This article examines rule of law in China. Part 1 distinguishes between (i) substantive or thick theories of rule of law that incorporate elements of political morality, such as particular economic arrangements, forms of government, or conceptions of human rights; and (ii) formal or thin theories of rule of law that focus on features that any legal system must possess to function effectively as a system of laws. Although China does not endorse liberal democracy or a liberal conception of human rights, nevertheless the legal system is intended to serve many of the same general purposes as legal systems elsewhere. Accordingly, thin versions of rule of law are applicable to China. Part 2 then measures the performance of China’s legal system against the benchmark of certain features generally accepted by advocates of a thin theory of rule of law.
Alford, W. (1999) ‘A Second Great Wall? China’s Post-Cultural Revolution Project of Legal Construction’, Cultural Dynamics11(2): 193–213.
2.
Baum, R. (1986) ‘Modernization and Legal Reform in Post-Mao China: The Rebirth of Socialist Legality’, Studies in Comparative Communism14(2): 69–104.
3.
Burton, S. (1994) ‘Particularism, Discretion and the Rule of Law’, in Nomos, xxxvi, The Rule of Law, (ed.) Ian Shapiro, pp. 178–204. New York: New York University Press.
4.
Cai Dingjian (1999) ‘Development of the Chinese Legal System since 1979 and its Current Crisis and Transformation’, Cultural Dynamics11(2): 135–166.
5.
Chen, A. (1992) An Introduction to the Legal System of the People’s Republic of China.Hong Kong: Butterworths.
6.
China Law Yearbook Editorial Department, ed. (1997) Zhongguo falu D nianjian (China Law Yearbook), p. 1056-1056. Beijing: China Law Yearbook Publishing House.
7.
Clarke, D. (1996) ‘Power and Politics in the Chinese Court System: The Enforcement of Civil Judgments’, Columbia Journal of Asian Law10: 1–125.
8.
Clarke, D. (1997) ‘State Council Notice Nullifies Statutory Rights of Creditors’, East Asian Executive Reports19: 9–15.
9.
Corne, P. (1997a) Foreign Investment in China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
10.
Corne, P. (1997b) ‘China’s Legal Structure’, in A Guide to the Legal System of the PRC, pp. 1–10. Hong Kong: Asia Law and Practice.
11.
David, Rene (1984) ‘Source of Law’, in International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law.The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
12.
Dicey, A.V. (1885) The Law of the Constitution(10th edn, 1959). New York: St Martin’s Press.
13.
Dowdle, M. (1997) ‘The Constitutional Development and Operations of the National People’s Congress’, Columbia Journal of Asian Law11: 1–125.
14.
Dowdle, M. (1999) ‘Heretical Laments: China and the Fallacies of “Rule of Law” ’, Cultural Dynamics11(3): 287–314.
15.
East Asia CIEC Economic Brief (1997) ‘China: Elimination of Extra Fees Aids Foreign Investment’ (30 Sept.).
16.
Editorial Office (1998) ‘Yifa zhiguo yu lianzheng jianshe yanjiuhui jiyao’ (Summary of Key Points of Conference on Ruling the Country according to Law and Good Governance), Faxue Yanjiu4: 3–17.
17.
Epstein, E. (1994) ‘Law and Legitimation in Post-Mao China’, in Pitman Potter (ed.) Domestic Law Reforms in Post-Mao China, pp. 19–55. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
18.
Fallon, R. (1997) ‘ “The Rule of Law” as a Concept in Constitutional Discourse’, Columbia Law Review97: 1–56.
19.
Finder, S. (1997) ‘The Structure and Operation of Chinese Courts’, in A Guide to the Legal System of the PRC, pp. 17–30. Hong Kong: Asia Law and Practice.
20.
Finnis, J. (1980) Natural Law and Natural Rights.Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Friedman, Lawrence M. (1975) The Legal System: A Social Science Perspective. New York: Russell Sage.
23.
Fuller, L. (1976) The Morality of Law (13th printing). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
24.
Gaus, G. (1994) ‘Public Reason and the Rule of Law’, in Nomos, xxxvi, The Rule of Law, ed. Ian Shapiro, pp. 328–353. New York: New York University Press.
25.
Gong Xiangrui, Fu Zhubian, Zhang Shuyi and Jian Mingan (1993) Fazhi de lixiang yu xianshi(The Ideal and Reality of the Rule of Law). Beijing: China University of Politics and Law Press.
26.
Hayek, F. (1944) The Road to Serfdom. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
27.
Hintzen, G. (1999) ‘The Place of Law in the PRC’s Culture’, Cultural Dynamics11(2): 167–192.
28.
Howson, N. (1997) ‘Flood of Legislation Clears the Way for New Corporate Forms—But are they Worth it?’, China Joint Venturer (July/Aug.): 7–11.
29.
Huang, P. (1994) ‘Codified Law and Magisterial Discretion’, in Huang and K. Bernhardt (eds) Civil Law in Qing and Republican China, pp. 142–186. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
30.
Jiang Lishan (1997) ‘Zhongguo fazhi gaige he fazhihua guocheng yanjiu’ (Study of the Process of China’s Legal System Reform and Rule of Law Development), Zhongwai faxue6: 35–46.
31.
Jiang Lishan (1998a) ‘Zhongguo fazhi daolu chutan (shang)’ (Preliminary Examination of China’s Road to Rule of Law—Part I), Zhongwai faxue3: 16–28.
32.
Jiang Lishan (1998b) ‘Zhongguo fazhi daolu chutan (xia)’ (Preliminary Examination of China’s Road to Rule of Law—Part II), Zhongwai faxue4: 21–33.
33.
Jiang Mingan (1997) ‘Yifa xingzheng shi jianli fazhi guojia de ti zhong ying you zhi yi’ (Administrating According to Law should be Included in the Meaning of Establishing a Rule of Law Country), Xingzheng faxue yanjiu1: 1–15.
34.
Jiang Zemin (1996) Addresses Legal System Forum. Beijing.
35.
Keith, R. (1994) China’s Struggle for the Rule of Law. New York: St Martin’s Press.
36.
Keller, P. (1994) ‘Sources of Order in Chinese Law’, American Journal of Comparative Law42: 711–759.
37.
Li Buyun (1997) ‘Guanyu qicao “Zhonghua renmin gongheguo Lifafa (zhuanjia jianyigao) de ruogan wenti” ’ (Several Issues in the Experts Draft of the PRC Legislation Law), Zhonguo Faxue1: 11–19.
38.
Li Buyun (1998) ‘Shixing yifa zhiguo jianshe shehui zhuyi fazhi guojia’ (Establish a Socialist Rule of Law State by Implementing Ruling the Country in Accordance with Law), in Ministry of Justice (ed.) Zhonggong zhongyang fazhi jiangzuo huibian (CCP Politburo Legal System Symposia Collection), pp. 133–155. Law Publishing Company (Falu Chubanshe). Beijing.
39.
Li Buyun and Zhang Zhiming (1997) ‘Kuashiji de biaojun: yifa zhiguo, jianshe shehuizhuyi fazhi guojia’ (The Cross-Century Target: Ruling the Country According to Law, Establishing a Socialist Rule of Law State), Zhongguo faxue6: 18–25.
40.
Lieberthal, K. (1995) Governing China. New York: W.W. Norton.
41.
Liu Cuixiao and Wang Jianrong (1998) ‘Xingzheng faxue yanjiu shuping’ (Critical Commentary on Administrative Law Research), Faxue yanjiu20 (Jan.): 102–113.
42.
Liu Hainian (1996) ‘Yifa zhiguo: zhongguo shehuizhuyi fazhi jianshe de lichengbei’ (Ruling the Country According to Law: A New Milestone in the Construction of China’s Socialist Legal System), Faxue Yanjiu3: 24–36.
43.
Liu Hainian (1998) ‘Beilun shehuizhuyi fazhi yuanze’ (General Discussion of Socialist Rule of Law Principles), Zhongguo faxue18: 5–15.
44.
Lubman, Stanley (1997) ‘Sino-American Relations and China’s Struggle for the Rule of Law’, Columbia University East Asian Institute Reports (Oct.): 19-19.
45.
Macedo, S. (1994) ‘The Rule of Law, Justice and the Politics of Moderation’, in Nomos, xxxvi, The Rule of Law, ed. Ian Shapiro, pp. 148–177. New York: New York University Press.
46.
Nathan, A. (1985) Chinese Democracy. Berkeley: University of California Press.
47.
Peerenboom, R. (1993) Law and Morality in Ancient China: The Silk Manuscripts of Huang-Lao.Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
48.
Peerenboom, R. (1995) ‘Rights, Interests and the Interest in Rights in China’, Stanford Journal of International Law31: 359–386.
49.
Peerenboom, R. (1998) ‘Confucian Harmony and Freedom of Thought: The Right to Think Versus Right Thinking’, in Wm. Theodore de Bary and Tu Weiming (eds) Confucianism and Human Rights, pp. 234–260. NewYork: Columbia University Press.
50.
Raz, J. (1979) ‘The Rule of law and its Virtue’, in The Authority of Law, pp. 210–229. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
51.
Rheinstein, M. (1954) Max Weber on Law in Economy and Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
52.
Shen Zongling (1998) ‘Yifa zhiguo yu jingji’ (Ruling the Country According to Law and the Economy), Zhongwai faxue3: 1–15.
53.
Shklar, J. (1987) ‘Political Theory and the Rule of Law’, in A. Hutchinson and P. Monahan (eds) The Rule of Law: Ideal or Ideology? pp. 1–16. Toronto: Carswell.
54.
Solum, L. (1994) ‘Equity and the Rule of Law’, in Nomos, xxxvi, The Rule of Law, ed. Ian Shapiro, pp. 120–147. New York: New York University Press.
55.
Stevenson-Yang, A. (1998) ‘Retail Roundabout’, China Business Review25(1): 43–49.
56.
Su Li (1998) ‘Ershi shiji zhongguo de xiandaihua he falu’ (Twentieth Century China’s Modernization and Rule of Law), Faxue yanjiu20 (Jan.): 2–15.
57.
Summers, R. (1993) ‘A Formal Theory of Rule of Law’, Ratio Juris6(2): 127–142.
58.
Sun Xiaoxia (1998) ‘Fazhi guojia ji qi zhengzhi jiegou’ (Rule of Law State and its Political Structure), Faxue yanjiu20 (Jan.): 16–26.
59.
Tanner, M.S. (1994) ‘The Erosion of Communist Party Control over Lawmaking in China’, China Quarterly138: 382–403.
60.
Tanner, M.S. (1995) ‘How a Bill Becomes a Law in China: Stages and Processes in Lawmaking’, China Quarterly141: 39–64.
61.
Valcke, C. (1994) ‘Civil Disobedience and the Rule of Law: A Lockean Insight’, in Nomos, xxxvi, The Rule of Law, ed. Ian Shapiro, pp. 45–62. New York: New York University Press.
62.
Walker, G. (1988) The Rule of Law. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
63.
Wang Jiafu (1998) ‘Guanyu yifa zhiguo jianshe shehui zhuyi fazhi guojia de lilun he shijian wenti’ (On Governing the Country in Accordance with Law: Theoretical and Practical Issues in Establishing a Socialist Rule of Law State), in Ministry of Justice (ed.) Zhonggong zhongyang fazhi jiangzuo huibian(CCP Politburo Legal System Symposia Collection), pp. 116–132. Law Publishing Company (Falu Chubanshe): Beijing.
64.
Ying Songnian (1997) ‘Yifa xingzheng lunwang’ (Overview of Administrating in Accordance with Law), Zhongguo faxue1.
65.
Yu Xingzhong (1989) ‘Legal Pragmatism in the People’s Republic of China’, Journal of Chinese Law3(1): 29–52.
66.
Zhang Geng and Hu Kangsheng, eds (1996) Zhonghua renmin gongheguo lushifa quanshu(Compendium of the PRC Lawyers Law). Beijing: Lantian Publishing.
67.
Zhang Qi (1998) ‘Fazhi de lixiang and xianshi’ (The Ideal and Reality of Rule of Law), Zhongwai faxue2: 128–129.
