Mediation and the Rule of Law: The Chinese Landscape

Abstract

This chapter first explores the multi-layered relationship between mediation and the alternative of more rule-based litigation in the emerging legal system in China. It then identifies the core features of mediation as it is practiced in China, followed by a critical examination of state-imposed mediation and its social and political impact. The principal goal of this chapter is to uncover the strong state interest in promoting and implementing mediation in China and to scrutinise the impact of state-imposed mediation on dispute resolution in general and the court system in particular. Without denying the value of mediation in bringing peace in individual cases, this chapter focuses on the political dimension of mediation.

Keywords: mediation, access to justice, courts, grand mediation, court-based mediation, stability