Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T13:30:45.708Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

How has China formed its conception of the rule of law? A contextual analysis of legal instrumentalism in ROC and PRC law-making

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2017

Qianlan Wu
Qianlan Wu*
Affiliation:
Assistant professor in the School of Law, University of Nottingham. E-mail: [email protected].
*
[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The rule of law as a globally recognised concept is multi-faceted (Chesterman, 2008). In the common-law tradition, it is conceived through a formal and substantive framework. In essence, it centres on the supremacy of the law over the arbitrary exercise of power and the formal legality of the law (Tamanaha, 2004, p. 115; Cotterrell, 1992, p. 157). The rule-of-law concept has been criticised as being of unique European origin, where plural social organisation and universal natural law constitute its two preconditions (Unger, 1977, pp. 80–110). It has, however, been advocated around the world as one essential principle leading to modernity, where the legitimacy of the law based on the formal and substantive rule of law serves as a strong symbol for a modern society (Deflem, 1996, p. 5).

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Law in Context , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , September 2017 , pp. 277 - 294
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

The research of the paper is inspired by the University of Nottingham ESRC Impact Acceleration Award on ‘What Should We Do when Chinese Law Becomes More Assertive’, which the author has been awarded in 2015–2016. The author is grateful to Dr Sarah Dauncey, Dr Jeremy Taylor, Dr Scott Pacey, Dr Sunari Senaratne and Professor Francis Snyder for reading the earlier versions of the paper and for their support. The author thanks the two reviewers for their comments and insights. Any errors in the paper are with the author.

References

Barron, Ann, Collins, Hugh, Jackson, Emily, Lacy, Nicola, Reiner, Robert and Ross, Hamish (2002) Jurisprudence and Legal Theories: Commentary and Materials. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bonell, Michael Joachim (2005) An International Restatement of Contract Law: The UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts. Leiden and Boston: Transnational Publishers.Google Scholar
Cai, Dingjian (2010) ‘Lun Peng Zheng Dui Ming Zhu Fa Zhi Jian She de Shi Da Gong Xian’ [‘Ten Contributions Made by Peng Zheng to China's Legal and Democratic Reform’], Fa Xue [Legal Science] 2: 14–26.Google Scholar
Castellucci, Ignazio (2012) Rule of Law and Legal Complexity in the People's Republic of China. Trento: Università degli Studi di Trento.Google Scholar
Chen, Jianfu (2008) Chinese Law: Context and Transformation. Brill.Google Scholar
Chesterman, Simon (2008) ‘An International Rule of Law?’, American Journal of Comparative Law 56: 331–361.Google Scholar
Ching, Lin Tsai et al. (1930) The Civil Code of Republic of China. Leiden and Boston: Kelly & Walsh.Google Scholar
Chun, Lin (2006) The Transformation of Chinese Socialism. Durham and London: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Collins, Hugh (1982) Marxism and Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cotterrell, Roger (1992) The Sociology of Law: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Deflem, Mathieu (1996) Harbemas, Law and Modernity. London, Thousand Oaks and New Delhi: Sage.Google Scholar
Gallagher, Mary (2005) ‘China in 2004: Stability above All’, Asian Survey 45(1): 21.Google Scholar
Gilpatrick, Meredith P. (1950) ‘The Status of Law and Law-Making Procedure Under the Kuomingtang 1925–1946’, The Far Eastern Quarterly 10(1): 38–55.Google Scholar
Greiff, Thomas (1985) ‘The Principle of Human Rights in Nationalist China: John C. H. Wu and the Ideological Origins of the 1946 Constitution’, The China Quarterly 103: 441–461.Google Scholar
Horowitz, Richard (2004) ‘International Law and State Transformation in China, Siam, and the Ottoman Empire during the Nineteenth Century’, Journal of World History 15(5): 445–486.Google Scholar
Huang, Philip (2001) Code, Custom and Legal Practice in China: The Qing and the Republic Compared. Chicago: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Jenco, Leigh (2010) ‘“Rule by Man” and “Rule by Law” in Early Republican China: Contributions to a Theoretical Debate’, Journal of Asian Studies 69(1): 181–203.Google Scholar
Kroncke, Jedidiah J. (2012) ‘Roscoe Pound in China: A Lost Precedent for the Liabilities of American Legal Exceptionalism’, Brooklyn Journal of International Law 38(1):.Google Scholar
Lee, Theresa Man Ling (2015) ‘Modernity and Postcolonial Nationhood: Revisiting Mahatma Gandhi and Sun Yat-sen a Century Later’, Philosophy Social Criticism 41(2): 131–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leng, Shaochuan (1977), ‘Role of Law in the People's Republic of China as Reflecting Mao Tse Tung's Legacy’, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 68: 356.Google Scholar
Linebarger, Paul (1937) The Political Doctrines of Sun Yat Sen: An Exposition of the San Min Chu I. West Port, CT: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
Liu, Shia-Ling (1966) ‘A New Concept of Law: A Study of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's Political Philosophy’, Asia Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia 4: 1.Google Scholar
Maccormack, Geoffrey (1996) The Spirit of Traditional Chinese Law. Athens and London: University of Georgia Press.Google Scholar
Minzner, Carl F (2011) ‘China’s Turn against Law’, American Journal of Comparative Law 59: 935.Google Scholar
Peerenbolm, Randall (2001) ‘Globalization, Path Dependency and the Limits of Law: Administrative Law Reform and Rule of Law in the People's Republic of China’, Berkeley Journal of International Law 19: 161.Google Scholar
Peerenbolm, Randall (2002) China's Long March towards the Rule of Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Peerenbolm, Randall (2004) Asian Discourse of the Rule of Law. London and New York: Routledge Curzon.Google Scholar
Potter, Pitman (2003) From Leninist Discipline to Socialist Legalism: Peng Zhen on Law and Political Authority in the PRC. Chicago: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Qin, Juia Ya (2003) ‘WTO-Plus Obligations and Their Implications for the WTO Legal System: An Appraisal of the China Accession Protocol’, Journal of World Trade 37(3): 483.Google Scholar
Sun, Yat Sen (1924) Jian Guo Fang Lue [A Program of National Reconstruction] . Shanghai: Shanghai Mingzhi Press.Google Scholar
Tamanaha, Brian (2004) On the Rule of Law: History, Politics, Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tay, Alice Erh-Soon (1969) ‘Law in Communist China – Part I’, Sydney Law Review 6: 153.Google Scholar
Unger, Roberto (1977) Law in Modern Society: Towards a Criticism of Social Theory. : Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Wang, Lifeng (2014) Fa Zhi Zhong Guo [A Rule of Law China] . Beijing: People's Press China.Google Scholar
Wang, Liming (2015) Mai Xiang Fa Zhi: Cong Fa Lv Ti Xi dao Fa Zhi Ti Xi [Towards the Rule of Law: From the Legal System to the Rule of Law] . Beijing: China People's University Press.Google Scholar
Wang, Zengming and Shi, Xingzhou (2016) Zhongguo GongChanDang Dang Nei Fa Gui Yan Jiu [Studies on the CCP Intra-Party Rules] . Beijing: People's Press China.Google Scholar
Woodbridge, Samuel (1900), China's Only Hope: An Appeal, translation of Zhidong Quan Xue Pian, Zhang. New York: Fleming Revel Co. Publishing.Google Scholar
Wu, Jingxiong and Huang, Gongjue (1937) History of the Establishment of Chinese Constitution (Zhong Guo Zhi Xian Shi). Shanghai: Shang Hai Shang Wu Ying Shu Guan.Google Scholar
Wu, Qianlan (2013) Competition Laws, Globalization and Legal Pluralism: China's Experience. Oxford: Hart Publishing.Google Scholar
Xiao, Gongquan (2005) Zhong Guo Zheng Zhi Si Xiang Shi [History of Chinese Political Thoughts] . Beijing: Xinxing Press China.Google Scholar
Zhang, Mo (2006) Chinese Contract Law: Theory and Practice. Leiden and Boston: Brill.Google Scholar
Zhang, Mo (2010) ‘The Socialist Legal System with Chinese Characteristics: China's Discourse for the Rule of Law and a Bitter Experience’, Temple International & Comparative Law Journal 24: 1.Google Scholar
Zhang, Qianfan (2012) The Constitution of China. Oxford: Hart Publishing.Google Scholar
Zhang, Youyu (1980) Legislation Principles in the Socialist Legal System, Dong Yue Lun Cong 01:4–9 . Ji Nan, Shang Dong Province, China: Shang Dong Academy of Social Sciences Press.Google Scholar
Zhang, Yuqing and Huang, Danhan (2003) ‘The New Contract Law in the PRC and UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contract’, Unif Law Review. Available at: <http://www.unidroit.org/english/publications/review/articles/2000-3-zhang-e.pdf> (accessed 20 February 2017).Google Scholar
Zhao, Dingxin (2015) The Confucian-Legalist State: A New Theory of Chinese History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Zhao, Suisheng (1996) Power by Design: Constitution-Making in Nationalist China. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Zhou, Wangsheng (2009) Li Fa Xue [Science of Legislation] . Beijing: Law Press China.Google Scholar
Zhu, Liheng (2009) ‘Yige Zhi Shang he San Ge Zhi Shang de Bian Si’ [‘Debate on One Supreme and Three Supremes’], Zheng Zhi Xue Yan Jiu [Political Science Studies] 2: 8–14.Google Scholar
Zhu, Sanzhu (ed.) (2011) Law and Institutions of Modern China, Vol. I. London: Routledge.Google Scholar