Skip to main content
  • Book
  • © 2016

China's Changing Legal System

Lawyers & Judges on Civil & Criminal Law

Palgrave Macmillan

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xix
  2. Introduction

    1. Introduction

      • Chuan Feng, Leyton P. Nelson, Thomas W. Simon
      Pages 1-17
  3. Lawyers and Judges

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 19-19
    2. Lawyers: Education, Practice, and Alternatives

      • Chuan Feng, Leyton P. Nelson, Thomas W. Simon
      Pages 21-46
    3. Judiciary: System, Issues, and Alternatives

      • Chuan Feng, Leyton P. Nelson, Thomas W. Simon
      Pages 47-76
  4. Private Law

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 77-77
    2. Civil Procedure

      • Chuan Feng, Leyton P. Nelson, Thomas W. Simon
      Pages 79-92
    3. Family Law and Torts: Personal Relationships and Personal Injury

      • Chuan Feng, Leyton P. Nelson, Thomas W. Simon
      Pages 93-112
    4. Property: Real and Intellectual

      • Chuan Feng, Leyton P. Nelson, Thomas W. Simon
      Pages 113-127
    5. Contract and Employment Law

      • Chuan Feng, Leyton P. Nelson, Thomas W. Simon
      Pages 129-140
    6. Commercial and Company Law

      • Chuan Feng, Leyton P. Nelson, Thomas W. Simon
      Pages 141-155
  5. Public Law

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 157-157
    2. Administrative Law

      • Chuan Feng, Leyton P. Nelson, Thomas W. Simon
      Pages 159-163
    3. Criminal Law

      • Chuan Feng, Leyton P. Nelson, Thomas W. Simon
      Pages 165-183
    4. International Law

      • Chuan Feng, Leyton P. Nelson, Thomas W. Simon
      Pages 185-194
  6. Conclusion

    1. Conclusion

      • Chuan Feng, Leyton P. Nelson, Thomas W. Simon
      Pages 195-197
  7. Back Matter

    Pages 199-264

About this book

While much international attention has been focused on China's developing economy, dramatic changes are also taking place in its legal system. This book is a groundbreaking, comprehensive introduction to China's legal system, covering the major areas of both civil and criminal law. The authors present fascinating cases and balanced accounts of controversial issues, from copyright law to punishment. By letting Chinese lawyers and judges speak for themselves, the authors also allow readers a surprisingly candid insider's view of real life legal practice.

Reviews

"You may see the face of a mountain from outside, and you may see the heart of a mountain from inside. If you wish to see both the face and the heart of China's legal system, you should read this book." – He Jiahong, Professor and Director, Center for Common Law, Renmin University School of Law, China

"A different perspective on the development of Chinese law; a perspective that worth paying attention to." – Jianfu Chen, Professor of Law, La Trobe University Law School, Australia

"The authors of this book are impressively ambitious in their project to explore legal practice in contemporary China by taking an empirical perspective and employing a law-and-society approach. An abundance of figures relating to legal practice in China and interviews with Chinese lawyers and judges will prove to be quite valuable for readers wishing to understand many aspects of China's legal system – a system widely known to be somewhat opaque and elusive." - Xing Lijuan, City University of Hong Kong, author of Behind the Multilateral Trading System: Legal Indigenization and the WTO in Comparative Perspective (2012) and co-author of Legal Transparency in Dynastic China: The Legalist-Confucianist Debate and Good Governance in Chinese Tradition (2013).

"This is a fine work; it delivers well on its promise to give readers 'an insightful glimpse into many aspects of China's legal system' – and it does so by taking readers into 'the belly of the beast' (that is, theChinese legal system as it operates today) by drawing from interviews with a great many practitioners and others closely involved in the practice of law in China. I applaud this effort." - John W. Head, University of Kansas, author of Great Legal Traditions: Civil Law, Common Law, and Chinese Law in Historical and Operational Perspective (2011) and China's Legal Soul: The Chinese Legal Identity in Historical Context (2009), and co-author of Law Codes in Dynastic China (2005).

"This volume provides a contemporary and wide-ranging analytic description of the legal system of the PRC, in its domestic and international contexts. In addition to drawing on official and scholarly sources, the authors have interviewed legal actors on the ground, seeking to capture an everyday understanding of Chinese law—one of the most poorly understood and most rapidly changing phenomena in the PRC today." – Teemu Ruskola, Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law, USA

"China's Changing Legal System draws on a wide range of interviews to provide a much-needed window into the actual operation of China's legal system. The authors weave an array of crucial practical issues—such as the daily pressures on the work of police, prosecutors, and judges—into their solid overview of China's written laws. For those new to the study of Chinese law, China's Changing Legal System is an engaging introduction to the many facets of China's legal system. For those whohave a background in Chinese law, the book offers a fresh, textured analysis of legal issues by combining extensive interviews of people who operate in China's legal system with more traditional scholarly research." - Margaret K. Lewis, Professor of Law, Seton Hall University, USA "You may see the face of a mountain from outside, and you may see the heart of a mountain from inside. If you wish to see both the face and the heart of China's legal system, you should read this book." – He Jiahong, Professor and Director, Center for Common Law, Renmin University School of Law, China

"A different perspective on the development of Chinese law; a perspective that worth paying attention to." – Jianfu Chen, Professor of Law, La Trobe University Law School, Australia

"The authors of this book are impressively ambitious in their project to explore legal practice in contemporary China by taking an empirical perspective and employing a law-and-society approach. An abundance of figures relating to legal practice in China and interviews with Chinese lawyers and judges will prove to be quite valuable for readers wishing to understand many aspects of China's legal system – a system widely known to be somewhat opaque and elusive." - Xing Lijuan, City University of Hong Kong, author of Behind the Multilateral Trading System: Legal Indigenization and the WTO in Comparative Perspective (2012) and co-author of Legal Transparency in Dynastic China: The Legalist-Confucianist Debate and Good Governance in Chinese Tradition (2013).

"This is a fine work; it delivers well on its promise to give readers 'an insightful glimpse into many aspects of China's legal system' – and it does so by taking readers into 'the belly of the beast'(that is, the Chinese legal system as it operates today) by drawing from interviews with a great many practitioners and others closely involved in the practice of law in China. I applaud this effort." - John W. Head, University of Kansas, author of Great Legal Traditions: Civil Law, Common Law, and Chinese Law in Historical and Operational Perspective (2011) and China's Legal Soul: The Chinese Legal Identity in Historical Context (2009), and co-author of Law Codes in Dynastic China (2005).

"This volume provides a contemporary and wide-ranging analytic description of the legal system of the PRC, in its domestic and international contexts. In addition to drawing on official and scholarly sources, the authors have interviewed legal actors on the ground, seeking to capture an everyday understanding of Chinese law—one of the most poorly understood and most rapidly changing phenomena in the PRC today." – Teemu Ruskola, Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law, USA

"China's Changing Legal System draws on a wide range of interviews to provide a much-needed window into the actual operation of China's legal system. The authors weave an array of crucial practical issues—such as the daily pressures on the work of police, prosecutors, and judges—into their solid overview of China's written laws. For those new to the study of Chinese law, China's Changing Legal System is an engaging introduction to the many facets of China'slegal system. For those who have a background in Chinese law, the book offers a fresh, textured analysis of legal issues by combining extensive interviews of people who operate in China's legal system with more traditional scholarly research." - Margaret K. Lewis, Professor of Law, Seton Hall University, USA

About the authors

Chuan Feng is Lecturer at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies and Assistant Professor at Nanjing University School of Law, China. He has an active law practice in Nanjing and is the author of A Moral Philosophy Study on Hegel's Philosophy of Rights.

Leyton P. Nelson is a graduate student at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies, China. He holds a JD from the University of Michigan Law School.


Thomas W. Simon is Professor of International Law at Johns Hopkins University's School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, China. Some of his books include: The Laws of Genocide; Ethnic Identity and Minority Protection; and Genocide, Torture, and Terrorism.


Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access