China’s Struggle for the Rule of Law

Description

The 'rule of law' is more than the mere existence and application of law within the sphere of state activity. Contemporary Chinese debate on the 'rule of law' underlines the limiting of arbitrary government, the materialisation of 'human rights', legal protection of 'rights and interests' and the principle of equality in the impartial legal mediation of conflicts within society's 'structure of interests'. Based upon China interviews and a comprehensive survey of the domestic press and Chinese-language legal journal materials, this book places pre- and post-Tiananmen Square legal reform in political context. The evolving contents of specific laws across the departments of constitutional, administrative, criminal, civil and economic law are assessed in light of the politics and intellectual dynamic of China's legal circles in their struggle to create a 'rule of law'. Front Matter....Pages i-x China’s Struggle for the Rule of Law....Pages 1-38 The Rule of Law within Comparative Legal Cultures....Pages 39-53 The Conceptualisation and Materialisation of Human Rights....Pages 54-87 Civil Law and ‘Civil Society’ under a ‘Socialist Rule of Law’?....Pages 88-120 Law as the Contractual Predicate of Ownership Rights....Pages 121-142 Politics and Criminal Law Change under Reform....Pages 143-180 Hong Kong and the Rule of Law across ‘Two Systems’....Pages 181-207 Conclusion: Before and After Tiananmen Square....Pages 208-225 Back Matter....Pages 226-290