Yuwen Li's first book presents a timely and comprehensive study of China's judicial system and its development since 1979. The book successfully provides insight into an apparently embattled, overworked, pressured, constrained and ethically challenged judiciary and judicial system. Judicial decisions, case studies, interviews and quotes from extensive contacts, and data from surveys complement Li's doctrinal analyses which convincingly portray the operation of institutions and law in action in contemporary China. Opportunely, the book also includes examinations of the revisions in the Criminal Procedure Law and Civil Procedure Law in 2012 and the more recent amendment of Administrative Litigation Law in 2013.
In the seven substantive chapters, Li convincingly assesses the impressive reforms undertaken, indicates key stumbling blocks and makes recommendations. The charm of the book is the simplicity with which Li handles China's complex judicial landscape, devoting a chapter each to different key facets. Chapter one provides invaluable detail on the intricate hierarchy within China's judicial framework: how the courts and other judicial institutions operate and inter-relate, especially without a formal doctrine of precedent. Chapter two further reveals the dynamics between the courts and extra-judicial institutions such as the National People's Congress, the Communist Party, the Procurator and other government organizations, revisiting the debate on judicial independence. Chapter three appraises judicial governance and practice. Supported by interviews and statistics, Li assesses the skills, experience and integrity of judges. He identifies that in the midst of judicial reform, judicial ethics has been a key but weak point in development, and he provides details of corruption cases successfully brought against the judiciary. Focusing on the trial process, chapter four examines improvements in the criminal trial process, highlighting miscarriages of justice and challenges to a relatively immature witness-protection system. Li presents useful summaries of judicial decisions and detailed case studies, for instance of alleged murder cases. Chapter five examines developments in the civil trial process, highlighting continuous experiments to streamline the process from “four steps to court” (si bu dao ting) to “one step to court” (yi bu dao ting). Such developments have been largely fuelled by the rise in litigation, with the Supreme Court recognizing that enforcement is a key deficiency of the courts. Chapter six examines administrative litigation referred to as “common people against officials” (min gao guan), where a private citizen or entity challenges the decision of a public agency or administrator in court. Li examines the types of cases brought and by whom, and the courts’ application of the principle of legality and latterly the principle of appropriateness. The chapter illustrates an increasing trend towards and success in administrative cases by providing statistics of those brought between 1988 and 2009, noting the limitations of the Administrative Litigation Law. Chapter seven assesses the role and challenges of the legal profession (as distinct from the judiciary) in the judicial system, charting its development not only since 1979 but during the late Qing Dynasty, the Republic and under Mao, providing a snapshot of social and cultural attitudes to lawyers. Interviews and media reports in addition to case studies of the judicial process provide evidence that defence lawyers at every level remain in the front line facing both personal and professional challenges in carrying out their roles.
Practitioners, academics and students of law, criminology and Chinese studies will find useful the density of Li's analysis and his keen use of both quantitative and qualitative evidence.
Li's second book is an edited volume that originated from a conference on administrative law and practice concerning China held at Wuhan University in 2012 in co-operation with Erasmus University, The Netherlands and sponsored by the Royal Dutch Embassy in Beijing. It reflects the growing importance of this area of law in light of the ever-growing body of “laws” and adjudications made not by the legislature or courts but by public agencies and administrators. The book provides a useful informative collection of essays grouped into three geopolitical parts. Part one examines Greater China, and is comprised of essays on mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Part two includes essays on the respective systems in the Netherlands, Germany and England and Wales, while part three has essays on the systems in Poland and Romania.
The essays on Greater China together shed light on the complexities of and differences in administrative litigation in a region with strong historical and cultural ties. Feng Lin's essay on Hong Kong's judicial review system is thought provoking as it demonstrates how Hong Kong has developed a unique judicial review system that navigates between and complements China's civil law system yet maintains key tenets of a common law jurisdiction from the colonial era, such as the doctrine of precedent and reference to judgements in other common law systems, especially those in the Commonwealth. Chaoyang Jiang and Yang Feng's essay on Macau provides a rare English language descriptive analysis of the present system in Macau, focusing on its present challenges and future development. Juxtaposed against Hong Kong, the essay on Macau's administrative system portrays a more complex and less organic administrative system in development in Macau. An essay by Wunyu Chang (translated by Yun Ma), which examines Taiwan's system, illustrates an evolving product of Austrian and latterly German approaches to administrative litigation.
Correspondingly, when juxtaposed against one another and those on Greater China, the essays on Western European democracies and Eastern European transition countries provide a comparative insight especially in terms of stages of development. In particular, Feng Lin's essay on Hong Kong and Andrew Le Seur's on England and Wales provide insights into how two common law jurisdictions are influenced by laws from two mostly civil law jurisdictions, namely China and the European Union (and the European Court of Human Rights) respectively. Pieter van Dijk's essay on the Netherlands’ system (only established in 1979) and Arno Scherzberg and Josephine Seidl's joint essay on the German system (existing in its present form since 1863) illustrate the different paths and historical challenges. Mateusz Blachucki's essay on Poland's and Petra Gyöngyi's on Romania's present systems (still in the relatively early stages of development) conclude with recommendations.
Students and researchers of law and Chinese studies will benefit from this overview of administrative litigation in civil and common law jurisdictions. Of particular interest will be the hybridized system in Hong Kong and the less-studied systems of Taiwan and Macau. The book presents a much awaited contribution to Chinese law.
