Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T14:37:02.326Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Two Sides of Court Mediation in Today’s Southwest Grassroots China: an Empirical Study in T Court, Yunnan Province

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 July 2014

XIONG Hao
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Court mediation is now playing a crucial role in the Chinese legal system. Based on two case studies in Yunnan Province, this paper examines how court mediation works in Southwest China. It finds that court mediation can expand the capacity of the court concerning case acceptance, and is capable of fixing multicentre disputes and complicated social problems. However, the paper also points out that when encountering some ill-suited cases, justice may be undermined and the judge’s role may be confused. Therefore, it is necessary to pass some law to exclude the ill-suited cases from the mediation track when promoting court mediation in Southwest China.

Keywords

court mediationSouthwest Chinaempirical studylocal legal ecologyregionalism
Type
Research Article
Information
Asian Journal of Law and Society , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , November 2014 , pp. 367 - 394
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and KoGuan Law School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Xiong Hao, PhD (HKU), Fulbright Scholar (Harvard Law School, 2011–12). His research interests include ADR and interdisciplinary legal studies. The author is grateful to Professor Zhao Yun (HKU), Professor William Alford (Harvard), Professor Sally Falk Moore (Harvard), Professor Michael Palmer (SOAS), Professor Fu Hualing (HKU), and Professor Shahla F. Ali (HKU) for their comments and suggestions to the research. The author also thanks the editorial staff of the Asian Journal of Law and Society for their outstanding comments and editing. This paper is one chapter of the author’s completed PhD dissertation. The author’s email address is bearhow@gmail.com.

References

Abanet.org (2011) “Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators set by American Bar Association, American Arbitration Association,” online: <www.abanet.org/dispute/news/ModelStandardsofConductforMediatorsfinal05.pdf> (last accessed 28 October 2011).+(last+accessed+28+October+2011).>Google Scholar
Abel, Richard L. (1982) “The Contradictions of Informal Justice,” in Richard L. Abel, ed., The Politics of Informal Justice, New York: Academic Press, 267–320.Google Scholar
Alexander, Nadja (2009) International and Comparative Mediation: Legal Perspectives, Austin, TX: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.Google Scholar
Brown, Henry, & Marriott, Arthur L. (1993) ADR Principles and Practice, London: Sweet & Maxwell.Google Scholar
Bryant, Taimie L. (1995) “Family Models, Family Dispute Resolution and Family Law in Japan.” 14 Pacific Basin Law Journal 1.Google Scholar
Chen, Albert H.Y. (2004) An Introduction to the Legal System of the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong: Lexis/Nexis.Google Scholar
Chinadigitaltimes.net (2010) “Chinese Man Sets Himself on Fire to Protest Eviction,” online: <https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2009/12/chinese-man-sets-himself-on-fire-to-protest-eviction/> (last accessed 25 November 2010).+(last+accessed+25+November+2010).>Google Scholar
Chu, Godwin C., & Yanan, Ju (1993) The Great Wall in Ruins: Communication and Cultural Change in China, Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Clarke, Donald C. (1991) “Dispute Resolution in China.” 5 Journal of Chinese Law 245.Google Scholar
Cohen, Jerome (1997) “Reforming China’s Civil Procedure: Judging the Court.” 4 American Journal of Comparative Law 793.Google Scholar
Cooper, Eugene (1986) “Chinese Table Manners: You Are How You Eat.” 45 Human Organization 179–184.Google Scholar
Coser, Lewis Alfred (1956) The Functions of Social Conflict, New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Cotterrell, Roger (1992) The Sociology of Law: An Introduction, London, Dublin, Edinburgh: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Court.gov.cn (2010) “People’s Judge Serves People” [], online: <http://www.court.gov.cn/xwzx/rdzt/rmfg/> (last accessed 17 November 2010).+(last+accessed+17+November+2010).>Google Scholar
Cownie, Fiona, Bradney, Anthony& Burton, Mandy (2003) English Legal System in Context, London: LexisNexis.Google Scholar
Dahrendorf, Ralf (1977) “A Confusion of Power: Politics and the Rule of Law.” 40 Modern Law Review 1–15.Google Scholar
Echinacities.com (2010) “Penalty Announced of Self-Immolation Case in Yihuang County, Jiangxi,” online: <http://www.echinacities.com/aroundtown/china-in-pulse/penalty-announced-of-self-immolation-case-in-yihuang.html> (last accessed 25 November 2010).+(last+accessed+25+November+2010).>Google Scholar
Emond, D. Paul (1989) Commercial Dispute Resolution, Ontario: Canada Law Book.Google Scholar
Erickson, Stephen K., & McKnight, Marilyn S. (2001) The Practitioner’s Guide to Mediation: A Client-centered Approach, New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Fan, Yu (2002) Textbook of ADR, Beijing: Renmin University Press [, ].Google Scholar
Farrar, John Hynes, & Dugdale, Anthony M. (1990) Introduction to Legal Method, London: Sweet & Maxwell.Google Scholar
Fei, Xiaotong (1992) trans. Gary G. Hamilton & Wang Zheng, From the Soil: The Foundations of Chinese Society, Berkeley, CA and London: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Ferejohn, John (1999) “Independent Judges, Dependent Judiciary: Explaining Judicial Independence.” 72 Southern California Law Review 353–384.Google Scholar
Findlay, Mark (1999) “‘Independence’ and the Judiciary in the PRC: Expectation for Constitutional Legality in China,” in Kanishka Jayasuriya, ed., Law, Capitalism and Power in Asia: The Rule of Law and Institutions, London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Fiss, Owen M. (1984) “Against Settlement.” 93 Yale Law Journal 1073–1090.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forestry.gov.cn (2010) “Directions on Hearing Civil Litigation regarding Forest Right” [ (2010 9 )], online: <http://www.forestry.gov.cn/portal/lgs/s/2593/content-401468.html> (last accessed 22 October 2010).+(last+accessed+22+October+2010).>Google Scholar
Friedman, Barry (2004) “History, Politics, and Judicial Independence,” in András Sajó, ed., Judicial Integrity, Leiden and Boston: M. Nijhoff, 99–124.Google Scholar
Fu, Yulin, & Peerenboom, Randall (2010) “A New Analytic Framework of Understanding and Promoting Judicial Independence of China,” in Randall Peerenboom, ed., Judicial Independence in China: Lessons for Global Rule of Law Promotion, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 95–133.Google Scholar
Fuller, Lon L. (1978) “The Forms and Limits of Adjudication.” 92 Harvard Law Review 353–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geertz, Clifford (1973) “Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture,” in Clifford Geertz, ed., The Interpretation of Cultures, New York: Basic Books, 3–30.Google Scholar
Golam, Dwight (1996) Mediating Legal Disputes: Effective Strategies for Lawyers and Mediators, Boston, MA: Aspen Law & Business.Google Scholar
Guzman, Andrew T. (2000) “Arbitrator Liability: Reconciling Arbitration and Mandatory Rules.” 49 Duke Law Journal 1279–1334.Google Scholar
Halegua, Aaron (2005) “Reforming the People’s Mediation System in Urban China.” 35 Hong Kong Law Journal 715–750.Google Scholar
Hamburger, Philip (2008) Law and Judicial Duty. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Hamilton, Gary G. (1998) “Patterns of Asian Capitalism: The Cases of Taiwan and South Korea,” in Mark Fruin, ed., Networks, Markets and the Pacific Rim, New York: Oxford University Press, 181–199.Google Scholar
Haynes, John M., & Charlesworth, Stephanie (1996) The Fundamentals of Family Mediation, Sydney: Federation Press.Google Scholar
He, Xin (2007) “Why Did They Not Take On the Disputes? Law, Power and Politics in the Decision-making of Chinese Courts.” 3 International Journal of Law in Context 203–225.Google Scholar
Hklawsoc.org.hk (2011) “Mediator Accreditation Scheme of Hong Kong Law Society,” online: <http://www.fjt2.net/gate/gb/www.hklawsoc.org.hk/pub_c/mas/guidelines_ethical.asp> (last accessed 28 October 2011).+(last+accessed+28+October+2011).>Google Scholar
Hu, Lianhe, Angang, Hu& Lei, Wang (2007) “An Empirical Study on the Influence of Social Conflict to Social Stability.” 6 Explore 105–114 [, , ”, ], 105–114.Google Scholar
Huang, Philip C.C., & Chenjun, You (2009) “Mediation and the Modernity of Chinese Law.” 3 China Law 58–64 (English Version).Google Scholar
Jacob, Herbert (1984) Justice in America: Courts, Lawyers and the Judicial Process, Boston: Little, Brown.Google Scholar
Kaufman, Irving R. (1980) “The Essence of Judicial Independence.” 80 Columbia Law Review 671–701.Google Scholar
King, Michael, Freiberg, ArieBagatol, Becky& Hyams, Ross (2009) Non-Adversarial Justice, Sydney: Federation Press.Google Scholar
Kipnis, Andrew B. (2002) “Practices of Guanxi Production and Practices of Ganqing Avoidance,” in Thomas Gold, Dough Guthrie, & David Wank, eds., Social Connections in China: Institutions, Culture, and the Changing Nature of Guanxi, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 21–36.Google Scholar
Larkins, Christopher M. (1996) “Judicial Independence and Democratization: A Theoretical and Conceptual Analysis.” 44 American Journal of Comparative Law 605–626.Google Scholar
Law.baidu.com (2010) “The Supreme People’s Court’s Reply About Whether the People’s Court Shall Accept and Hear the Civil Litigation between the Parties Who Cannot Reach an Agreement on Compensation and Resettlement,” online: <http://law.baidu.com/pages/chinalawinfo/5/96/fab4e56fc7ac7563361dc46bb3c76e91_0.html> (last accessed 12 November 2010).+(last+accessed+12+November+2010).>Google Scholar
lawinfochina.com (2011) “Organic Law of People’s Republic of China (amended in 2006),” online: <http://www.lawinfochina.com/law/display.asp?id=5623&keyword> (last accessed 12 January 2011).+(last+accessed+12+January+2011).>Google Scholar
Liebman, Benjamin L. (2007) “China’s Courts: Restricted Reform.” 21 Columbia Journal of Asian Law 1–44.Google Scholar
Liebman, Benjamin L. (2011) “A Return to Populist Legality? Historical Legacies and Legal Reform,” in Sebastian Heilmann & Elizabeth J. Perry, eds., Mao’s Invisible Hand: The Political Foundations of Adaptive Governance in China, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 165–200.Google Scholar
Lin, Jun, & Si, Steven X. (2010) “Can Guanxi Be a Problem? Context, Ties, and Some Unfavorable Consequences of Social Capital in China.” 27 Asia Pacific Journal of Management 561–581.Google Scholar
Lin, Li ed. (2010) The Role of Law Development Report of 2010, Beijing: Social Science Literature Publishing House [, ].Google Scholar
Liu, Chenglin (2005) “Informal Rules, Transaction Costs, and the Failure of the ‘Takings’ Law in China.” 29 Hastings International and Comparative Law Review 1–28.Google Scholar
Liu, Nanping (1997) Opinions of the Supreme People’s Court: Judicial Interpretation in China, Hong Kong: Sweet & Maxwell Asia.Google Scholar
Lubman, Stanley B. (1997) “Dispute Resolution in China after Deng Xiaoping: ‘Mao and Mediation’ Revisited.” 11 Columbia Journal of Asian Law 229.Google Scholar
McThenia, Andrew W., & Shaffer, Thomas L. (1985) “For Reconciliation.” 94 Yale Law Journal 1660–1668.Google Scholar
Menkel-Meadow, Carrie J., Love, Lela PorterSchneider, Andrea Kupfer& Sternlight, Jean R. (2005) Dispute Resolution: Beyond the Adversarial Model, New York: Aspen.Google Scholar
Minzner, Carl F. (2011) “China’s Turn Against Law.” 59 American Journal of Comparative Law 935–984.Google Scholar
News.163.com (2010) “A Man Wanted to Explode Himself in Higher People’s Court of Yunnan Province,” online: <http://news.163.com/photoview/00AN0001/13759.html#p=707IQPCR00AN0001> (last accessed 25 November 2010).+(last+accessed+25+November+2010).>Google Scholar
Ng, Kwai Hang, & Xin, He (2014) “Internal Contradictions of Judicial Mediation in China.” 39 Law & Social Inquiry 285–312.Google Scholar
North, Douglass C. (1991) “Institutions.” 5 Journal of Economic Perspectives 97–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nswbar.asn.au (2011) “Australian National Mediator Standards,” online: <http://www.nswbar.asn.au/docs/professional/adr/documents/PracticeStandardsSept07.pdf> (last accessed 28 October 2011).+(last+accessed+28+October+2011).>Google Scholar
Oda, Hiroshi (1992) Japanese Law, London, Dublin, and Edinburgh: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Oxfordreference.com (2013) “Thick Description,” online: <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t88.e2354> (last accessed 22 March 2013).+(last+accessed+22+March+2013).>Google Scholar
Palmer, Michael (2010) “Compromising Courts and Harmonizing Ideologies: Mediation in the Administrative Chambers of the People’s Courts in the People’s Republic of China,” in Andrew Harding & Penelope (Pip) Nicholson, eds., New Courts in Asia, New York: Routledge, 251–276.Google Scholar
Peerenboom, Randall (2002) China’s Long March toward Rule of Law, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Peerenboom, Randall (2009) “More Law, Less Courts: Legalized Governance, Judicialization, and Dejudicialization in China,” in Tom Ginsburg & Albert H.Y. Chen, eds., Administrative Law and Governance in Asia: Comparative Perspective, London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Peerenboom, Randall, & Xin, He (2009) “Dispute Resolution in China: Patterns, Causes and Prognosis.” 4 East Asia Law Review 1.Google Scholar
Peng, He (2010) “Chinese Contemporary Lawmaking: Reality and Problems,” online: <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1635112> (last accessed 29 November 2010).+(last+accessed+29+November+2010).>Google Scholar
Potter, Pitman (2002) “Guanxi and the PRC Legal System: From Contradiction to Complementarity,” in Thomas Gold, Doug Guthrie, & David Wank, eds., Social Connections in China: Institutions, Culture and The Changing Nature of Guanxi, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 179–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, Simon, & Palmer, Michael (2005) Dispute Process: ADR and the Primary Forms of Decision-Making, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Saich, Tony (2011) Governance and Politics of China, Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Schneider, Andrea Kupfer (2009) “The Intersection of Dispute Systems Design and Transitional Justice.” 14 Harvard Negotiation Law Review 289–315.Google Scholar
Scott, John, & Marshall, Gordon (2009) A Dictionary of Sociology, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Simoons, Frederick J. (1991) Food in China: A Cultural and Historical Inquiry, Boca Raton, Ann Arbor, and Boston: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Snyder, Francis G. (1981) “Anthropology, Dispute Processes and Law: Critical Introduction.” 8 British Journal of Law & Society 141–180.Google Scholar
Song, Jianli (2007) “China’s Judiciary: Current Issues.” 59 Maine Law Review 141–148.Google Scholar
State.gov (2010) “2009 Human Rights Report: China,” online: <http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/eap/135989.htm> (last accessed 15 November 2010).+(last+accessed+15+November+2010).>Google Scholar
Su, Li (1998) “More on Avoidance of the Law.” XIX Social Sciences in China 145–188.Google Scholar
Su, Li (2000) “On the Knowledge and Skill Used by China’s Grassroots Judges.” 22 Modern Law Science 12 [, ].Google Scholar
Su, Li (2010) “On Active Justice and Big Mediation.” 1 China Legal Science [].Google Scholar
Tan, Poh-Ling (1997) Asian Legal Systems: Law, Society and Pluralism in East Asia, Sydney: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Tung, William L. (1968) The Political Institutions of Modern China, Dordrecht: Kluwer.Google Scholar
Twining, William (2000) Globalization and Legal Theory, London: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Twining, William L. (1993) “Alternative to What? Theories of Litigation, Procedure and Dispute Settlement in Anglo-American Jurisprudence: Some Neglected Classics.” 56 Modern Law Review 380–392.Google Scholar
Vanberg, Georg (2008) “Establishing and Maintaining Judicial Independence,” in Keith E. Whittington, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Law and Politics, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Verner, Joel G. (1984) “The Independence of Supreme Courts in Latin America: A Review of the Literature.” 16 Journal of Latin American Studies 463–506.Google Scholar
Vorys, Yolanda (2007) “The Best of Both Worlds: The Use of Med-Arb for Resolving Will Disputes.” 22 Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution 871–897.Google Scholar
Wall, James A., & Dunne, Timothy C. (2012) “Mediation Research: A Current Review.” Negotiation Journal 217–244.Google Scholar
Wall, James A. Jr., & Lynn, Ann (1993) “Mediation: A Current Review.” 37 Journal of Conflict Resolution 160–194.Google Scholar
Wall, James A. Jr., Stark, J.& Standifer, R.L. (2001) “Mediation: A Current Review and Theory Development.” 45 Journal of Conflict Resolution 370–391.Google Scholar
Wang Shengjun (2011a) “Working Report of the Supreme People’s Court in the Representative Conference of the National People’s Congress, 2011 (Summary)” [], online: <http://2011lianghui.people.com.cn/GB/14124671.html> (last accessed 13 March 2011).+(last+accessed+13+March+2011).>Google Scholar
Wang Shengjun (2011b) “Supreme People’s Court Work Report (2009)” [”], online: <http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2009-03/17/content_11024682.htm> (last accessed 13 March 2011).+(last+accessed+13+March+2011).>Google Scholar
Wang Shengjun (2012) “Working Report of the Supreme People’s Court in the Representative Conference of the National People’s Congress, 2012” [], online: <http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012lh/2012-03/19/c_111672109.htm> (last accessed 22 March 2012).+(last+accessed+22+March+2012).>Google Scholar
Waye, Vicki, & Xiong, Ping (2011) “The Relationship between Mediation and Judicial Proceedings in China.” 6 Asian Journal of Comparative Law 1–34.Google Scholar
Wong, Yan Lung (2006) “The Benefits of Mediation.” Asian Dispute Review 100–102.Google Scholar
Woo, Margaret Y.K., & Wang, Yaxin (2005) “Civil Justice in China: An Empirical Study of Courts in Three Provinces.” 53 American Journal of Comparative Law 911–940.Google Scholar
Xiong, Hao (2014). The Feasibility of Court Mediation in Southwest China’s Grassroots Society: A Case Study of P County Court, in Yunnan Province.” Hong Kong Law Journal 227–302.Google Scholar
Yu, Jiangrong (2007) “Social Conflict in Rural China.” 3 China Security 2–17.Google Scholar
Yu, Yuhe, ed. (2008) Customary Law, Shanghai: Fudan University Press [, ].Google Scholar
Zhang, Xianchu (2010) “Civil Justice Reform with Political Agenda,” in Yu Guanghua, ed., Development of the Chinese Legal System: Change and Challenges, New York: Routledge, 253–271.Google Scholar
Zhao, Shukun (2008) Social Conflict and Legal Control: Review of the Legal Order of Social Transformational China, Beijing: Law Press [].Google Scholar
Zhong, Yong (2003) Local Government and Politics in China: Challenges from Below, Armonk, NY and London: M.E. Sharpe.Google Scholar