As China's economy continues to grow and globalize, the legal
community has come to realize that the country's body of laws also
needs updating and globalizing. In some situations, China's laws
are outdated or even absent.
Thus the country has begun sending judges and prosecutors
overseas for legal training along with lawmakers to help raise
China's legislation and law enforcement up to international
standards.
Shen Xiaojie, a district-level prosecutor in his 20s from
Shenyang, Liaoning Province in northeast China, was one
of them.
After studying for 15 months in a program offered jointly by
Temple and Tsinghua Universities, he received a Master of Law
(LL.M.) degree from Temple in October.
Shen and his classmates studied at Temple's main campus, located
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for two months. During the 13
remaining months, they attended Tsinghua in Beijing, where they
were taught by teachers from Temple's Beasley School of Law.
"A scholar once said that in the legal field, globalization is
Americanization to a large extent, so we have to learn from the
United States," Shen said, referring to both knowledge and the way
of thinking.
For example, courts in some regions across China have begun
introducing plea bargaining between the prosecutor and criminal
defendant, a procedure learnt from the Anglo-American legal system,
Shen said.
"Through systematic study, I know how plea bargaining is
conducted in the United States and how the system balances the
interests of various parties," he said.
What he learnt in the United States will help him deal with some
future reform measures, Shen said, but principles related to
China's legal code cannot be altered solely through judicial
reform.
"Learning from overseas will help China grow stronger," Shen
said.
Shen and the other judges and prosecutors, who accounted for
half of the student total, did not pay the US$18,000 tuition. These
came through donations, according to Adelaide Ferguson, Temple's
assistant vice-president for international programmes.
Yuan Duoran, a civil and commercial judge from the Supreme
People's Court who participated in Temple's program in 2000, said
he learnt things that he direct applies in his work now. "China's
civil and commercial law system and practices gained much from the
US in the field of Securities Law, Corporation Law and Trust Law,"
he said.
In fact, in the continental legal system, which China has
traditionally followed, there is no trust law, Yuan said: "Thus
China's legislation governing the issue was adapted from
Anglo-American countries, mainly Britain and the United
States."
Another benefit: Yuan said his spoken and written English, which
he used to search for information, was enhanced considerably.
Wang Chenguang, Dean of the Tsinghua University Law School, said
sending judges and prosecutors to receive legal education in the
United States was significant.
"With the deepening of China's reform and opening-up,
Sino-foreign economic collaboration is evident, and legal relations
should be strengthened, as well," he said, as foreign investors and
businessmen in China need legal guarantees.
Some practices in China are sub-par against international
standards, he said. Judges, prosecutors and lawyers need to know
more about foreign legal systems, especially in the area of
economic law, such as trade rules and World Trade Organization
rules.
"We must train professionals to be familiar with both China's
law and foreign systems," Wang said.
But that doesn't mean that China needs to imitate the Western
legal system, Wang said.
"Although it needs to be reformed, China's judicial system
basically suits the country's condition," he said.
Wang stressed that as Chinese society varies from Western
countries, the Chinese judicial system cannot be expected to be a
copycat of theirs. Even so, Wang stressed the necessity for
Sino-foreign cooperation.
"The influence of globalization goes far beyond the economic
field," Wang said, noting that, for example, cooperation between
China and other countries on extraditing Chinese fugitive officials
charged with corruption is strengthening. We learnt the principles
of presumption of innocence in the criminal code and human rights
guarantees in the Constitution from successful experiences
overseas.”
(China Daily December 22, 2006)