Is China a 'Rule-by-Law' Regime?
30 Pages Posted: 9 Jul 2019
Date Written: July 3, 2019
Abstract
This article discusses whether China is a “rule by law” regime. As a conceptual lens, does rule by law fit China? Does the concept resonate with the empirical reality that it attempts to explain? I answer the questions by identifying three essential characteristics of rule by law—commanding, opaque, and arbitrary. I conclude the concept of rule by law is of limited use in characterizing the behavior of the Chinese courts. The overall goal of the recent judicial reforms in China is to promote more faithful policy implementation. On this reading, the written laws are, first and foremost, policy statements of the party state. Law has been much developed and strengthened in China in the past few decades. But law in China comes in the form of primary rules. In practice, judges are given more power in the form of administratively guided discretions to carry out the law/policy of the central government. Such a conception of law is different from the rule of law ideal. Neither can it be easily equated with the random authority in rule by law regimes.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation