| Research Abstract |
This project aims at investigating the reason for and the current state of the reorganization of China's national system. For this purpose we conducted extensive interviews at national and local legislative bodies, administrative agencies, courts, prosecutor's offices, and universities and other research institutions in six major cities in China.
The findings of these interviews suggest such facts as follow. First, in view of the realization of small government in response to rising market economy (if within the basic framework of the one party rule), the optimization of administrative sturcture, the reorganization and simplification of the competence of governmental offices, and the drastic personnel cuts are proceeding apace. We, however, could not fully reveal the extent to which the reform has proceeded in localities. Second, courts and prosecutor's office in coastal big cities have made an effort to improve the qualities of judges and prosecutors. As a result the groups of professional lawyers, on whose shoulders the independence of the judiciary rests, are arising. The reform efforts are complicated : courts are anxious to establish the legitimacy of trials ; prosecutor's offices are considering the possibility to return to the Soviet system of general supervision and some western local cities have difficulty in securing enough competent lawyers, who could carry out reforms. Third, several universities' law departments have established new graduate master courses for the purpose of training specialists in the law profession. In addition to this, a new state law examination, which requires a bachelor degree from its candidate, urges universities to fulfill a greater role in training legal professionals. In sum, because these reform efforts have just begun, it will take several years for China to reach a stable national legal system.
This project has laid solid foundations for a scholarly exchange and the further investigation.
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