PROBLEMS AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS IN CHINESE EMPIRICAL LEGAL RESEARCH: THE EXAMPLE OF PAPERS INVOLVING JUDGMENT DOCUMENTS.

Chinese empirical legal research has undergone three stages of development, with the present stage being characterised by a proliferation of statistical and quantitative research following the inception of the online platform for judgment documents of the Supeme People's Court in 2014. Despite these advancements, empirical legal resem-ch based on judgment documents continues to grapple with a multitude of challenges and limitations. Three primary issues pervade the majority of such studies: (1) judgment documents themselves may not be reliable sources of legal materials; (2) the selection methods and research designs employed in empirical legal Tesearch may be overly simplistic or subjective, leading to biased or invalid results; and (3) there is a trade-of between accuracy and genemlisability. This article posits that empilical legal research ought to achieve the three progressively advancing functions of verification, falsification and innovation, striving to eradicate ambiguity in legislation and bolster legislative technology involving data and statistics. Furthermore, empirical legal research should be aware of its own limitations and avoid excessive extremism in its development. It is also important to consider the influence of advanced technology and maintain an open exploratory attitude towards other possible approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]