Book contents
- Law as an Instrument
- Law as an Instrument
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 A Dual Constitution with Illiberal Characteristics
- 3 Judicial Interpretation as a de facto Primary Statute for Adjudication
- 4 The Judicial Document as Informal State Law
- 5 Guiding Cases as a Form of Statutory Interpretation
- 6 Bureaucratization of Judicial Precedents
- 7 Concluding Reflections
- Appendix: Methodology and Data
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - Judicial Interpretation as a de facto Primary Statute for Adjudication
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 July 2022
- Law as an Instrument
- Law as an Instrument
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 A Dual Constitution with Illiberal Characteristics
- 3 Judicial Interpretation as a de facto Primary Statute for Adjudication
- 4 The Judicial Document as Informal State Law
- 5 Guiding Cases as a Form of Statutory Interpretation
- 6 Bureaucratization of Judicial Precedents
- 7 Concluding Reflections
- Appendix: Methodology and Data
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter examines Supreme People’s Court (SPC)’s judicial interpretation, which has been formally legalized as a source of law for adjudication, as well as its relationship with various other statutes in China’s legislative system. It points out that the inner logic of China’s legislation with different hierarchical status, as distinct from those of democratically elected parliamentary systems, is determined by the de facto distribution of legislative power within its authoritarian regime, where the SPC has become a significant player in exercising legislative power in a way that has largely evolved beyond its constitutional settings. In particular, it investigates the unique inner logic of SPC’s judicial interpretations, which have become a de facto primary source of law for adjudication in practice.
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- Law as an InstrumentSources of Chinese Law for Authoritarian Legality, pp. 60 - 81Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022