clogged courts, 176, 181, 186

participation in trials as members of collegial panels, 31, 48, 49, 161, 163, 171, 176, 186

People’s Tribunals (人民法庭 or 派出法庭)

family cases overrepresented in, 119

lack of identification in their written court decisions, 142

rural setting of, 29

simplified procedure applied in, 165

performance evaluation systems. See judicial performance evaluation systems (绩效考核体系)

personal safety protection orders

provisions in the Anti-Domestic Violence Law (2015), 40

pledge letters (保证书)

case from Xinchang County People’s Court, 10

case of He Jie’s husband Zhang Dong, 6

and establishing mutual affection, 7, 58

as evidence to prove abuse by the defendant, 56, 241, 252, 253

judicial misuse of, 58, 70, 252, 265, 293, 352

police

calls to 110 (equivalent of 911), 248, 347

domestic violence reported to by plaintiffs, 7, 9, 253, 255, 333, 347, 348, 355, 365, 366, 374n.35, 408

and other street-level bureaucracies, 455

political ideology. See also Marx, Karl; stability maintenance (维稳) ideology

and the civil law tradition, 36

and divorce petition denial rates, 191, 192, 224, 234, 327

ideological words deployed to deny divorce petitions, 247, 272, 277, 284, 286, 289Table8.2, 292, 296, 296Table8.3, 297, 298Table8.4

Maoist legacy of judicial mediation in China’s courts, 19

socialist family values promoted by Xi Jinping, 79, 80, 189

Pope, Shawn and John W. Meyer, 462

preponderance of evidence. See evidence of domestic violence – PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE STANDARD

probation

in criminal sentencing of women who killed their abusive husbands, 358, 362, 364, 379

procuracy and procurators

criminal domestic violence cases handled by, 57, 346

performance evaluation systems of, 363

promise letters (承诺书). See pledge letters

proof. See evidence of domestic violence

property division

concessions yielded in exchange for divorce, 312, 320, 326, 329, 378, 406, 453

contestation of, 93

public authorities. See All-China Women’s Federation; police

public notice trials. See in absentia trials (缺席审理) – PUBLIC NOTICE DIVORCE TRIALS (公告离婚)

quota system. See judges – QUOTA SYSTEM (员额制)

rape (强奸) – MARITAL RAPE

cutting off of reproductive organs by victims of, 367

euphemistic references used by women for, 241

lack of legal recognition in China of, xiv, 127

Shangcheng County People’s Court divorce case, 253

remarriage

after a “fake divorce,” 44, 101

impact of the “marriage squeeze” on divorced men’s prospects for, 139, 402n.14

impact on child custody decisions, 394, 402

by litigants not measured in the current research, 143

by victims and their abusers after they divorce, 365, 374n.35

Russia and the Soviet Union

emphasis on moving caseloads, 86, 186

influence on China’s divorce laws, 40

influence on China’s modern legal system, 35n.1

institutional norm of “telephone justice,” 85

Scotland

women’s representation among divorce-seekers in, 25

second-attempt petitions. See divorce twofer – SECOND ATTEMPTS

sex ratios and birth. See also son preference

personal details about litigants, 114, 130, 131Figure4.5, 439

Shi, Lei, 80, 81

simplified procedure. See trials and trial procedures – SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE

Sisyphean quality of Chinese divorce litigation

China’s institutionalized norm of denying first-attempt divorce petitions, 1, 236, 475

ideological opposition to freedom of divorce, 41

lack of advice given by authorities to vulnerable women regarding handling it, 331, 475

and the need for personal protection orders to be treated as a proof of statutory wrongdoing, 472

Ning Shunhua’s experience, 95, 248, 471

socialist morality. See also Marx, Karl; stability maintenance (维稳) ideology

Confucian family values blended with, 42, 60, 79

socialist family values promoted by Xi Jinping, 79, 80, 189

social unrest. See stability maintenance (维稳) ideology

solo judges. See judges – SOLO JUDGES (独任法官)

son preference

and fines for “out-of-quota birth,” 101, 101n.13

custody of only-daughters impacted by, 413, 426, 437Table11.6, 438, 445, 450

skewed sex ratio in rural China linked to, 393, 437Table11.6, 438, 439

status and security of rural woman linked to, 391

Soviet Union. See Russia and the Soviet Union

Spring Festival (Chinese Lunar New Year)

surge in divorce cases following, 118, 337

timing of a divorce case in Henan, 370, 403

stability maintenance (维稳) ideology. See also frivolous divorce (轻率离婚)

Confucian ideological roots of, 79

denying first-attempt divorce petitions related to, 4, 69, 88, 93, 237, 247, 273

impact of public sentiment on judicial rulings, 58, 364

the institutionalization of criminal reconciliation associated with, 370

social impact (社会效果) of judicial decisions related to, 85, 364

unintended opposite effects of policies promoting it, 473

stereotypes. See also patriarchal cultural beliefs

about a selfish generation of only-children, 97

about irrationally suspicious women filing for divorce frivolously, 97, 226, 236

biased judgements of street-level bureaucrats due to, 4, 17, 458, 474

Stern, Rachel E., 124n.15, 144, 179n.9

street-level bureaucracy

as de facto policy makers, 455

defined as “frontline workers” serving as gatekeepers to state resources, services, and opportunities, 455

and the gap between public promises and performance, 4, 17, 454

routines and simplifications used by, 4, 456, 458

street-level bureaucracy – FIVE DEFINING HALLMARKS OF

judges’ discretionary rulings due to pervasive legal ambiguity, 3–4, 17, 456, 461

many cases, few judges, 33, 174, 457

routines and simplifications used by judges to cope, 3–4, 458

street-level bureaucrats’ biased judgements guided by stereotypes, 4, 17, 458

street-level bureaucrats’ use of “surrogate measures” to evaluate workers, 4, 459

suicide and attempted suicide

divorce cases leading to, 7, 39, 241, 366

injuries incorrectly determined to be associated with suicide attempts, 57

murder and suicide of a litigant at Yongzhou Municipal Lingling District People’s Court, 92

of overworked judges, 95

Supreme People’s Court (SPC)

adjudication committee member. See Du Wanhua (杜万华)

Article 73 of the 2001 Several Provisions of the SPC Concerning Civil Procedure Evidence, 54, 288

China Judicial Big Data Research Institute (中国司法大数据研究院), 124n.15

court decisions posted online. See China Judgements Online

death sentences reviewed by, 355

1992 Opinions. See 1992 Opinions of the SPC on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Civil Procedure Law

1993 Opinions. See 1993 Several Concrete Opinions Concerning Handling Child Custody Matters in Divorce Trials

place in China’s four-tier court system, 26

president. See Wang Shengjun (王胜俊); Xiao Yang (肖扬); Zhou Qiang (周强)

Several Concrete Opinions on How to Determine in Divorce Trials Whether Marital Affection Has Indeed Broken Down. See Fourteen Articles

2001 Interpretations. See 2001 Interpretations of the SPC on Several Issues Regarding the Application of the Marriage Law (2001 Interpretations)

2008 Guidelines. See 2008 Guidelines on Judging Marital Cases Involving Domestic Violence (2008 Guidelines)

2013 Provisions. See 2013 Provisions of the SPC on People’s Courts’ Posting Decisions Online (2013 Provisions)

2015 Opinions. See 2015 Opinions of the SPC Concerning the Handling of Criminal Domestic Violence Cases in Accordance with the Law (2015 Opinions)

use of China Judgements Online to establish best judicial practices, 151

Supreme People’s Court (SPC) – Five Year Outlines

first five-year outline for judicial reform (1999–2003), 165, 171

second five-year outline for judicial reform (2004–2008), 166, 198

third five-year outline for judicial reform (2009–2013), 164, 165

fourth five-year outline for judicial reform (2014–2018), 61, 164, 171

Taiwan

gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357

trials and trial procedures. See also courts; divorce adjudication outcomes in China

domestic relations trial reform (家事审判改革), 84, 89, 191, 283

legal standards concerning the determination of civil procedure, 329

public notice trials. See in absentia trials (缺席审理) – PUBLIC NOTICE DIVORCE TRIALS (公告离婚)

the vanishing three-judge collegial panel in China, 177, 180, 186

vanishing trial in the United States, 175

trials and trial procedures – ORDINARY PROCEDURE (普通程序)

frequency of, 306Table8.6

public notice trials conducted according to, 52

statutory deadlines for, 48

utilization in Henan and Zhejiang compared, 182Figure5.1, 308, 309Figure8.5

trials and trial procedures – SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE (简易程序)

coding in quantitative analyses, 132

expansion of the scope of, 170, 177, 177n.6

frequency of, 306Table8.6

statutory deadlines for, 48

use as a coping strategy by judges, 165, 169

utilization in Henan and Zhejiang compared, 181, 182Figure5.1, 184, 308

twofer. See divorce twofer

2001 Interpretations of the SPC on Several Issues Regarding the Application of the Marriage Law (2001 Interpretations)

on breakdownism, 46, 47, 286

definition of domestic violence, 38

scope of domestic violence as persistent and frequent (持续性、经常性) defined by, 56, 259

2001 Several Provisions of the SPC Concerning Civil Procedure Evidence, 54, 288

2008 Guidelines on Judging Marital Cases Involving Domestic Violence (2008 Guidelines), 37, 38, 53, 54, 58, 354, 383, 385, 403

Article 63 on privileging the safety of children, 383

Article 64 on privileging the safety of children, 385

Chen Min as author of, 354

definition of domestic violence clarified by, 38

on evidentiary standards, 396

on global norms of gender equality, 37

on pledge letters, 58

Stockholm Syndrome referenced regarding the emotional attachment of children to abusive parents, 407

2013 Provisions of the SPC on People’s Courts’ Posting Decisions Online (2013 Provisions), 112, 113, 113Figure4.3, 114, 117, 135

compliance by Henan and Zhejiang Provinces compared, 113, 113Figure4.3, 114

emendation as the 2016 Provisions, 116n.6

the privacy of minors protected in, 135

promulgation of, 112

2015 Interpretations of the SPC on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law

on carrying out mediation in divorce litigation, 22n.10

on locations for the placement of public notices, 51

preponderance of evidence standard reaffirmed in Article 108 of, 55

2015 Opinions of the SPC Concerning the Handling of Criminal Domestic Violence Cases in Accordance with the Law (2015 Opinions)

citing in court decisions, 376, 377

guidance on criminal sentencing related to domestic violence, 355

on justifiable self-defense in intentional homicide (正当防卫), 355, 376

on transferring domestic violence cases to procurators, 346

United Kingdom. See also England and Wales

child custody determinations, 390

United Nations

core UN international treaties endorsed by China, 12

Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993), 38

Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women (1985) submitted by China to, 39

United States

bargaining in the shadow of the law, Mnookin, Robert H. and Lewis Kornhauser, 453

battered woman syndrome accepted as a type of post-traumatic stress disorder, 353

child custody determinations, 390

court rules broken by lower-court judges in, 167

divorce granted to Kim Lee by a Beijing court (2013), 11

establishing a preponderance of evidence in US civil courts, 54

evidence of fathers’ “demand for sons,” 412

gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357

legal endogeneity obscuring and enabling employment discrimination by private corporations, 15

murder rates of women leaving abusive partners, 334

promarriage movement in, 79, 81, 473

stereotypes about irrationally suspicious women filing for divorce frivolously, 96, 97

the vanishing trial in, 175

unwitting divorce (被离婚)

case of Du Shuanghua (杜双华), 99

gender bias in legal protections for in absentia defendants, 100, 329

Legal Report (今日说法) episode on, 99

and public notice trials, 100, 329

urbanization

failure of macro-comparative cross-national research to disaggregate urban and rural China, 468

gender-equalizing pressure on divorce litigation practices of, 139, 304, 308, 330, 461

hukou (户口 or 户籍) status, 47, 137, 138

impact on age at marriage, 149Figure4.7, 150

impact on child custody decisions. See under child custody – QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

impact on ideological words in judges’ holdings, 299, 300Table8.5

impact on male plaintiffs’ allegations of domestic violence, 239

Zhejiang and Henan compared, 106, 119Table4.1, 121, 138

Walker, Lenore E.

on the archetypal “cycle of violence,” 75

on pathological jealousy associated with homicidal rage, 373, 375n.36

theory of “battered woman syndrome,” 353

Wang, Alice Z., 116n.6, 124n.15

Wang, Cheng-Tong Lir and Evan Schofer, 463

Wang, Mengyao (王梦遥), 89

Wang Shengjun (王胜俊)

court reform under his leadership, 164

reports on overworked judges and bailiffs, 77, 158

Wang, Yuhua

indirect proxy measure of judicial corruption, 467n.2

withdrawal. See also caiding decisions (裁定书)

benefits to judges of petition withdrawals, 189, 227

involuntary nature of nominally voluntary withdrawals of divorce petitions, 234, 363

WomanStats database

limitations of, 465

world society theory

focus on exogenous models, 13

limitations of, 461, 462

on the ubiquity of decoupling (or “ceremony without substance”), 12, 13

Xi Jinping

socialist family values promoted by, 79, 80, 189

Xiao Yang (肖扬) (SPC president)

on overwork (超负荷工作) and caseload pressure, 178, 179

Xu, Anqi (徐安琪), 71

Xu, Shuanggui (徐双桂), 89

Xue Ninglan (薛宁兰), xiv, 45, 162

Ye, Xiangyang (叶向阳), 180

Yunnan Province

Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture Intermediate People’s Court divorce case, 363, 367

quota system reforms in, 173

rates of mediations for divorce petitions in, 217n.17

Zeng, Shaoyou (曾少友), 393

Zhang Liyong (张立勇) (Henan Provincial High Court President), 93, 158

Zhang, Rongli (张荣丽), 389, 407

Zhang, Wusheng (章武生), 68, 159

Zhejiang Province. See also Henan and Zhejiang Provinces compared

adjudicated divorce decisions made on or after March 1, 2016, 470

caseloads in courts in, 27, 121, 156, 156n.1, 180, 197Table6.1, 211

first-attempt decisions primarily made by solo judges in, 139

Measures of the Municipality of Wenzhou for the Implementation of a Domestic Violence Warning System, 263

problem of “many cases, few judges,” 158, 181

procedural shortcuts taken by judges in the city of Jinhua, 167

Regulations on Preventing and Combatting Domestic Violence issued in 2010, 262n.32

2011 Provisional Rules on Posting Decisions Online, 112, 114, 117

Wenzhou’s pioneering anti-domestic violence work, 262, 346, 354

Zhejiang Province – Court Cases

Anji County People’s Court domestic violence cases, 252, 265

Cangnan County People’s Court child custody case, 408

Cangnan County People’s Court divorce case, 246

Cangnan County People’s Court domestic violence cases, 256, 263

Chun’an County People’s Court divorce case, 249

Chun’an County People’s Court domestic violence case, 264

Haiyan County People’s Court child custody case, 409

Haiyan County People’s Court domestic violence case, 470

Hangzhou Municipal Jianggan District People’s Court divorce case, 250

Hangzhou Municipal Yuhang District People’s Court divorce cases, 255, 267

Huzhou Municipal Nanxun District People’s Court child custody case, 403

Huzhou Municipal Wuxing District People’s Court divorce case, 285

Kaihua County People’s Court divorce case, 246

Lanxi Municipal People’s Court child custody case, 402

Lanxi Municipal People’s Court domestic violence case, 265

Linhai Municipal People’s Court child custody case, 405

Longquan Municipal People’s Court domestic violence case, 259

Ninghai County People’s Court domestic violence case, 345

Pingyang County People’s Court child custody case, 402

Qingtian County People’s Court domestic violence case, 265

Quzhou Municipal Kecheng District People’s Court divorce cases, 247, 294

Quzhou Municipal Qujiang District People’s Court divorce cases, 247, 260

Rui’an County People’s Court domestic violence case, 333

Sanmen County People’s Court divorce case, 261

Shaoxing Municipal Yuecheng District People’s Court divorce case, 391

Tiantai County People’s Court domestic violence case, 264

Wenzhou Municipal Intermediate People’s Court domestic violence cases, 372, 377

Wenzhou Municipal Longwan District People’s Court domestic violence case, 263

Xinchang County People’s Court divorce trial case, 10

Yinzhou District People’s Court attempted homicide case, 335

Yiwu Municipal People’s Court attempted homicide, 334

Yiwu Municipal People’s Court divorce case, 285

Yongkang Municipal People’s Court divorce case, 256

Yueqing Municipal People’s Court domestic violence case, 69

Yuhang District People’s Court domestic violence case, 332

Yuyao Municipal People’s Court domestic violence case, 366

Zhoushan Municipal Putuo District People’s Court domestic violence case, 258

Zhuji Municipal People’s Court divorce case, 245

Zhou Qiang (周强) (SPC president)

on caseloads in people’s courts, 156

on the deaths of overworked judges, 95

Zhou, Bingyi (周冰一) and Yuanting Qiu (邱苑婷), 73, 234

Zhu, Zhanwang (朱展望) and Songwen Zhu (邹松文), 164

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