Tag Archives: Chinese Law

Legal Information Institute for China?

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The Legal Information Institutes (LIIs) have been spearheading the free access to law movement throughout the world. Until recently, China has been conspicuously absent from the family of LIIs; however, that may soon change.

The Internet Law Review (网络法律评论) from Peking University Law School is working on an upcoming article that focuses on the possibility of forming a legal information institute in China. Keep an eye out for the article tentatively titled: “Law via the Internet: Why there is no LII for China.”

If you are interested in China’s development of a LII or Chinese legal research in general, you may wish to attend the the Chinese and American Forum on Legal Information and Law Libraries (CAFLL) Conference scheduled for Shanghai from June 11-12, 2013. CAFLL conferences offer a unique opportunity for Chinese and foreign law librarians to exchange ideas and expertise.

Additional conference information is available at the CAFLL Website:
http://cafllnet.org/annual-conference/

Wishing our Chinese colleagues good luck with promoting free access to law in China.

China Guiding Cases Project Update & Volunteer Opportunities

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The China Guiding Cases Project is pleased to announce the opportunity to volunteer with the CGCP!  We are currently accepting applications to be part of the CGCP team over the coming year.  If you are interested in working with our diverse and experienced team on producing high quality products aimed at advancing understanding of Chinese law both inside and outside of China, please visit http://cgc.law.stanford.edu/volunteer.  Note that applications are due June 30, so don’t delay!

We are also pleased to announce the launch of Phase II of the China Guiding Cases Project website (http://cgc.law.stanford.edu)!  Visit the site now to see the following new features:

FOUR (4) China Law Summaries.  Visit our site to learn how Contract Law, Environmental and Resources Law, Intellectual Property Law and Labor Law is practiced in China.  Each summary includes an overview of the area of law, historical background, and reference materials linked to the original sources of law available in English and Chinese!
Quotes on the 1st FOUR (4) Guiding Cases.  Come see what has been said about each of the first batch of guiding cases since their release last December!
News and Events Page.  Learn about CGCP events and see how the CGCP has been covered in the news since our launch last year!

And, if you haven’t already done so, see our recently released….2nd Batch of FOUR (4) Guiding Cases.  The English translations of the second batch of Guiding Cases released by the Supreme People’s Court are now available on our website at http://cgc.law.stanford.edu/guiding-cases/.  The new cases include two (2) administrative penalty cases, one (1) construction project contract dispute and one (1) corporate dissolution dispute.

Two (2) NEW Expert Commentaries!
“How to Apply the Guiding Cases of the Supreme People’s Court in Judicial Practice” written by Judge CHEN Kui, President of the Dongguan Municipality No. 2 People’s Court of Guangdong Province (available at http://cgc.law.stanford.edu/expert-commentary/3-judge-chen/).

“Discussing the Guiding Case System with Chinese Characteristics By First Combining Guiding Case No. 1 with Adjudication Practices” by Judge OU Zelin, of the Second Civil Tribunal of the Dongguan Municipality No. 2 People’s Court of Guangdong Province, (available at http://cgc.law.stanford.edu/4-judge-ou/)

For future updates, please subscribe to the China Guiding Cases Project mailing list by visiting https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/chinaguidingcasesproject.  Just enter your email address in the space provided and then click “Subscribe.”  Please note that we will be primarily using this list from now on to communicate important announcements and developments, so be sure to sign up today!

The CGCP Team
Stanford Law School
https://cgc.law.stanford.edu/

Expert Commentaries Posted on the China Guiding Cases Project

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Stanford’s China Guiding Cases Project has recently posted two expert commentaries on the first batch of guiding cases released by the Supreme People’s Court. Both commentaries are available in English and Chinese.

Prof. Wang Chenguang of Tsinghua University School of Law comments on the differences between Chinese Guiding Cases and stare decisis in common law countries. Prof. Wang’s commentary also addresses some of the still unresolved issues of how courts will apply the Guiding Cases in practice.
https://cgc.law.stanford.edu/expert-commentary/2-professor-wang/

Chief Judge Jiang Heping of the First Civil Division of the Dongguan Municipality No. 2 People’s Court in Guangdong Province discusses the second Guiding Case, Wu Mei v. Meishan Xicheng Paper Co., Ltd. of Sichuan Province involving the role of settlements in the Chinese legal system. The case clarifies the distinctions among settlement, mediation, and adjudication in Chinese courts. Chief Judge Jiang’s court has been designated a “Court for National ADR Initiative” by the Supreme People’s Court.
https://cgc.law.stanford.edu/expert-commentary/1-judge-jiang/

The CGCP team is busy working on China law summaries on specific areas of law. Look for these to be posted soon on the Web site. The first law summaries will probably cover contract law, criminal law, environmental law, and alternative dispute resolution.

China Guiding Cases Project
https://cgc.law.stanford.edu/

Stanford’s China Guiding Cases Project

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On December 20, 2011, the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China released its first batch of guiding cases (指导性案例).  This happened slightly more than a year after the Court issued the Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court Concerning Work on Guiding Cases (最高人民法院关于案例指导工作的规定) in November 2010.

The first batch of guiding cases consists of two civil cases and two criminal cases.  The China Guiding Cases Project (CGCP), an initiative of Stanford Law School founded by Dr. Mei Gechlik in early 2011 and advised by leading experts including justices from the U.S. Supreme Court and China’s Supreme People’s Court, is pleased to release its translation of 王志才故意杀人案 (WANG Zhicai, an intentional homicide case) (Guiding Case No. 4) (attached).

About the CGCP

The CGCP aims to advance knowledge and understanding of Chinese law and to enable judges and legal experts both inside and outside of China to contribute to the evolution of Chinese case law through ongoing dialogue on the guiding cases. The CGCP intends to make these cases quickly and easily accessible to English-speaking audiences outside China on its searchable website http://cgc.law.stanford.edu.  Visitors to the website will be able to post their thoughts about the cases and commentaries in Chinese and English, while “Question and Answer” sessions will permit readers and commentators to have more in-depth dialogues, again in Chinese and English.

To mark this historical moment in the development of the Chinese legal system, the CGCP will take the following steps this month:

Launch the CGCP website (http://cgc.law.stanford.edu) on Monday, January 9, 2012.  Translations of the other three guiding cases will be available then.  In addition, Judge JIANG (Michael) Heping, Chief Judge of the First Civil Division of the Dongguan Municipality No. 2 People’s Court in Guangdong Province, has contributed to the CGCP a commentary on Guiding Case No. 2.  Judge JIANG’s court has been identified as a Court for National ADR Initiatives by the Supreme People’s Court.  The Chinese and English versions of Judge JIANG’s commentary will also be posted on the CGCP website.
Hold a public event on Wednesday, January 18, 2012, 12:45 – 2 p.m., at Stanford Law School.  Dean Larry Kramer will commemorate the official launch of the CGCP and the public release of our official products.

To keep abreast of CGCP announcements and updates, please subscribe to the China Guiding Cases Project mailing list by visiting https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/chinaguidingcasesproject.  Just enter your email address in the space provided and then click “Subscribe”.

The CGCP Team
Stanford Law School

Release of Initial Guiding Cases from the Supreme People’s Court of China

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The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) of  China has released its first four guiding cases : two contract law and two criminal law cases.

上海中原物业顾问有限公司诉陶德华居间
Shanghai Zhongyuan Property Consultants Ltd. v. De-Hua Tao
This is a contract law opinion.

吴梅诉四川省眉山西城纸业有限公司买卖
Wu Mei v. West Side Paper Co., Ltd. Sichuan Meishan
Also a contract law case.

潘玉梅
Panyu Mei, Ning Bribery Case

王志才故意杀人案
Wang Intentional Murder Case

The SPC statement explaining the concept of guiding cases and links to the four cases in Chinese is available at :
http://www.chinacourt.org/html/article/201112/21/472164.shtml

The court announcement and additional information in Chinese can be found at:
http://www.court.gov.cn/xwzx/fyxw/zgrmfyxw/201112/t20111220_168538.htm
http://www.court.gov.cn/xwzx/jdjd/sdjd/201112/t20111220_168539.htm.

Stay tuned to Legal Research Plus for news about English translations and commentary on the initial batch of SPC Guiding Cases.

 

Cautionary tale about legal translation

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The latest issue of the Hong Kong Law Journal includes some interesting comments from Justice Susan Kwan of the High Court of Hong Kong on legal translation and the development of the common law in the Chinese language in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Justice Kwan writes:

It can be said that the Chinese version of the Laws of Hong Kong is quite unreadable. … Each time I look up the Chinese version of a legislation, I would invariably read its English version as well to help me understand the meaning of the Chinese version and to reduce the chance of making mistakes. One can imagine the difficulty faced by those who can only read the Chinese version of the Laws of Hong Kong.

Statute law is just part of the laws in Hong Kong. The majority of the cases that constitute the common law are only written in English. In this important domain, those who have no legal knowledge or are not conversant in English would find their hands tied.

The Dilemma of Conducting Civil Litigation in Chinese – Conversant Either in Chinese or the Law But Not in Both.
Susan Kwan
41 Hong Kong Law Journal 325-326 (2011)

Article on Blogging by Chinese Judges

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Professor Anne Sy Cheung’s article in the Harvard International Law Journal includes a couple of interesting findings that merit further investigation.

On page 267 of the article, Prof. Sy Cheung writes:
“While Blogging by judges may be an unusual phenomenon in common law countries, it is not unusual in China. In fact, more than half of the bloggers in this study wrote in their real names.”

Table 1 of the article breaks down the content of blog postings by Chinese judges.  Nearly 34% of the blog postings related to legal research.

Appendix IV lists the most common legal research question asked by the judges:

1. Copies of laws, regulations, and rules as well as comments on them.
2. Comments and opinions on draft legislation.
3. Criticizing the Rules of Payment of Court Fees issued by the State Council in December 2006.
4. Researches on a broad range of topics, such as compensations for damages to person happened in schools, the principle of innocence, problems of the Property Law of the PRC, role of the procuratorate, land system and land reform, citizens’ rights and freedom, real estate development and house transactions, labor disputes including payment of wages and salaries, and compensation for damages to accidents at work, and introduction of the spiritual compensation to civil suits collateral to criminal proceedings (some of these researches have been published in journals by the writer, blog owner).
5. Discussions on the tradition of Chinese culture and law.
6. Copies of court decisions that have come to effect.
7. Judicial interpretations issued by the Supreme People’s Court.
8. Routine work of the courts.
9. Introduction of Western legal theory, thought, and practice.
10. Questions and answers for various post-followers.

Exercising Freedom of Speech Behind the Great Firewall : A Study of Judges’ and Lawyers Blogs in China
Harvard International Law Journal
Vol. 52 , April 2011
http://www.harvardilj.org/2011/04/online_52_cheung/

In you are interested in legal research issues in China, don’t forget about the Chinese and American Forum on Legal Information and Law Libraries Conference in Philadelphia in July. Information on program sessions and speakers is available at
http://cafllnet.org/annual-conference/

Stanford China Law & Policy Conference May 6 & 7, 2011

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The Inaugural Stanford China Law & Policy Conference

Law and the Chinese Transformation

May 6-7, 2011

Stanford Law School

About the Event:  The Stanford China Law & Policy Association is hosting the inaugural China Law & Policy Conference that will take place on May 6-7, 2011.  The title of the conference is “Law and the Chinese Transformation.”  This event is co-sponsored by the Rock Center for Corporate Governance.

 

The Conference brings together prominent experts on Chinese law, politics, and business to begin productive conversations about the most pressing issues in Chinese legal, political, and corporate governance reform.  Dean Larry Kramer will give opening remarks.  Dr. Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State, will deliver the keynote speech.  GAO Zhansheng, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in San Francisco, will deliver a special luncheon speech.

 

Confirmed panelists and moderators from China include:

Honorable WANG Yanfang, IP Tribunal of the Supreme People’s Court of China

SHEN Weixing, Vice Dean of Tsinghua University Law School, China

WANG Xixin, Vice Dean of Peking University Law School, China

Jeff Lehman, Founding Dean of the Peking University School of Transnational Law, China

XIAO Wei, Managing Partner, Jun He Law Offices

 

Confirmed panelists and moderators from the US include:

Brad Berenson, Partner, Sidley Austin

Nancy Boswell, President and CEO, Transparency International – USA

Juan Botero, Rule of Law Index Director, The World Justice Project

Brian Cabrera, General Counsel, Synopsys

Carmen Chang, Partner, Wilson Sonsini

Chuck Comey, Partner, MOFO

Marc Fagel, Regional Director, SEC in San Francisco

Mei Gechlik, Lecturer, Stanford Law School

Paul Goldstein, Professor, Stanford Law School

Joe Grundfest, Professor, Stanford Law School

Mike Klausner, Professor, Stanford Law School

Larry Kramer, Dean of Stanford Law School

David Lee, Partner, Orrick

Yabo Lin, Partner, Sidley & Austin

Paul Marquardt, Partner, Cleary Gottlieb

Ken Nguyen, Stanford Law School

John Quinn, Managing Partner, Quinn Emanuel

Joe Simone, Partner, Baker McKenzie

Laura Stein, General Counsel, Clorox

Alan Sykes, Professor, Stanford Law School

Bill Treanor, Dean of Georgetown University Law Center

Honorable Clifford Wallace, Ninth Circuit

 

The conference will hold six panels discussing the various legal implications of a rising China.  These panels include:

I.             Legal Education in China and the US

II.            The Development of Rule of Law in China

III.           IP protection and Enforcement in China

IV.          Cross-border Acquisitions and Investments

V.            Foreign Corruption Practice Act and its Applications to Business Operations in China

VI.          Opportunities and Challenges for the Legal Profession

 

Registration Information:

Registration is free, but required for all participants.  Please register at http://www.stanford.edu/dept/law/forms/chinalaw_participants.fb

CLE credits will be offered to practicing attorneys for attending the conference.

Questions?  If you have any questions, please contact: Sandy Yao at sandyyao@stanford.edu or Michelle Yuan at yyuan1@stanford.edu.

 

Blog: Dispute Resolution and Enforcement in China

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Dennis Deng , an attorney based in China, maintains the informative  Dispute Resolution and Enforcement in China blog. Recent posts include: translations of laws and regulations, Q & A about civil litigation in  China, and translated statistics from the Annual Report of the Work of the People’s Court.

Dispute Resolution and Enforcement in China

http://www.disputeresolutioninchina.com/

Book: French-American Network for the Internationalization of Law

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The Januray 28th issue of Recueil Dalloz includes an interview in French with Professor Mireille Delmas-Marty discussing her work with the French-American Network for the Internationalization of Law; there are also Franco-Brazilian and Franco-Chinsese networks. In the interview she mentions a book she edited with Justice Stephen Breyer.

Regards croises sur l’internationalizaation du droit: France-Etat-Unis

Paris : Société de législation comparée, 2009

ISBN: 978-2-908199-79-6
http://www.lgdj.fr/colloques-etudes-rapports/229059/regards-croises-internationalisation-droit-france-etats

 Interview citation:

Le réseau internationalisation du droit: entretien trois questions a Mireille Delmas-Marty.

Recueil Dalloz 2010 #4/7409  page 248.