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Comparative Law. March 16 2006 Asian Legal Systems: China and Japan. Chinese religions. Buddhism Taoism. Syllabus Update. Next Tuesday: Hindu Legal System assignment Next Thursday: Chthonic Law assignment Choose classes for presentations. Peoples Republic of China. 1949
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Comparative Law March 16 2006 Asian Legal Systems: China and Japan
Chinese religions • Buddhism • Taoism
Syllabus Update • Next Tuesday: Hindu Legal System assignment • Next Thursday: Chthonic Law assignment • Choose classes for presentations
Peoples Republic of China • 1949 • Nationalize industry, land redistribuion • 1951 uprising in Tibet (1959 failed coup) • 1957 “Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom” • 1958 Great Leap Forward – a disaster
Cultural Revolution • 1966 reaches Beijing university • Red Guards • Gang of Four (Jiang Qing) • 1976 Mao dies, arrest of Gang of Four
Some reforms • Largely economic • Political reforms are slower to come • 1989 Tiannamen Square protests end in carnage
Deng Xiaoping • In power from late 1970s to 1993 when Jiang Zemin took control
Modern leader • Jiang stepped down officially in 2002 (but remains powerful behind the scenes) • Power passed to next generation of technocrats led by Hu Jintao
Legal Reform Post 1979 • Promulgation of hundreds of laws and regulations, mainly economic • Legal reform became a government priority in the 1990s
Continuing Importance of Mediation • Mediation committees resolve around 90% of China’s civil disputes and some minor criminal cases at no cost to the parties. • There are over 800,000 such committees in rural and urban areas
Chinese Court System • 4 level court system • Supreme People’s Court • Higher People’s Courts • Intermediate People’s Courts • Basic People’s Courts • Many court proceedings are televised
Chinese Legal Professionals • State legal workers who function under supervision of Ministry of Justice • Importance of and demand for legal services is on the incrase – a move towards lawyers engaging in private practice in their own offices (collectives)
Chinese Law Schools • 3 year law courses • Curriculum has expanded recently • Semi-annutal bar examination is open to individuals who have completed university or correspondence law courses and have completed two years of judicial work. Candidates can then apply for a qualification certificate as a lawyer.
Human Rights • China has acknowledged in principle the importance of protection of human rights • The government signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and ratified it in 2001 • But human rights abuses are still a significant issue in China, especially regarding freedom of religion, assembly, speech, one child policy, arbitrary arrest and detention
Japanese Legal System • Chinese influence
Japanese History • Influence of China • Shogans hold actua power from 710 to 1867 • Contact with the West 1542 – followed by 200 year period of isolation until Convention of Kanagawa in 1854
Effect of Western Contact • End of shogunate – restoration of emperor (Meiji restoration of 1868) • Last unequal treaty removed in 1898 • Wars with China and Russia (over Korea) • World War I – fights on the side of the Allies • 1920s progress toward democratic system
1930s : Japanese Aggression • 1931 Invasion of Manchuria – puppet state of Manchukuo • 1933 resigns from League of Nations • 1937 Invasion of China
World War II • Attack on Pearl Harbor • Nearly 4 years of war, loss of 3 millino f Japanese lives • Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki • Surrender September 2 1945 • Japan loses all overseas possession