Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Rule of law with Chinese characteristics

You'd think that Chinese press secretaries had been studying the list of concepts for the Comparative Gov Pol course. They keep talking about rule of law, transparency, power, and independent judiciary.

Two things to keep in mind: rule of law in the Chinese political culture might not be the same thing as rule of law in other political cultures or textbooks. And, rule of law in commercial (business) law might not extend to criminal or civil liberties law.

CPC "rule of law" meeting key to reform, fairness

Seeking greater social fairness and justice is high on the agenda in China as the central committee of the ruling party is set to discuss rule of law issues.

Arrangements to promote rule of law are expected to be unveiled at the fourth plenary session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Beijing…

The key meeting is held at a historic juncture when the Party and the nation are working to deepen reforms in such fields as the economy and administration with the goal of building an "all-round well-off society" by 2020.

It also takes place at a time when Chinese citizens are expecting more fairness and justice…

In 1997, the Party decided to make "rule of law" a basic strategy and "building a socialist country under the rule of law" an important goal for socialist modernization.

Significant progress has since been made in the legal sector. In 2010, the country announced it had established a socialist system of laws. Greater judicial transparency is seen as a result of reforms.

Yet the implementation of laws is not ideal. In the minds of some grassroots leading officials, power is above the law. Government intervention in judicial cases still exists in some areas…

The current Party leadership is trying to give a more important role to the market with a series of economic and administrative reforms, in a bid to improve the quality and efficiency of economic growth…

With the meeting, a wider consensus will be reached and more reforms can be expected for rule of law in China.