Legal Culture and Legal system in Chinese Society (5 cr)

Evaluation scale

H-5

Objective

After completion of the course the student is able to
- describe main ideational and institutional sources of Chinese the legal traditions and culture
- explain key concepts of traditional and contemporary Chinese legal thinking
- explicate the evolution of legal system in contemporary China
- elucidate the dual structure and practices of Chinese legal system
- clarify the role and relationship between the Constitution of China and the Constitution of the Communist Party
- explain modern Chinese legal institutions, court structure, personnel and their relationship with the Party structure
- describe how the Constitutional rights of citizens are juxtaposed to the measures of corona virus control in society and media.

Execution methods

In this course we will adopt a teaching method of “flipped classroom”. Our studies include active outside class learning, online lectures and on regular basis gathering together in classrooms. The flipped classroom refers to a process where students can decide themselves the time when they engage in outside classroom studies (within a given timeframe of the course). Classroom time is utilized for discussing and engaging in various forms of group learning processes. The method and evaluation will be explained in detail during the first lecture.

Self-learning (including exercises) time is about 130 hours, classroom teaching and teacher tutoring groups or individual students varies between 10 to 15 hours. Teacher tutoring process provides continuous support for independent self-learning and will be booked and arranged during contact teaching time slots for individuals and groups.

Accomplishment methods

Course evaluation is based on online exercises. It is required to attend and pass all parts of the course to receive a final course grade.

Content

The course consists of three overlapping sections:

1. A short introduction to the political system of China. The most crucial aspect of successful dealing with China or Chinese actors is to understand the role of the Communist Party and its developmental policies (both legal and economic).

2. Exploration on the Constitution, constitutional discussion and role of Constitution in China’s legal system, society and politics. We will explore both the official Party line narrative of the Constitution, the recent Constitutional amendment in analyzing the underlying political and cultural argumentations for the amendments. In addition, we will explore the domestic Chinese critique of the Constitutional amendments and explore the reasoning of the critique. In addition, students need to read and analyze the Constitution of the Communist Party and to understand the role of the Party Constitution within Chinese judicial system and legal practices.

Hence, we analyze law and legal practices in China from a dualistic perspective. On the one hand, we analyze the Constitution as a normative structure that dictates the state structure, roles, responsibilities and function of key political institutions of China (including individual rights and responsibilities). On the other hand, we study how the Party utilizes its actual power in shaping and determining the practices of the key institutions and individual people in China – in particular to the world shaking case of Corona virus.

3. We also study how the actual holistic systemic imperatives are reflected in actual daily judicial work at the regional level. In this section we will on the hand, explore how the court system function both as a bureaucratic and legal organization, how it is closely entangled with local level development policies and political system. On the other hand, we will gain an insight how the regional level judicial and regulative environment condition differently foreign actors within China and what role the personal networks (guanxi) have in this process. Hence, this section will shed some light on contracting and negotiation cultures of China providing some hands-in clues on how to make sense of the central and local level regulative concepts and how to tackle the Chinese negotiation practices.

Materials

The study material of the course consists of online videos, journal articles, book chapters and documentaries that will be delivered to students during the course.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Fail: Performance is highly deficient or erroneous. The work may be based on serious misunderstandings.

Sufficient and satisfactory (1-2): Performance is lacking in scope, superficial, or corresponds poorly to the assignment. The student is unable to illustrate that he/she has studied the material or/and merely lists things out of context or addresses them one-sidedly. The work contain errors or obscurities.

Assessment criteria, good (3)

Good and very good (3-4): Performance corresponds to the assignment, manifesting comprehension and a skill to analyse and justify. The author has addressed the issue comprehensively. The work may contain some deficiencies.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Excellent (5): Performance delineates an extensive whole and the author can apply knowledge in a multifaceted way or place it in various contexts. The work manifests independency and insight, and it is a flawless entity that involves justified thinking or critical contemplation. The work is well written and implemented.