Law and Legal Institutions in China

What role does law play in an authoritarian system? This course examines this question through a survey of contemporary Chinese legal attitudes and institutions in historical and comparative perspective. There are no prerequisites; no prior knowledge or study of China is required. The course begins with a brief examination of certain key themes and practices in China's traditional legal order and an appraisal of China's early-twentieth-century effort to import a Western legal model. The major portion of the term is devoted to a study of formal and informal legal institutions and procedures in the criminal and civil processes of the People's Republic of China and China's contemporary legal reform efforts. Topics will include an examination of the roles of the legal profession and the judiciary, the sources of law in contemporary China, the criminal justice system, efforts to use law to address China's growing environmental problems, recent developments in the regulation of personal data and artificial intelligence, the role of law in Hong Kong, how U.S. courts interpret Chinese law, China's contemporary interactions with international law, and the role of law in growing U.S.-China trade tensions.