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Index

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2022

Ethan Michelson
Ethan Michelson
Affiliation:
Indiana University, Bloomington

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Decoupling
Gender Injustice in China's Divorce Courts
 , pp. 526 - 544
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This content is Open Access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/cclicenses/

Index

absent defendants. See in absentia trials (缺席审理)
All-China Women’s Federation
reporting of domestic violence by plaintiffs to, 5, 7, 248, 331, 348, 355, 366, 374n.35
Amnesty International, 471
An, Chenxi (安晨曦), 86
Anti-Domestic Violence Law (2015)
child custody not addressed by, 383
evidence for the affirmation of domestic violence outlined in, 56
impact of, 387, 472
provisions on burden of proof deleted from, 54
provisions on personal protection orders, 40
apology letters (认错书). See pledge letters
Article 32. See Marriage Law (2001) – ARTICLE 32
Article 46. See Marriage Law (2001) – ARTICLE 46
assistant judges. See judges – ASSOCIATE (审判员) and ASSISTANT JUDGES (助理审判员)
Australia and New Zealand
battered woman syndrome accepted as a type of post-traumatic stress disorder, 353
child custody determinations, 390
gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357, 363
Baker, Hugh D. R., 391
battered woman syndrome
and Canada’s landmark Canada R. v Lavallee ruling, 353
as a defense in a murder trial mounted by Peking University’s Center for Women’s Law Studies and Legal Services, xiv, 354
as a defense in the murder trial of Guo Qinjuan, 363
expert witness testimony by Chen Min on, 353, 360, 362, 367, 377
neither used nor affirmed by courts, 360
Walker’s (Lenore) theory of, 353
breakdownism (破裂主义). See also faultism; pledge letters
Article 32 (preserved as Article 1079 in the 2020 Civil Code) on breakdown of mutual affection, 42, 46, 50
duration of marriage used as an indication of the strength of mutual affection, 141, 230
judges’ discretionary application of, 17, 44, 64, 245, 247, 262, 265, 268, 329, 462
legislative spirt of “preventing frivolous divorce” supported by, 44, 462
public notice divorce trials’ satisfaction of, 51
SPC guidance for the determination of. See Fourteen Articles
bride prices (彩礼) and dowries (嫁妆)
and defendants’ threats of physical harm, 91
in decisions with gendered content, 129
returned in compensation for a divorce adjudication, 95, 405
bureaucratic capacity
the divorce twofer as a function of, 460
as a factor in Chinese implementation of global legal norms, 16, 66, 76, 462
Bush, George W., 81
caiding decisions (裁定书)
definition of, 111
inadequacy of their use for the study of withdrawals prior to 2014, 115
judicial confirmations of private mediation agreements and case withdraws designated as, 111
rules prohibiting posting decisions online, 112
rules prohibiting posting decisions online lifted, 112
women at higher risk than men of withdrawing their lawsuits, 233, 233Figure6.8, 236
Canada
child custody determinations, 390
gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357, 363
R. v Lavallee ruling, 353
Cao, Yin, 87, 89
case management systems, 175
Chen Min (陈敏)
on the denial of divorce petitions, 89
domestic violence publications (including the 2008 Guidelines) written by, 354
expert witness testimony in the homicide trial of Guo Qinjuan, 362
expert witness testimony in the homicide trial of Zhang Dianru, 367
expert witness testimony on “battered woman syndrome,” 353, 360, 377
reference to documentation of threats by abusers, 364
work at the China Law Society, xiv, 353
Chen Xiaoyong (陈小勇)
on the denial of divorce petitions, 41, 53, 68
child custody. See also children – CHILD-SNATCHING
child support payments (抚养费) by abused women, 400, 402
child support payments (抚养费) by abusive husbands, 58
concessions made by women in public notice trials, 329
concessions yielded in exchange for divorce, 312, 320, 329, 347, 378, 388, 404, 406, 411, 453
first-attempt divorces denied by judges to avoid contentious claims, 78, 169, 311, 328
joint legal custody (轮流抚养), 126, 282, 388, 413, 435, 439
judges’ dismissal of domestic violence allegations in determinations of, 64, 401, 405, 448
patriarchal cultural beliefs guiding street-level bureaucrats’ rulings, 4, 33, 383, 399, 402, 450, 458
tactics used to reduce appeals and complaints, 23, 328, 395
visitation rights provided by the Marriage Law, 384, 389
child custody – LEGAL STANDARDS FOR DETERMINING
and the best interests of the child principle cited by court rulings, 17, 33, 382, 385, 410, 411, 456
joint legal custody (轮流抚养), 384
multiple children and only-daughters providing the best chance to mothers. See under child custody – QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
1993 Opinions on. See 1993 Several Concrete Opinions Concerning Handling Child Custody Matters in Divorce Trials
nursing babies granted to mothers, 384, 451
opinions of children solicited by judges, 407
physical possession privileged over domestic violence allegations, 8, 75, 229, 374n.35, 382, 387, 390, 396, 400, 403
child custody – QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS
selection of cases for study of child custody decisions, 397
child custody – QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
analytical approach described, 415
coding in outcome measures, 126, 132, 135
fathers favored over mothers in China’s court decisions, 5, 34, 410, 451
impact of urbanization, 386, 413, 415, 433, 450
and joint legal custody (轮流抚养), 126, 413, 435, 439
macroscopic picture of key patterns of judicial decision-making provided by, 412
measure lacking for infant or nursing children as a limitation of, 451
multiple children and only-daughters providing the best chance to mothers, 34, 389, 411, 413, 426
only-sons rarely granted to mothers, 34, 417, 426
physical possession by litigants, 419Table11.2, 429Figure11.2, 433, 449
twins split up in child custody determinations, 436
variables of explanatory interest, 415, 416Table11.1, 417
word clouds in judges’ holdings analyzed, 278Figure8.1, 279
children. See also sex ratios and birth; son preference
custody of. See child custody
harming by abusive men to exact revenge on their wives, 389
impact of labor migration on, 257, 382, 393
judges’ disregard of risks to, 411
narratives about the connection between divorce and juvenile crime, 84, 379
the privacy of minors protected in the 2013 Provisions, 135
procreation used as evidence of mutual affection, 246, 293, 294, 319
upbringing of considered in denying divorce petitions, 9, 246, 247, 269, 293
children – CHILD-SNATCHING
basic personal freedoms of children lost due to, 388
by fathers and their family, 382, 388, 404
logic of, 389
China Institute of Applied Jurisprudence
2008 Guidelines published by, 37, 354
China Judgements Online (中国裁判文书网)
battered woman syndrome as a term rarely found on, 360
citing of the 2015 Opinions in, 376
citing of the term “notice of cooling-off period” (冷静期通知书), 70
identification of dispute type and decision type, 111
postings from Henan and Zhejiang Provinces, 105, 109, 116n.6, 118, 122, 124n.15, 152, 209n.12
rules about posting divorce decisions on, 103, 112, 117
simplified procedure utilization rates measured using, 177, 177n.6
use by the SPC to establish best judicial practices, 151
Chinese lunar New Year. See Spring Festival
Chongqing
“notice of cooling-off period” issued by Yubei District People’s court, 83
domestic violence claims in divorce cases from, 25
Civil Affairs Administration
divorce litigation compared with Civil Affairs divorces, 21, 24
marriage and divorce registration fee abolished by, 20
Marriage Registration Regulations (2003), 19, 189, 190Figure6.1, 191
surge in divorce rates processed by, 19
uncontested divorces by agreement processed by, 2, 14, 19, 21, 453
warning of irrational divorces by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, 79
Civil Code (2020)
cooling-off periods stipulated in Article 1077 of, 70, 71, 72, 81, 191
domestic violence not clearly defined by, 37
Marriage Law (1950, 1980, and 2001) replaced by, 22
preservation of Article 46 of the 2020 Marriage law, 37
civil damages
Article 46 of the Marriage Law on, 37
evidentiary standard for claiming, 56
civil law tradition, 36
Civil Procedure Law. See also 1992 Opinions of the SPC on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Civil Procedure Law; 2015 Interpretations of the SPC on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law
Article 64 on the burden of proof, 53, 288
on declaring a defendant missing, 51
on filing petitions in the defendant’s place of hukou 户口 or 户籍), 47, 138
on head judges of collegial panels, 162
on judicial mediation, 177n.5
on petition withdrawals, 177n.5, 226
on protection orders, 40
on the simplified civil procedure, 48, 166, 184
two chances given to civil litigants and criminal defendants, 67, 264
collegial panels. See judges – COLLEGIAL PANELS
Confucian family values
blending with socialist morality, 42, 60, 79
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
China’s ratification of, 12, 459, 466
cooling-off periods (冷静期)
“notice of cooling-off period” issued by Chongqing Yubei District People’s court, 83
“notice of cooling-off period” issued by Sichuan Province’s Anyue County People’s Court, 84
in Article 1077 of the Civil Code (2020), 70, 81
controlling rising divorce rates as the objective of, 81
denial of divorce petitions as an informal type of, 69, 71
psychological intervention as the objective of, 89
six-month statutory waiting period as, 69, 70
coping strategies. See judges – COLLEGIAL PANELS
courts. See also Organic Law of People’s Courts
divisions of, 27
as leaky sieves for divorce cases, 215, 215n.14, 217, 235, 272
2007 Measures of People’s Courts on Collecting Litigation Fees, 21, 48, 157, 228
courts – BASIC-LEVEL COURTS. See also People’s Tribunals
adjudicated outcomes of, 19
as the first stop in the divorce litigation process, 22
Henan and Zhejiang Provinces compared, 26, 27, 179
place in China’s four-tier court system, 26
rural setting of, 119
types of, 26, 139
courts – COURT DECISIONS. See also child custody; divorce adjudication outcomes in China; pledge letters
blind spots of, 115, 236
contents and organization of, 31, 110, 236
judicial work flow reflected in written court decisions, 62
keyword and keyphrase construction of measures, 125
voices of legal advocates absent from, 32
courts – COURT REFORMS. See also Supreme People’s Court (SPC) – FIVE YEAR OUTLINES
and the judge quota system. See judges – quota system
judicial efficiency and minimizing social unrest as the guiding imperatives of, 387, 395
courts – INTERMEDIATE COURTS
appelate cases handled by, 23, 26
expert witness testimony admitted in, 354
in Henan and Zhejiang, 109, 150
criminal reconciliation
case of Li Suzhen (abusive man), 335
institutionalization in China’s criminal courts of, 371
in judicial performance evaluations systems, 371
criminal sentencing. See leniency in criminal sentencing; probation
death sentence. See leniency in criminal sentencing
decoupling
addressed by world society theory, 12, 13
of China’s divorce courts from world society models. See global legal norms – CHINESE VIOLATION OF
institutional. See decoupling of appearance and reality (or rules and practices) inside China’s divorce courts; gap studies in the field of law and society
marital. See decoupling of married spouses
related to economic decoupling between two countries, xvi
decoupling of appearance and reality (or rules and practices) inside China’s divorce courts. See also gap studies in the field of law and society
contribution of legal ambiguities to, 15
decoupling of laws that champion the freedom of divorce from practices that undermine it, 41, 456, 461
definition of decoupling, xv
the divorce twofer as an instance of. See divorce twofer
impact on cases involving domestic violence, 33
limitations of country-level indicators to explain it, 16
role of local institutional norms and practices, 18
Sida Liu’s research on, 17
decoupling of married spouses
definition of decoupling, xv, 12, 454
decoupling-book.org
online court decisions from Henan’s 183 courts available at, 109
supplementary online material available at, xviii
divorce adjudication outcomes in China
control variable of female judge participation, 140
control variable of legal representation, 141
control variable of the duration of marriage, 141
Henan and Zhejiang adjudication trends compared, 60Figure2.1, 61, 193
Henan and Zhejiang samples used for the study of, 5, 104, 109, 146
Henan’s restrictiveness compared with restrictiveness in Zhejiang, 460
impact of gender injustice on. See gender injustice
impact of public awareness of gender injustice on judicial decisions, 472
impact of the Marriage Registration Regulations (2003), 189, 190Figure6.1, 191
online listings. See China Judgements Online (中国裁判文书网)
policy-induced bump in age at marriage reflected in Henan and Zhejiang’s online divorce decisions compared, 150
property division. See property division
terms used to identify dispute type and decision type of statements or petitions, 111
urbanization as a gender-equalizing pressure on divorce litigation practices, 139, 304, 308, 330, 461
divorce adjudication outcomes in China – QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. See also Sisyphean quality of Chinese divorce litigation
brief overview of China’s court decisions, 33
case examples as a window on the real lives of divorce litigants, 104
illumination of patterns less visible in quantitative data, 412
institutional logics driving judges’ divorce decisions illuminated by, 238, 244, 247, 250, 260, 263, 269, 346, 458
limitations of, 270, 412
divorce adjudication outcomes in China – QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS. See also child custody – QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS; Fourteen Articles – VOCABULARY
brief overview of China’s court decisions, 33
civil procedures applied, 132
claims of physical separation, 132, 133
dendrograms of the coappearance of words and clusters of words within individual holdings, 289Table8.2, 290, 291Figure8.2, 297
evidentiary discourse used to invalidate plaintiffs’ legally valid evidence, 284, 288, 292, 296, 297, 328
gender gap in the probability of success, 232, 233, 233Figure6.8Chapter8
Henan and Zhejiang adjudication trends compared, 104, 448
hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) of the top 50 words in domestic violence cases, 289, 291Figure8.2, 295
ideological words deployed to deny divorce petitions. See under political ideology
lexicons of adjudicated denials, 271, 279, 281Table8.1, 289, 289Table8.2, 290
lexicons of judicial holdings in first-attempt divorce decisions, 276, 278Figure8.1, 279, 290, 291Figure8.2
minimal citing of the Fourteen Article by judges in spite of its allure, 287
selection of case examples, 151
divorce litigation. See also divorce twofer; mediation; Sisyphean quality of Chinese divorce litigation
Civil Affairs divorce compared with, 21, 24
key steps in the divorce process, 20Figure1.1, 22, 24, 48
rural character of, 119
self-advocacy and agency of litigants, 244
service of process system, 52, 62
tactics used to reduce appeals and complaints. See under divorce twofer; child custody
divorce petitions. See divorce twofer
divorce twofer
China’s clampdown on divorce associated with, 24, 32, 61, 187, 193, 194Figure6.2
as a creative coping strategy for overworked judges, 4, 89
dangers faced by abused women prolonged by, 333, 336, 346, 347, 473
defined as the institutionalized practice of denying first-time petitions, 1
docket-shrinking property of, 68, 187, 214Figure6.7, 216, 234
endogenous institutional logics explaining its institutional roots, 66, 96, 102, 460
divorce twofer – SECOND ATTEMPTS
courts as leaky sieves for divorce cases, 215, 215n.14, 217, 235, 272
do-overs allowed in divorce litigation, 68
domestic violence (家庭暴力). See also murder – OF ABUSERS BY BATTERED WOMEN; murder – OF BATTERED WOMEN BY THEIR ABUSERS; murder – THREATS
China’s official commitment to combatting, 40
criminal cases handled by procurators, 57, 346
cultural narratives about false claims made by female plaintiffs and, 98, 324
defined by the SPC. See 2001 Interpretations of the SPC on Several Issues Regarding the Application of the Marriage Law; 2008 Guidelines on Judging Marital Cases Involving Domestic Violence (2008 Guidelines)
defined in terms of expressions for physical and verbal abuse commonly used by plaintiffs, 127
evidence of. See evidence of domestic violence
homicides in China related to, 336, 473
incidence of allegations by female plaintiffs, 127, 239
incidence of allegations by male plaintiffs, 239
incidence of criminal domestic violence cases, 357
institutional decoupling impacting laws protecting victims of. See decoupling of appearance and reality (or rules and practices) inside China’s divorce courts
married couples as the focus of this book, 1n.1
normalization by judges. See under gaslighting efforts
reporting by calling 110 (equivalent of 911), 248, 347
reporting by plaintiffs to public authorities, 7, 248, 331, 347, 348, 355, 365, 374n.35
termination via labor migration. See under labor migration
dowries (嫁妆). See bride prices (彩礼) and dowries (嫁妆)
Drori, Gili S. and Georg Krücken, 462
Du Shuanghua (杜双华), 99
Du Wanhua (杜万华), 42, 74, 80, 84, 92
on the legislative spirit of breakdownism, 82
due process
globally institutionalized rights of criminal suspects, 65
sacrificed for the sake of judicial efficiency, 17, 97, 170, 175, 186, 383
Edelman, Lauren
legal endogeneity theory of, 15, 454
endogeneity. See legal endogeneity
England and Wales
gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357
women’s representation among divorce-seekers in, 25
evidence of domestic violence
defendants’ challenging of, 10–11, 254, 255, 258, 259, 260, 263, 266, 408
disaffirmation by judges, xv, 2, 9–10, 53, 64, 231, 238, 243, 252, 257, 258, 260, 264, 269, 396, 403
medical documentation of injuries, 9–10, 56, 93, 241, 252, 253, 259, 267, 403, 408
minimization and negation in police reports of, 9
photographic, 56, 231, 241, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 407
pledge letters as. See pledge letters (保证书)
police reports. See police
“violence words” in allegations by plaintiffs, 241, 242Table7.1
“violence words” not found in judges’ holdings, 243
evidence of domestic violence —PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE STANDARD
affirmation by a judge in Zhejiang, 250
disaffirmation and dismissal by judges, 53, 55, 279, 403
emendation to “beyond reasonable doubt standard,” 54n.9
relaxing of evidentiary standards, 53, 55, 251, 396
reaffirmation in the 2015 Interpretations of the SPC on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law, 54
US Civil Courts on, 54
fake divorce, 44, 99, 101
fathers’ rights movement, 390
faultism
discursive strategies deployed by judge to circumvent divorce standards based on, 326
grounds for divorce stipulated by Article 32 of the Marriage Law, 46, 143
no-fault “breakdown of mutual affection” (感情破裂) standard of the 1980 Marriage Law (Article 25), xv, 3, 64, 462
no-fault “irreconcilable differences” standard equated with breakdownism, 3
privileged over breakdownism in the 2001 Interpretation, 46, 286
rarity of successful first-attempt divorce petitions on fault-based grounds, 11, 238, 244, 247, 250, 260, 263, 265, 269, 272, 326, 346, 457, 458
first-attempt divorce petitions. See also divorce twofer
Fourteen Articles
on divorces granted when defendants can be declared missing, 51
dubbing of the SPC’s guidance on the breakdown of mutual affection, 43
extending of existing ambiguities rather than offering clarity, 44
minimal citing by judges in spite of its allure, 287
physical separation addressed in, 49
reconciliation potential (有无和好的可能) addressed in, 44, 244, 284, 285n.7, 301, 328
Fourteen Articles – Vocabulary
evidentiary words in judges’ holdings, 296Table8.3, 297, 298Table8.4
key words and terms, 289, 289Table8.2, 290
words in judges’ discourse of adjudicated denial drawn from, 273, 283, 287, 289Table8.2, 290, 293, 298Table8.4, 299, 328
words in judges’ therapeutic discourse drawn from, 288, 289Table8.2, 294, 297, 298Table8.4, 299
France
caseload management by divorce judges in, 17, 77, 395
gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357
mandatory conciliation hearings, 22
freedom of divorce
decoupling of laws that champion the freedom of divorce from practices that undermine it, 456, 461
ideological opposition to. See frivolous divorce (轻率离婚)
legal ambiguity allowing decoupling of laws that champion the freedom of divorce from practices that undermine it, 41, 44, 64
practical prohibition of, illustrated in Waiting by Ha Jin, 41
freedom of marriage
enshrinement as a Chinese legal principle, 11
frivolous divorce (轻率离婚)
ideological opposition to, 42, 63, 247, 273, 294, 327
and the logic of the breakdownism standard, 44, 462
stereotypes about irrationally suspicious women filing for divorce frivolously, 97, 226, 236
and withdrawals that did not return as subsequent-attempt petitions, 235
Gansu Province
bombing of Yongle County People’s Court by a litigant, 92
He Jie (battered woman case), 8
gap studies in the field of law and society
institutional decoupling of China’s divorce courts related to, 14, 454
and the “paradox of empty promises,” 14, 462, 466
the law on the books and law in action discussed by, 13
gaslighting efforts
defendants’ denials given more credence than plaintiffs’ allegations, 256
disaffirmation of evidence by judges. See under evidence of domestic violence
identified in salient vocabulary used by judges, 275, 276, 295
judges as advocates for absentee defendants, 257
judges’ discretionary application of breakdownism. See breakdownism
normalization of domestic violence by judges, xv, 2, 7, 9–10, 53, 55, 231, 238, 243, 252, 258, 260, 261, 264, 269, 287, 294
pledge letters misused by judges. See pledge letters
police warnings ignored by judges. See police
political ideology deployed by judges. See political ideology
in village mediation, 9
gender
absence of same-sex marriage in China, 129n.20
and defendant obstructionism, 308, 317, 425
exposure to judicial discourse of adjudicated denial, 297, 298Table8.4, 299, 301
factors associated with male and female homicide offenders, 357
gender of those who killed their intimate partners, 357
impact on child custody court decisions, 34
impact on leniency in criminal sentencing, 372
men’s overrepresentation among plaintiffs in public notice trials, 306Table8.6, 308
of litigants. See sex ratios and birth
urbanization as a gender-equalizing pressure on divorce litigation practices, 139, 304, 308, 330, 461
women’s representation among divorce-seekers, 25
gender equality/gender justice
the divorce twofer’s benefits to courts and judges at the expense of, 1, 379
enshrinement in China’s legal principles, 11, 37, 66
and the gap between public promises and performance, 13
gender injustice. See also patriarchal cultural beliefs
child custody and divorce adjudication guided by patriarchal cultural beliefs, 2, 4, 33, 34, 426, 458
of conservative rural courts, 139
courts as a mechanism of, 66, 100, 325, 329, 453
in Henan and Zhejiang case outcomes, 460
impact of public awareness of gender injustice on judicial decisions, 472
impact on divorce adjudication outcomes in China, 33, 153, 232, 233Figure6.8, 301, 302, 303Figure8.3, 304
the personal voices of divorce litigants as a window on the human toll of, 104
Germany
gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357
influence on China’s modern legal system, 35n.1
global cultural norms. See also macro-comparative cross-national research; world society theory
contribution of global scripts, including “developmental idealism,” 463
global legal norms
domestic violence offenders considered unfit to serve as custodial parents, 383
limits of its influence on the freedom of divorce reflected by divorce in China, 15, 18, 34
and the no-fault “irreconcilable differences” standarno-fano-fano-fau, xv, 3, 16
research on. See macro-comparative cross-national research
global legal norms – CHINESE IMPLEMENTATION OF
bureaucratic capacity as a factor, 16, 66, 76
global norms of gender equality embraced by, 12, 37, 66, 462
influence on world society penetration, 470
orthogonal institutional logics neutralizing the implementation of, 17, 65, 463
global legal norms – CHINESE VIOLATION OF. See also legal ambiguity
and child custody determinations, 411
endogenous institutional logics as a factor, 3, 18, 64, 66, 462
global legal norms – FOUR DIRECTIONS OF INQUIRY REGARDING CHINESE VIOLATION OF
China’s domestic laws that address divorce rights and domestic violence, 11
China’s international legal commitments, 12, 459, 466
gap and impact studies, 14, 454
legal endogeneity theory, 18, 66, 454
Guangxi Province
murder of a judge from Luchuan County People’s Court, 92
Rongan County People’s Court divorce case, 91
survey of frontline judges about threats to their physical safety, 90
Guidelines on Judging Marital Cases Involving Domestic Violence. See 2008 Guidelines on Judging Marital Cases Involving Domestic Violence (2008 Guidelines)
Hafner-Burton, Emilie M. and Kiyoteru Tsutsui
ordinal measure of government repression of, 465
on the “paradox of empty promises,” 14, 461
Hathaway, Oona A.
“fair trial index,” 465
He Jie (battered woman case), 8
He, Xin, xv
Heimer, Carol A.
on endogenous organization practices, 15
Henan and Zhejiang Provinces compared
age at marriage, 149Figure4.7, 150
basic level courts in, 26, 27
caseloads of judges, 27, 121, 197Table6.1, 198
caseloads of judges impacted by development, 121, 198
child custody decisions selected for analysis, 397
court fees, 49
divorce adjudications in. See divorce adjudication outcomes in China
first-instance adjudicated divorce decisions, 121, 122Table4.2, 152
gender injustice case outcomes compared, 460
gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357, 363
homicide rates related to domestic violence in, 336
judicial resources compared, 52, 109, 178, 198, 199Table6.2, 201, 201Figure6.3, 205
minority nationalities in, 142
People’s Tribunals in, 29, 165
personal details about litigants, 130, 131Figure4.5
postings online compared, 113, 113Figure4.3, 114
postings to China Judgements Online compared, 105, 109, 118
public notice trials held in, 304, 306Table8.6
representativeness of, 104, 122, 122Table4.2, 147Figure4.6, 150, 194Figure6.2, 195
residential addresses of plaintiffs and defendants, 139
rules on posting decisions online, 103, 112
urbanization measured in, 106, 119Table4.1, 121, 138
websites scraped from, 9n.4
Henan and Zhejiang Provinces Compared
gender of those who killed their intimate partners, 357
Henan Province. See also Henan and Zhejiang Provinces compared
caseloads in comparison with Zhejiang, 27, 121, 197Table6.1, 198, 211
Decisions on Preventing and Combatting Domestic Violence issued in 2006, 262n.32
mediation surge in, 60
problem of “many cases, few judges,” 180, 181, 182Figure5.1
Henan Province – Court Cases
Fangcheng County People’s Court divorce case, 230
Fugou County People’s Court divorce case, 254
Guangshan County People’s Court homicide case, 359
Huixian Municipal People’s Court divorce case, 257
Huojia County People’s Court divorce case, 9–10
Jiaozuo Municipal Shanyang District child custody case, 401
Linzhou Municipal People’s Court twins custody case, 436
Luohe Municipal Shaoling District People’s Court divorce case, 262
Luohe Municipal Yancheng District People’s Court divorce and child custody cases, 230, 247, 399
Luohe Municipal Yuanhui District People’s Court divorce and child custody case, 404, 406
Luoyang Municipal Jianxi District People’s Court child custody case, 381
Lushi County People’s Court child custody case, 401
Minquan County People’s Court divorce and domestic violence case, 349
Miyang County People’s Court domestic violence case, 259
Nanyang Municipal Wancheng District People’s Court homicide case, 373
Nanzhao County People’s Court divorce and child custody case, 404
Nanzhao County People’s Court domestic violence case, 258
Puyang County People’s Court child custody cases, 400, 410
Puyang Municipal Intermediate People’s Court homicide case, 335
Qingfeng County People’s Court divorce cases, 248, 254
Shangcheng County People’s Court divorce case, 253
Shangcheng County People’s Court domestic violence case, 69
Shangqiu Municipal Liangyuan District People’s Court domestic violence case, 239
Song County People’s Court divorce and child custody case, 229
Song County People’s Court domestic violence case, 349
Taikang County People’s Court divorce case, 232
Tanghe County People’s Court divorce and child custody case, 405
Xichuan County People’s Court child custody case, 410
Xin County People’s Court child custody case, 402
Xingyang Municipal People’s Court divorce case, 245
Xinyang Municipal Shihe District People’s Court divorce case, 230
Xinye County People’s Court homicide case, 376
Xixia County People’s Court divorce cases, 247, 352
Xun County People’s Court divorce case, 231
Yucheng County People’s Court domestic violence case, 332
Yuzhou Municipal People’s Court child custody case, 400
Zhecheng County People’s Court child custody cases, 58, 400
Zhengzhou Municipal Erqi District County People’s Court divorce case, 284
Zhengzhou Municipal Intermediate People’s Court homicide case of Yao Shuangxia, 259
Zhengzhou Municipal Zhongyuan District County People’s Court domestic violence case, 259
Zhongmu County People’s court divorce case, 8–9
Zhumadian Municipal Intermediate People’s Court homicide case, 358
Henan Provincial Academy of Social Sciences Research Team
on “domestic relations trial reform” (家事审判改), 81
on socialist family values promoted by Xi Jinping, 79
Heritage Foundation, 81
homicide. See murder
Hong Kong
gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357
women’s representation among divorce-seekers in, 25
Htun, Mala and S. Laurel Weldon
family law index, 463, 465
Hu Haipeng (胡海鹏), 87, 88
Hu Mingyu (胡明玉) and Xince Shen (沈新策), 394
human rights
Amnesty International, 471
core UN international treaties endorsed by China, 12
country-level indicators of state responses to human rights and gender violence, 466
Hunan Province
murder and suicide of a litigant at Yongzhou Municipal Lingling District People’s Court, 92
the problem of “many cases, few judges” in, 88
Several Provisions on Preventing and Combatting Domestic Violence issued in 1996, 262n.32
Hunan Province – Court Cases
case illustrating the discretionary application of “persistent and frequent” domestic violence, 56
child custody case, 389
Hengyang County People’s Court divorce case of Ning Shunhua, 95, 248
in absentia trials (缺席审理)
failure to withhold consent, 128, 313, 425
prevalence of, 10
routinely conducted without formally declaring defendants missing, 10, 51
serving of court papers via public notices to defendants, 51
in absentia trials (缺席审理) – PUBLIC NOTICE DIVORCE TRIALS (公告离婚)
and false claims of missing defendants, 98
frequency of, 306Table8.6
ordinary civil procedure applied in, 62
portrayal in a Legal Report (今日说法) episode, 99
and the success of divorce, 51, 64
women’s severe disadvantage in the context of, 324, 329
India
gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357
income inequality in, 469
lawyer feminization in, 470
institutional decoupling. See decoupling of appearance and reality (or rules and practices) inside China’s divorce courts
Japan
gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357
influence on China’s modern legal system, 35n.1
women’s representation among divorce-seekers in, 25
Jiang, Jinliang and Zhu Zhenyuan, 44, 192
Jiang, Jue, 84
Jin, Ha, Waiting, 41
judges. See also leniency in criminal sentencing; probation; procuracy and procurators
attrition and burnout of. See judges – OVERWORK (超负荷工作)
Chinese law on. See Law on Judges
evidentiary discourse used to invalidate plaintiffs’ legally valid evidence, 284, 288, 292, 296, 297, 328
lay assessors. See People’s Lay Assessors (人民陪审员)
judges – ASSOCIATE (审判员) and ASSISTANT JUDGES (助理审判员)
on collegial panels, 30, 155, 156, 163
deputizing of, 162, 457
elimination of the title “assistant judge,” 163, 171, 172
identification on court decisions, 30, 110, 124, 163
promotion of assistant judges to associate judgeships, 172, 174
judges – COLLEGIAL PANELS (合议制)
application of ordinary and simplified civil trial procedures by, 49
fake collegial panels, 161
head judges (审判长) on, 163
participation of assistant judges. See under judges – ASSOCIATE (审判员) and ASSISTANT JUDGES (助理审判员)
participation of lay assessors. See under People’s Lay Assessors (人民陪审员)
public notice trials conducted by, 52
the vanishing three-judge collegial panel in China, 177, 180, 186
judges – Female
decisions by female solo judges in rural courts, 139
feminization of the Chinese bench, 30
Henan and Zhejiang Provinces compared, 106
judge sex as a control variable, 140
lower numbers of female judges in rural areas, 139
vulnerability to threats of physical violence, 91
judges – FRONTLINE JUDGES (一线法官or 办案法官)
caseloads of, 156, 158, 179n.8, 210n.13
expansion of the ranks of, 30, 162
numbers of, 30, 90
threats to their physical safety, 90
judges – NUMBERS OF. See also judges – QUOTA SYSTEM (员额制)
counting of, 146, 210n.13
judicial resources in Henan and Zhejiang compared, 52, 201Figure6.3
People’s Daily article on “many cases, few judges,” 158
population size as the primary determinant, 178, 198, 199Table6.2, 201, 205
judges – OVERWORK (超负荷工作)
attrition and burnout of, 77, 95, 158, 179, 186
docket-shrinking property of the divorce twofer as a solution. See under divorce twofer
Henan and Zhejiang courts compared, 180
impact on domestic violence and divorce petition rulings, 4, 17, 185, 186, 472
SPC president Xiao Yang (肖扬) on overwork (超负荷工作) and caseload pressure, 178, 179
judges – PHYSICAL SAFETY THREATENED
case of Chen Dinghua (Ning Shunhua’s abusive husband), 94
impact on judicial decision-making, 87, 91, 95, 96, 304, 396, 411
Rongan County People’s Court divorce case, 91
judges – QUOTA SYSTEM (员额制)
“many cases, few judges” problem intensified by, 30, 174
and judicial efficiency, 173, 186
personnel slots allocated to judges reduced by, 30, 174
judges – SOLO JUDGES (独任法官)
application of the ordinary procedure advocated for, 186
mediation conducted by, 177n.5
petition withdrawals handled by, 177n.5, 226
public notice trials not conducted by, 52
use of collegial panels in ordinary simplified trial procedures compared with, 49
judicial coping strategies
divorce twofer as one of, 4
impact on child custody determinations, 411
routines and simplifications used by street-level bureacrats, 4, 456, 458
simplified civil procedure as. See trials and trial procedures – SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE
judicial efficiency
due process sacrificed for the sake of, 17, 97, 170, 175, 186
and the judicial performance evaluation system, 4, 17, 86, 96, 101, 164, 212, 221, 377, 395
judicial mediation. See mediation – JUDICIAL MEDIATION
judicial performance evaluation systems (绩效考核体系)
judicial efficiency as a measure of, 4, 17, 78, 86, 96, 101, 164, 212, 221, 377, 395
maintenance of social stability as a measure of, 4, 90
risk-averse practices of judges incentivized by, 87, 227, 327
well being of judges impacted by, 95
justifiable self-defense. See leniency in criminal sentencing – JUSTIFIABLE SELF-DEFENSE (正当防卫)
Kuo, Lily, 80
labor migration
and AWOL defendants, 52
left-behind children, 382, 393
marital violence refugees participating in, 8, 75, 257, 352
migrants living away from their places of hukou, 137
separation due to, 49
Spring Festival as an annual divorce rush for migrant workers, 118, 337
Law on Judges
on assistant judges (1995 version), 161
on assistant judges (2017 version), 163, 174
on professional duties and responsibilities of judges (2019 version), 268
lawyers
estimates of unique lawyers and legal workers appearing in court decisions, 147
fees charged by, 21
feminization in China of, 470
and other legal advocates, 32
lay assessors. See People’s Lay Assessors (人民陪审员)
Lazarus-Black, Mindie
on “cultures of reconciliation,” 79
legal ambiguity
and the best interests of the child principle cited by court rulings, 17, 33, 382, 385, 410, 411, 456
decoupling of freedom of divorce from practices that champion it due to, 41, 44, 456, 461
of the definition of domestic violence as persistent and frequent, 47, 56, 259
of the Fourteen Articles, 44, 286
judges’ discretionary application of breakdownism due to, 4, 17, 44, 64, 456, 461
of the simplified procedure, 166, 167
legal endogeneity
assessment of influences in macro-comparative cross-national research, 463, 466
Chinese violation of legal norms explained by, 18, 66, 454
endogeneity theory of Edelman (Lauren), 15
the gap between legal ideals and actual performance explained by, 14, 454
the institutional logic of the divorce twofer explained by, 66, 96, 102, 454, 460
legal endogeneity theory of Edelman (Lauren), 454
neutralization of (exogenous) global legal norms by (endogenous) local institutional norms, 18
and organization practices discussed by Heimer (Carol), 15
Legal Report (今日说法), 99
leniency in criminal sentencing. See also probation
case of Guo Qinjuan (homicide trial), 362
case of Yao Shuangxia, 370
case of Zhang Dianru (homicide trial), 367
conspicuous rates of, 358
and gender, 372
impact of reforms introduced in 2015 on, 331, 367, 474
in exchange for compensation, 335, 371
influence of forgiveness on, 372, 373, 377
life sentences rather than death, 354, 355, 371
and reconciliation. See criminal reconciliation
leniency in criminal sentencing – JUSTIFIABLE SELF-DEFENSE (正当防卫)
case of Xu Ping (Guangshan County People’s Court homicide case), 359
Chen Min’s representation of murder as, 361
inconsistent affirmation of, 358, 360, 368
rejected in the trial of Liu Shuanxia, 353
2015 Opinions on its application to domestic violence, 355, 376
Lhamo (拉姆) (battered woman case), 374n.35
Li, Hongxiang (李洪祥), 63, 70
Li, Ke, xv, 25, 47, 133, 394
on “collusion,” 388
sample of claims of domestic violence in rural southwest China, 24
Li, Suzhen (abusive man), 335
Li, Xiuping (李秀平), 55, 227
Liebman, Benjamin L., 124n.15
Lipsky, Michael
on coping mechanisms developed by lower-level participants to complete their tasks and hit performance targets, 459, 462
theory of street-level bureaucracy, 4, 454, 455, 457, 458
litigants
divorce plaintiffs and defendants distinguished, 24
women’s representation among divorce-seekers, 25
Liu Shuanxia (variously 刘栓霞 and 刘拴霞) (battered woman case), 353, 364
Liu Wei (刘巍)
battered woman syndrome defense in a Chinese murder trial attempted by, 354
Liu Xiuzhen (刘秀珍)
battered woman syndrome defense in a Chinese murder trial attempted by, 354
Liu, Sida
on adherence to local practice rather than global norms, 17
loose coupling. See decoupling of appearance and reality (or rules and practices) inside China’s divorce courts
Ma Yi’nan (马忆南)
on the reluctance of judges to grant divorces, 73
macro-comparative cross-national research. See also child custody – QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS; divorce adjudication outcomes in China – QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
analysis of vignette data related to, 467
assessment of endogenous and exogenous influences, 463, 466
assessment of influences in macro-comparative cross-national research, 468
limitations of, 16, 137, 464
methodological strategies used to surmount challenges of, 467
marital decoupling. See decoupling of married spouses
marital preservation. See also frivolous divorce; stability maintenance
China’s political ideology of family harmony and, 4, 69
Marriage Law (1950)
age at marriage, 148
arranged marriages banned by, 392
enactment of, 36
on freedom to divorce, 40
judicial mediation aimed at marital reconciliation, 22
Marriage Law (1980)
age at marriage, 148
“breakdown of mutual affection” (感情破裂) (Article 25) added to, 43
homicides resulting from judicial clampdown on divorce feared by drafters of, 43, 333, 379, 380
legislative intent of the breakdownism standard (Article 25), 43, 462
visitation rights provided by, 384, 389
Marriage Law (2001)
Article 36, 384, 387
domestic violence prohibited but not defined in, 37
Marriage Law (2001) – ARTICLE 32
on breakdown of mutual affection (preserved as Article 1079 in the 2020 Civil Code), 43, 46, 50, 63, 286
fault-based standards listed in and their inadequacy, 46, 71, 72, 143
statutory physical separation period shortened by, 49
word clouds for, 279, 283, 290
Marriage Law (2001) – ARTICLE 46
on claiming civil damages, 37, 250, 277
fault-based standard for the granting of civil damages, 250, 277
introduction in 2001 of, 37
preservation as Article 1091 in the 2020 Civil Code, 37
Marx, Karl, 41, 79n.9
Maynard-Moody, Steven and Shannon Portillo, 66, 455
mediation (调解)
China’s vanishing trial associated with the rise of, 61, 175
decoupling of appearance and reality (or rules and practices) inside China’s divorce courts traced to adherence to, 17
inclusion in word clouds for Article 32, 279, 283
marital reconciliation and preservation as the focus, 9, 23, 81, 332
rules prohibiting posting decisions online, 112
mediation – JUDICIAL MEDIATION
and child custody rulings, 387, 404
designation of closed cases as mediation decisions, 111
as the first step of the Chinese divorce litigation process, 9, 19
marital reconciliation as the aim of, 22, 23, 231, 274, 405
mediation – VILLAGE MEDIATION
gaslighting efforts of, 9
marital reconciliation and preservation as the focus of, 8
Merry, Sally Engle
research in Beijing, xiv
study of disputes in American lower courts, 272
migration. See labor migration
minority nationalities
basic-level courts in areas with concentrations of, 26
Lhamo (拉姆) (battered woman case), 374n.35
paucity of information about litigant ethnicity, 142
Mnookin, Robert H. and Lewis Kornhauser, 453
mothers-in-law
defense of their own daughter against attacks by son-in law, 334
fraught relations with daughters-in-law, 71, 391, 401
murder
case of Deng Yujiao (public sympathy for), 364
gender of those who killed their intimate partners, 357, 363
impact of judicial clampdown on divorce on rates of, 43, 333, 379, 380
of judges by disgruntled litigants, 93
risks faced by women leaving abusive men, 336
sentencing. See leniency in criminal sentencing; probation
as an unintended effect of judges’ prolonging of marriages, 473
murder – OF ABUSERS BY BATTERED WOMEN
after failure to get relief from public authorities, 365, 366
battered woman syndrome defense attempted by Liu Wei and Liu Xiuzhen, 354
case of Guo Qinjuan, 364
case of Li Yan (李彦), 355
case of Yao Shuangxia, 370
domestic violence as a factor among female homicide offenders, 357
Guangshan County People’s Court homicide case, 359
Nanyang Municipal Wancheng District People’s Court homicide case, 373
numbers of women in Chinese prisons accused of, 356
public sympathy for, 355, 472
Yuyao Municipal People’s Court domestic violence case, 366
murder – OF BATTERED wOMEN BY THEIR ABUSERS
cases. See He Jie (battered woman case); Lhamo (拉姆) (battered woman case); Li Suzhen (abusive man); Liu Shuanxia (variously 刘栓霞 and 刘拴霞) (battered woman case); Xue Aihua (battered woman case)
jealousy and possessiveness associated with cases of men, 229, 353, 357, 373, 375n.36
risks faced by women leaving abusive men, 336, 345
Yinzhou District People’s Court attempted homicide case, 335
Yiwu Municipal People’s Court attempted homicide case, 334
murder – Threats. See also judges – PHYSICAL SAFETY THREATENED
by defendants toward children, 374n.35, 409
by defendants toward a plaintiff’s family, 57, 255, 366
natal family
abuse of victims and parents-in-law by husbands, 400
domestic violence victims’ escape to, 5, 6, 229, 231, 335, 352, 399, 400, 401
mentioning in litigant’s statement as evidence of gender, 129
Netherlands
gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357
1992 Opinions of the SPC on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Civil Procedure Law
on applying the simplified civil procedure, 166
on mediation in divorce litigation, 22n.10
on missing person declarations for divorce trials, 50, 52
on second-instance trials, 67
1993 Several Concrete Opinions Concerning Handling Child Custody Matters in Divorce Trials (1993 Opinions)
“infant standard,” 384, 386, 451
on child support, 385
legal standards determining child custody, 384
on joint legal custody (轮流抚养), 384
Ning Shunhua divorce case, 95, 248
one-child policy
and son preference, 101n.13
rescinding of, 81
shortage of women in rural areas resulting from, 139
stereotypes about a selfish generation of only-children, 97
110 (equivalent of 911)
reporting of domestic violence, 248, 347
ordinary procedure. See trials and trial procedures – Ordinary Procedure (普通程序)
Organic Law of People’s Courts
on basic-level courts, 26, 29
loose formula for determining numbers of judges (2018), 198
on head judges (审判长) on collegial panels, 162
on assistant judges (2006 version), 162
on assistant judges (2018 version), 163
on solo judges serving on collegial panels, 164, 165
patriarchal cultural beliefs. See also gaslighting efforts; son preference
child custody determinations impacted by, 391, 395, 411
rural courts’ support of, 383
street-level bureaucrats’ biased judgements guided by, 4, 17, 458
Peking University’s Center for Women’s Law Studies and Legal Services, xiv, 354
People’s Lay Assessors (人民陪审员)
identification on court decisions, 110, 124, 163
increased participation of, in response to clogged courts, 176, 181, 186
participation in trials as members of collegial panels, 31, 48, 49, 161, 163, 171, 176, 186
People’s Tribunals (人民法庭 or 派出法庭)
family cases overrepresented in, 119
lack of identification in their written court decisions, 142
rural setting of, 29
simplified procedure applied in, 165
performance evaluation systems. See judicial performance evaluation systems (绩效考核体系)
personal safety protection orders
provisions in the Anti-Domestic Violence Law (2015), 40
pledge letters (保证书)
case from Xinchang County People’s Court, 10
case of He Jie’s husband Zhang Dong, 6
and establishing mutual affection, 7, 58
as evidence to prove abuse by the defendant, 56, 241, 252, 253
judicial misuse of, 58, 70, 252, 265, 293, 352
police
calls to 110 (equivalent of 911), 248, 347
domestic violence reported to by plaintiffs, 7, 9, 253, 255, 333, 347, 348, 355, 365, 366, 374n.35, 408
and other street-level bureaucracies, 455
political ideology. See also Marx, Karl; stability maintenance (维稳) ideology
and the civil law tradition, 36
and divorce petition denial rates, 191, 192, 224, 234, 327
ideological words deployed to deny divorce petitions, 247, 272, 277, 284, 286, 289Table8.2, 292, 296, 296Table8.3, 297, 298Table8.4
Maoist legacy of judicial mediation in China’s courts, 19
socialist family values promoted by Xi Jinping, 79, 80, 189
Pope, Shawn and John W. Meyer, 462
preponderance of evidence. See evidence of domestic violence – PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE STANDARD
probation
in criminal sentencing of women who killed their abusive husbands, 358, 362, 364, 379
procuracy and procurators
criminal domestic violence cases handled by, 57, 346
performance evaluation systems of, 363
promise letters (承诺书). See pledge letters
proof. See evidence of domestic violence
property division
concessions yielded in exchange for divorce, 312, 320, 326, 329, 378, 406, 453
contestation of, 93
public authorities. See All-China Women’s Federation; police
public notice trials. See in absentia trials (缺席审理) – PUBLIC NOTICE DIVORCE TRIALS (公告离婚)
quota system. See judges – QUOTA SYSTEM (员额制)
rape (强奸) – MARITAL RAPE
cutting off of reproductive organs by victims of, 367
euphemistic references used by women for, 241
lack of legal recognition in China of, xiv, 127
Shangcheng County People’s Court divorce case, 253
remarriage
after a “fake divorce,” 44, 101
impact of the “marriage squeeze” on divorced men’s prospects for, 139, 402n.14
impact on child custody decisions, 394, 402
by litigants not measured in the current research, 143
by victims and their abusers after they divorce, 365, 374n.35
Russia and the Soviet Union
emphasis on moving caseloads, 86, 186
influence on China’s divorce laws, 40
influence on China’s modern legal system, 35n.1
institutional norm of “telephone justice,” 85
Scotland
women’s representation among divorce-seekers in, 25
second-attempt petitions. See divorce twofer – SECOND ATTEMPTS
sex ratios and birth. See also son preference
personal details about litigants, 114, 130, 131Figure4.5, 439
Shi, Lei, 80, 81
simplified procedure. See trials and trial procedures – SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE
Sisyphean quality of Chinese divorce litigation
China’s institutionalized norm of denying first-attempt divorce petitions, 1, 236, 475
ideological opposition to freedom of divorce, 41
lack of advice given by authorities to vulnerable women regarding handling it, 331, 475
and the need for personal protection orders to be treated as a proof of statutory wrongdoing, 472
Ning Shunhua’s experience, 95, 248, 471
socialist morality. See also Marx, Karl; stability maintenance (维稳) ideology
Confucian family values blended with, 42, 60, 79
socialist family values promoted by Xi Jinping, 79, 80, 189
social unrest. See stability maintenance (维稳) ideology
solo judges. See judges – SOLO JUDGES (独任法官)
son preference
and fines for “out-of-quota birth,” 101, 101n.13
custody of only-daughters impacted by, 413, 426, 437Table11.6, 438, 445, 450
skewed sex ratio in rural China linked to, 393, 437Table11.6, 438, 439
status and security of rural woman linked to, 391
Soviet Union. See Russia and the Soviet Union
Spring Festival (Chinese Lunar New Year)
surge in divorce cases following, 118, 337
timing of a divorce case in Henan, 370, 403
stability maintenance (维稳) ideology. See also frivolous divorce (轻率离婚)
Confucian ideological roots of, 79
denying first-attempt divorce petitions related to, 4, 69, 88, 93, 237, 247, 273
impact of public sentiment on judicial rulings, 58, 364
the institutionalization of criminal reconciliation associated with, 370
social impact (社会效果) of judicial decisions related to, 85, 364
unintended opposite effects of policies promoting it, 473
stereotypes. See also patriarchal cultural beliefs
about a selfish generation of only-children, 97
about irrationally suspicious women filing for divorce frivolously, 97, 226, 236
biased judgements of street-level bureaucrats due to, 4, 17, 458, 474
Stern, Rachel E., 124n.15, 144, 179n.9
street-level bureaucracy
as de facto policy makers, 455
defined as “frontline workers” serving as gatekeepers to state resources, services, and opportunities, 455
and the gap between public promises and performance, 4, 17, 454
routines and simplifications used by, 4, 456, 458
street-level bureaucracy – FIVE DEFINING HALLMARKS OF
judges’ discretionary rulings due to pervasive legal ambiguity, 3–4, 17, 456, 461
many cases, few judges, 33, 174, 457
routines and simplifications used by judges to cope, 3–4, 458
street-level bureaucrats’ biased judgements guided by stereotypes, 4, 17, 458
street-level bureaucrats’ use of “surrogate measures” to evaluate workers, 4, 459
suicide and attempted suicide
divorce cases leading to, 7, 39, 241, 366
injuries incorrectly determined to be associated with suicide attempts, 57
murder and suicide of a litigant at Yongzhou Municipal Lingling District People’s Court, 92
of overworked judges, 95
Supreme People’s Court (SPC)
adjudication committee member. See Du Wanhua (杜万华)
Article 73 of the 2001 Several Provisions of the SPC Concerning Civil Procedure Evidence, 54, 288
China Judicial Big Data Research Institute (中国司法大数据研究院), 124n.15
court decisions posted online. See China Judgements Online
death sentences reviewed by, 355
1992 Opinions. See 1992 Opinions of the SPC on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Civil Procedure Law
1993 Opinions. See 1993 Several Concrete Opinions Concerning Handling Child Custody Matters in Divorce Trials
place in China’s four-tier court system, 26
president. See Wang Shengjun (王胜俊); Xiao Yang (肖扬); Zhou Qiang (周强)
Several Concrete Opinions on How to Determine in Divorce Trials Whether Marital Affection Has Indeed Broken Down. See Fourteen Articles
2001 Interpretations. See 2001 Interpretations of the SPC on Several Issues Regarding the Application of the Marriage Law (2001 Interpretations)
2008 Guidelines. See 2008 Guidelines on Judging Marital Cases Involving Domestic Violence (2008 Guidelines)
2013 Provisions. See 2013 Provisions of the SPC on People’s Courts’ Posting Decisions Online (2013 Provisions)
2015 Opinions. See 2015 Opinions of the SPC Concerning the Handling of Criminal Domestic Violence Cases in Accordance with the Law (2015 Opinions)
use of China Judgements Online to establish best judicial practices, 151
Supreme People’s Court (SPC) – Five Year Outlines
first five-year outline for judicial reform (1999–2003), 165, 171
second five-year outline for judicial reform (2004–2008), 166, 198
third five-year outline for judicial reform (2009–2013), 164, 165
fourth five-year outline for judicial reform (2014–2018), 61, 164, 171
Taiwan
gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357
trials and trial procedures. See also courts; divorce adjudication outcomes in China
domestic relations trial reform (家事审判改革), 84, 89, 191, 283
legal standards concerning the determination of civil procedure, 329
public notice trials. See in absentia trials (缺席审理) – PUBLIC NOTICE DIVORCE TRIALS (公告离婚)
the vanishing three-judge collegial panel in China, 177, 180, 186
vanishing trial in the United States, 175
trials and trial procedures – ORDINARY PROCEDURE (普通程序)
frequency of, 306Table8.6
public notice trials conducted according to, 52
statutory deadlines for, 48
utilization in Henan and Zhejiang compared, 182Figure5.1, 308, 309Figure8.5
trials and trial procedures – SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE (简易程序)
coding in quantitative analyses, 132
expansion of the scope of, 170, 177, 177n.6
frequency of, 306Table8.6
statutory deadlines for, 48
use as a coping strategy by judges, 165, 169
utilization in Henan and Zhejiang compared, 181, 182Figure5.1, 184, 308
twofer. See divorce twofer
2001 Interpretations of the SPC on Several Issues Regarding the Application of the Marriage Law (2001 Interpretations)
on breakdownism, 46, 47, 286
definition of domestic violence, 38
scope of domestic violence as persistent and frequent (持续性、经常性) defined by, 56, 259
2001 Several Provisions of the SPC Concerning Civil Procedure Evidence, 54, 288
2008 Guidelines on Judging Marital Cases Involving Domestic Violence (2008 Guidelines), 37, 38, 53, 54, 58, 354, 383, 385, 403
Article 63 on privileging the safety of children, 383
Article 64 on privileging the safety of children, 385
Chen Min as author of, 354
definition of domestic violence clarified by, 38
on evidentiary standards, 396
on global norms of gender equality, 37
on pledge letters, 58
Stockholm Syndrome referenced regarding the emotional attachment of children to abusive parents, 407
2013 Provisions of the SPC on People’s Courts’ Posting Decisions Online (2013 Provisions), 112, 113, 113Figure4.3, 114, 117, 135
compliance by Henan and Zhejiang Provinces compared, 113, 113Figure4.3, 114
emendation as the 2016 Provisions, 116n.6
the privacy of minors protected in, 135
promulgation of, 112
2015 Interpretations of the SPC on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law
on carrying out mediation in divorce litigation, 22n.10
on locations for the placement of public notices, 51
preponderance of evidence standard reaffirmed in Article 108 of, 55
2015 Opinions of the SPC Concerning the Handling of Criminal Domestic Violence Cases in Accordance with the Law (2015 Opinions)
citing in court decisions, 376, 377
guidance on criminal sentencing related to domestic violence, 355
on justifiable self-defense in intentional homicide (正当防卫), 355, 376
on transferring domestic violence cases to procurators, 346
United Kingdom. See also England and Wales
child custody determinations, 390
United Nations
core UN international treaties endorsed by China, 12
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993), 38
Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women (1985) submitted by China to, 39
United States
bargaining in the shadow of the law, Mnookin, Robert H. and Lewis Kornhauser, 453
battered woman syndrome accepted as a type of post-traumatic stress disorder, 353
child custody determinations, 390
court rules broken by lower-court judges in, 167
divorce granted to Kim Lee by a Beijing court (2013), 11
establishing a preponderance of evidence in US civil courts, 54
evidence of fathers’ “demand for sons,” 412
gender of those who killed their intimate partners in, 357
legal endogeneity obscuring and enabling employment discrimination by private corporations, 15
murder rates of women leaving abusive partners, 334
promarriage movement in, 79, 81, 473
stereotypes about irrationally suspicious women filing for divorce frivolously, 96, 97
the vanishing trial in, 175
unwitting divorce (被离婚)
case of Du Shuanghua (杜双华), 99
gender bias in legal protections for in absentia defendants, 100, 329
Legal Report (今日说法) episode on, 99
and public notice trials, 100, 329
urbanization
failure of macro-comparative cross-national research to disaggregate urban and rural China, 468
gender-equalizing pressure on divorce litigation practices of, 139, 304, 308, 330, 461
hukou (户口 or 户籍) status, 47, 137, 138
impact on age at marriage, 149Figure4.7, 150
impact on child custody decisions. See under child custody – QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
impact on ideological words in judges’ holdings, 299, 300Table8.5
impact on male plaintiffs’ allegations of domestic violence, 239
Zhejiang and Henan compared, 106, 119Table4.1, 121, 138
Walker, Lenore E.
on the archetypal “cycle of violence,” 75
on pathological jealousy associated with homicidal rage, 373, 375n.36
theory of “battered woman syndrome,” 353
Wang, Alice Z., 116n.6, 124n.15
Wang, Cheng-Tong Lir and Evan Schofer, 463
Wang, Mengyao (王梦遥), 89
Wang Shengjun (王胜俊)
court reform under his leadership, 164
reports on overworked judges and bailiffs, 77, 158
Wang, Yuhua
indirect proxy measure of judicial corruption, 467n.2
withdrawal. See also caiding decisions (裁定书)
benefits to judges of petition withdrawals, 189, 227
involuntary nature of nominally voluntary withdrawals of divorce petitions, 234, 363
WomanStats database
limitations of, 465
world society theory
focus on exogenous models, 13
limitations of, 461, 462
on the ubiquity of decoupling (or “ceremony without substance”), 12, 13
Xi Jinping
socialist family values promoted by, 79, 80, 189
Xiao Yang (肖扬) (SPC president)
on overwork (超负荷工作) and caseload pressure, 178, 179
Xu, Anqi (徐安琪), 71
Xu, Shuanggui (徐双桂), 89
Xue Ninglan (薛宁兰), xiv, 45, 162
Ye, Xiangyang (叶向阳), 180
Yunnan Province
Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture Intermediate People’s Court divorce case, 363, 367
quota system reforms in, 173
rates of mediations for divorce petitions in, 217n.17
Zeng, Shaoyou (曾少友), 393
Zhang Liyong (张立勇) (Henan Provincial High Court President), 93, 158
Zhang, Rongli (张荣丽), 389, 407
Zhang, Wusheng (章武生), 68, 159
Zhejiang Province. See also Henan and Zhejiang Provinces compared
adjudicated divorce decisions made on or after March 1, 2016, 470
caseloads in courts in, 27, 121, 156, 156n.1, 180, 197Table6.1, 211
first-attempt decisions primarily made by solo judges in, 139
Measures of the Municipality of Wenzhou for the Implementation of a Domestic Violence Warning System, 263
problem of “many cases, few judges,” 158, 181
procedural shortcuts taken by judges in the city of Jinhua, 167
Regulations on Preventing and Combatting Domestic Violence issued in 2010, 262n.32
2011 Provisional Rules on Posting Decisions Online, 112, 114, 117
Wenzhou’s pioneering anti-domestic violence work, 262, 346, 354
Zhejiang Province – Court Cases
Anji County People’s Court domestic violence cases, 252, 265
Cangnan County People’s Court child custody case, 408
Cangnan County People’s Court divorce case, 246
Cangnan County People’s Court domestic violence cases, 256, 263
Chun’an County People’s Court divorce case, 249
Chun’an County People’s Court domestic violence case, 264
Haiyan County People’s Court child custody case, 409
Haiyan County People’s Court domestic violence case, 470
Hangzhou Municipal Jianggan District People’s Court divorce case, 250
Hangzhou Municipal Yuhang District People’s Court divorce cases, 255, 267
Huzhou Municipal Nanxun District People’s Court child custody case, 403
Huzhou Municipal Wuxing District People’s Court divorce case, 285
Kaihua County People’s Court divorce case, 246
Lanxi Municipal People’s Court child custody case, 402
Lanxi Municipal People’s Court domestic violence case, 265
Linhai Municipal People’s Court child custody case, 405
Longquan Municipal People’s Court domestic violence case, 259
Ninghai County People’s Court domestic violence case, 345
Pingyang County People’s Court child custody case, 402
Qingtian County People’s Court domestic violence case, 265
Quzhou Municipal Kecheng District People’s Court divorce cases, 247, 294
Quzhou Municipal Qujiang District People’s Court divorce cases, 247, 260
Rui’an County People’s Court domestic violence case, 333
Sanmen County People’s Court divorce case, 261
Shaoxing Municipal Yuecheng District People’s Court divorce case, 391
Tiantai County People’s Court domestic violence case, 264
Wenzhou Municipal Intermediate People’s Court domestic violence cases, 372, 377
Wenzhou Municipal Longwan District People’s Court domestic violence case, 263
Xinchang County People’s Court divorce trial case, 10
Yinzhou District People’s Court attempted homicide case, 335
Yiwu Municipal People’s Court attempted homicide, 334
Yiwu Municipal People’s Court divorce case, 285
Yongkang Municipal People’s Court divorce case, 256
Yueqing Municipal People’s Court domestic violence case, 69
Yuhang District People’s Court domestic violence case, 332
Yuyao Municipal People’s Court domestic violence case, 366
Zhoushan Municipal Putuo District People’s Court domestic violence case, 258
Zhuji Municipal People’s Court divorce case, 245
Zhou Qiang (周强) (SPC president)
on caseloads in people’s courts, 156
on the deaths of overworked judges, 95
Zhou, Bingyi (周冰一) and Yuanting Qiu (邱苑婷), 73, 234
Zhu, Zhanwang (朱展望) and Songwen Zhu (邹松文), 164

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  • Index
  • Ethan Michelson, Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Book: Decoupling
  • Online publication: 24 March 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108768177.015
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  • Index
  • Ethan Michelson, Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Book: Decoupling
  • Online publication: 24 March 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108768177.015
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  • Index
  • Ethan Michelson, Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Book: Decoupling
  • Online publication: 24 March 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108768177.015
Available formats
×