Civil Justice in China: An Empirical Study of Courts in Three Provinces

29 Pages Posted: 17 Apr 2006 Last revised: 16 Feb 2012

See all articles by Margaret Woo

Margaret Woo

Northeastern University - School of Law

Yaxin Wang

Tsing Hua University

Date Written: February 15, 2012

Abstract

This article offers a comparative study of legal reforms among different provinces in China. China is an enormous country, and it is often easy to generalize about the status of its legal system without taking account of the economic and social variations between provinces. A case brought in Beijing may not be litigated in the same way as a case brought over a thousand miles away in Guangzhou. This study collected data from 386 case files from the intermediate courts of Hubei, Guizhou and Guangdong. It is one of the first systematic examinations of civil litigation and court procedures in China. Lessons drawn from this study are significant not only to Chinese legal reform but also to comparative studies and legal reforms in other nations.

Keywords: rule of law, courts, procedure, democracy

Suggested Citation

Woo, Margaret and Wang, Yaxin, Civil Justice in China: An Empirical Study of Courts in Three Provinces (February 15, 2012). American Journal of Comparative Law, Vol. 53, No. 4, pp. 911-940, Fall 2005, Northeastern University School of Law Research Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=895521

Margaret Woo (Contact Author)

Northeastern University - School of Law ( email )

416 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
United States
617-373-3309 (Phone)

Yaxin Wang

Tsing Hua University ( email )

Bei Jing, 100084
China

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