China's Changing Courts: Populist Vehicle or Party Puppet?
Over the past 30 years courts in China have become more professional, handle more cases, and have shown innovation and independence. In 2008, however, the new president of the Supreme People’s Court has renewed calls for the courts to follow the will of the Party. This raises the question of how autonomous courts can be, given the political context in which they operate.
To better understand the rapidly evolving Chinese judiciary, the Center for Chinese Legal Studies co-sponsored a conference on February 19th and 20th, 2009, titled “China’s Changing Courts: Populist Vehicle or Party Puppet?” The Center organized the conference in conjunction with the US-Asia Law Institute of NYU.
Participants included (L to R) Rachel E. Stern, Ph.D. candidate, Departmentof Political Science, University of California, Berkeley; Carl F. Minzner ’00, associate professor of law, Washington University School of Law; Nicholas C. Howson ’88, assistant professor of law at the University of Michigan School of Law; Benjamin L. Liebman, professor of law and director of the Center for Chinese Legal Studies, Columbia Law School; He (Frank) Xin, associate professor of law, City University of Hong Kong School of Law; and Frank Upham, Wilf Family Professor of Property Law, NYU School of Law.
