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The article discusses the class-education exhibition Never forget class struggle: The class-education exhibition in Shandong, Cine-Exhibition of Class Struggle in 1960s China which shows Socialist Multimedia Warfare.

Based on an ethnographic study of courtroom interactions in the bilingual (Chinese/English) common law system in Hong Kong, this article investigates how language plays a constitutive role in shaping the ways people use, argue, and think about law. While the use of English in Hong Kong prescribes by default the supposedly universal speech act of statement-making, the presence of Cantonese allows local speech acts to be brought into the courtrooms. Two local speech acts, “catching fleas in words” and “speaking bitterness,” are discussed. The findings of this study suggest that by studying the local practices and beliefs in postcolonial settings, researchers can gain insights into the complex ways in which Anglo American–style legal institutions are reconstituted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through studying a revenge murder triggered by a land dispute in China and the subsequent trial, this article explores "narrative transformation" in a social drama and proposes an event-based model for authoritarian deliberation. It argues that an obscure murder rose to prominence because it came to be narrated as a different kind of story. Initially viewed as "a normal killing," it was transformed to represent a "contest" between a law-and-order frame, which emphasizes individual guilt, and a righteous-revenge frame, which symbolizes wider conflicts. The article also contends that in the absence of an institutionalized issue forum, contentious events present a model for authoritarian deliberation. That is to say, deliberation is often pegged to social dramas on the "judicial periphery," thanks to a liminal phase inviting reflexivity, and exposes elite dissent that is otherwise veiled by an interest-driven alliance. In this case study, the media engaged with other institutions in contentious performances that affirmed hidden social fault-lines but also encouraged deliberation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese criminal procedural law has recently been undergoing rapid transformation. While the search for 'truth', embodied in a confession by the accused, has traditionally dominated the criminal process, efforts are now being made to secure more procedural fairness. This is exemplified by the introduction of rules to render inadmissible at trial confessions extorted from suspects by ill treatment. Unsurprisingly, it has proved difficult to shift the mindsets of the players in the criminal justice process. The new rules have not been fully implemented in many respects and there is still confusion over the criteria to be used by the courts in making decisions about inadmissibility. Further, it has proved difficult to enable defence lawyers to play a more active role in defending their clients and to render it normal for witnesses to testify at trial. This handicaps the drive to secure a better balance between the search for truth and procedural fairness in the Chinese criminal trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under China's current Marriage Law amended and enacted in 2001, its post--divorce financial relief system comprises three disparate component parts. The principal part and the one analogous to the American concept of "alimony" or "spousal support" is the "post--divorce financial assistance system," as authorized under Article 42. The other two parts, "economic compensation at divorce" and "divorce damage claims system," as authorized under Article 40 and Article 46, respectively, complement the principal part. After a brief historical overview of China's alimony legislations, this Article offers a doctrinal analysis of the two more straightforward components as embodied by Article 40 and Article 46. Then it delves into an in-depth textual criticism of Article 42, and its concomitant 1984 SPC's Judicial Opinions and Article 27 of the 2001 SPC's Judicial Interpretations, the three constituents of the entire corpus of China's "alimony laws." Through the lenses of California's divorce laws, focusing on the current judicial interpretations and practices, the author candidly critiques the Chinese sui generis body of "alimony laws." The author arrives at such significant findings: (1) The statutes and judicial interpretations are too vague to be of much practical guidance when judges decide issues such as the eligibility prerequisites for invoking the law and the criteria for rendering financial assistance; (2) The law is fraught with loopholes; (3) The law is obsolete and does not suit the current socioeconomic reality of China. The author observes that such vague, defective and obsolete laws leave too many key issues to the judges' vagaries. The author makes concrete recommendations and suggests specific remedies to close the loopholes and fill the gaps in the current post--divorce financial assistance system. The author advances the theory that the absence of an elaborate, systematic set of alimony laws and procedural rules is the direct result of the Party-state's overemphasis on mediation and a diehard feature of the rule of man, to the detriment of the rule of law. The author describes this trait as the corollary of the triumph of Confucianism over Legalism as manifested in contemporary China. The author marks out the stumbling blocks to reforming China's current alimony laws and cautions that the eventual reification of the proposed rules and legal remedies will hinge upon the outcome of the rivalry between the synthesists' views of rule of law and the thin theories of rule of law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the features of late imperial Chinese judiciary, the bureaucratic elements of the judicial system influencing criminal investigation and prosecution during Qing dynasty, and the examination of case records involving the homicide under King Qianlong's reign.

Unlike Western common-law jurisdictions where plea bargaining has been acknowledged, official discourse in Hong Kong denies the existence of plea bargaining. However, defence lawyers are staunch supporters of its use behind the scenes. Using in-depth, semi-structured interviews with Hong Kong criminal defence lawyers, it was found that lawyers' justifications are based on four main grounds: it is non-coercive because the final decision is left to the accused; negotiations avoid the risks of trials; plea bargaining is a practical solution that is in the best interests of the client and the state; and the courts implicitly tolerate the practice. The findings can be explained by Eisenstein and Jacob's (1991) courtroom workgroup model. The present study seeks to bridge the gap in the literature where plea bargaining has only been discussed predominately in the context of Western common-law jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the public image of lawyers often focuses on lawyers’ role as advocates and neglects other representations. Based on the content analysis of 669 media reports of Chinese criminal cases between 1979 and 2009, this article provides a typology of lawyers’ media images: as advocates, as experts and as suspects. Even when lawyers are characterized as defenders of suspects, media depictions of their roles are vacuous and lawyers may be considered unnecessary and dispensable. Furthermore, the characterization of lawyers in the case stories has a binary quality that is contingent upon the media's substantive judgment of case outcomes. With findings from the Chinese case, the article calls for more attention to lawyers’ images in the media, both in China and in comparative research on the legal profession. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The 2011-12 revision of China's Criminal Procedure Law marked the first changes to the country's "mini-constitution" in 15 years, and the first time that proposed revisions were presented for public consultation. During the consultation period, lawyers, journalists and members of China's online communities criticized the draft's inadequacies, particularly measures that would allow investigators to "disappear" certain suspects. The debate over "secret arrest" revealed an emerging public discourse about justice issues, featuring an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the relationship between law and government accountability. Concern over police abuses is reorienting public opinion toward a justice discourse rooted in rights-protective procedures and institutions, that departs significantly from the rationales for criminal procedure reform articulated by China's politicolegal authorities. So long as those authorities treat legislative reform as a "contest" between institutional stakeholders and fail to engage with the public discourse, mistrust of public authority and demands for justice are likely to grow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of procuratorate system of China in environmental protection. It presents information on a specific environmental civil enforcement case between the People's Procuratorate of Haizhu District of Guangzhou Municipality v. Zhongming Chen which was brought by the procuratorate to illustrate civil enforcement litigation issues. It states that the environmental governance of China has been influenced by activism of procuratorate in environmental civil enforcement.

China revised its Criminal Procedure Law in 1996 adopting an adversarial-style trial model and granting remarkable procedu-ral safeguards to the accused. Many have been tempted to con-clude that this new law is capable of ensuring fair trials for criminal defendants and thus could improve China's record of human rights protection. This article will argue that, despite some progresses in formal-ity, the new law has been poorly implemented and has failed to fulfill its promise of fair trials. This article will examine two high-profile cases in detail to demonstrate how procedural safeguards prescribed by the new law are frequently manipulated by judges, either to pursue efficiency and convenience or to accommodate outside influences such as political concerns, public outrage, per-sonal friendship, or even bribes. These manipulations have caused the essence of fair trials intended to be created by the 1996 law to be largely nonexistent in modern proceedings, while at the same time allowing interferers to freely produce wrongful verdicts and disproportionate sentences. The reality is that many of these problems are caused by insti-tutional flaws in China's criminal justice system, particularly the absence of a responsible judiciary. However, instead of pinning hopes for reform on unrealistic constitutional changes, this article proposes a technical approach that focuses on restructuring the 1996 law to make criminal trials less vulnerable to manipulation and interference. This technical solution would help to ensure fair trials by relying on the procedure itself, rather than on unreliable judges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has undergone unprecedented legal reforms in the past three decades in an attempt to restore and reconstruct its legal system. This article provides an overview of the historical and recent developments of the legal system in China. It also discusses important issues such as judicial independence, criminal processes, legal representation, and professionalism among judicial officers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis that aims to illustrate the important role played by Ma XiWu trial mode in the procedure of civil law in China. In the country's society, "Ma Xiwu trial mode" is the laws' historic concept, but has gradually disappeared from the procedure of civil law. The author emphasizes that though reform of the whole civil procedure mode becomes unstoppable, the mentioned traditional mode is still having a unique position and importance through simple procedures and in the real-life practices in the courts.

Presents a brief description of the actual situation of juvenile delinquency in China. Serious aspects of juvenile delinquency; Increase in juvenile robbery cases; Crime gangs in China; Spread of illicit drugs; Etiological studies; Preventive measures.