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How has China formed its conception of the rule of law? A contextual analysis of legal instrumentalism in ROC and PRC law-making

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2017

Qianlan Wu
Qianlan Wu*
Affiliation:
Assistant professor in the School of Law, University of Nottingham. E-mail: qianlan.wu@nottingham.ac.uk.
*
qianlan.wu@nottingham.ac.uk
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Extract

The rule of law as a globally recognised concept is multi-faceted (Chesterman, 2008). In the common-law tradition, it is conceived through a formal and substantive framework. In essence, it centres on the supremacy of the law over the arbitrary exercise of power and the formal legality of the law (Tamanaha, 2004, p. 115; Cotterrell, 1992, p. 157). The rule-of-law concept has been criticised as being of unique European origin, where plural social organisation and universal natural law constitute its two preconditions (Unger, 1977, pp. 80–110). It has, however, been advocated around the world as one essential principle leading to modernity, where the legitimacy of the law based on the formal and substantive rule of law serves as a strong symbol for a modern society (Deflem, 1996, p. 5).

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Law in Context , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , September 2017 , pp. 277 - 294
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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Footnotes

The research of the paper is inspired by the University of Nottingham ESRC Impact Acceleration Award on ‘What Should We Do when Chinese Law Becomes More Assertive’, which the author has been awarded in 2015–2016. The author is grateful to Dr Sarah Dauncey, Dr Jeremy Taylor, Dr Scott Pacey, Dr Sunari Senaratne and Professor Francis Snyder for reading the earlier versions of the paper and for their support. The author thanks the two reviewers for their comments and insights. Any errors in the paper are with the author.

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