The English laws punish vice; the Chinese laws do more, they reward virtue. (Oliver Goldsmith)
today my coworkers and i said our final farewells and parted ways. we all exchanged gifts as well, which was interesting. interesting, because i had been told that the exchange of gifts in china, between coworkers and business partners, is not common. in particular, the exchange of gifts between individuals. apparently, if you're going to give a gift to someone (coworker, client, partner, etc), you should do so in private. several of my female coworkers exchanged gifts with me (chinese fan, bracelent, wall decorations, chinese knot), and a gift was given to me on behalf of the law firm as well (chinese enamel cloissone vase). (i gave a gift to the law firm, for all of the firm's employees to enjoy). for the women who gave me individual gifts, i will be making some unique jewelry for them and sending it over in a month or so. :)
i know i haven't posted much on my internship, and i've refrained from doing so out of fear that i would bore to death the majority of my readership, only a handful of which is comprised of law students, law professors, and law school deans...however, i feel that now would be an appropriate time to discuss a few of the more interesting aspects of my internship, as well as some keen observations i have made throughout the summer. for those of you apt to be bored by such discussion, avert your eyes immediately!
first, a short background on chinese law: in the past (maybe before the 1970s or 80s), the chinese legal system (i.e. judges) was run primarily by members of the military. military members held positions as judges, and even attorneys. the legal system wasn't based so much upon law and precedent as it was upon that age-old chinese custom of guanxi (connections) and favors. as you can imagine, and compared to western legal systems, the chinese justice system was, well, quite apart from being just or fair. well, once the 70s and 80s rolled around, china began to recognize the importance of opening up institutions of higher learning. as a result, many, many universities were opened up across china - particularly in beijing (which is known more for its educated citizens and universities, which shanghai is known more for its modernization and semi-western ways).
once chinese students began to study law, and sought employment upon graduation, china saw what would be the beginning of a change in its legal system. chinese-trained attorneys have since been appointed positions as judges, and have helped to shift the focus of the legal system from one based upon guanxi and favors, to one based upon law and precedent. that's not to say that the legal system doesn't still reflect the guanxi that is so prevalent in chinese culture (yes, western cultures, including our own, also use "connections" and "networking," but not to the same extent as china - trust me). so, for example, if you work for a law firm that employs, say, a partner that is an elected member of the CCP (chinese communist party), well, you can rest assured that your law firm will receive very good business, and that it will be awarded myriad accolades. guanxi, my friends. ;)
Deal with the faults of others as gently as with your own. (Chinese proverb)
legal education, however, is not the only thing contributing to china's legal system reformation. i'm sure you've all been reading the news lately (and if you haven't, i'm afraid we can't be friends anymore). if you've retained any sort of knowledge about china, you should remember that china is now one of the largest economies to be tapped by foreign investors (e.g. american and european companies - major companies). what would make a monolith company feel good about investing in china, if not an assurance that the company's interests will be protected under chinese law? you can see where i'm going with this. if china is going to promote investment in its economy (which it is only too eager to do, but with moderation, of course), then it will have to at least give the appearance of having a fair and just legal system.
Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny. (Edumund Burke)
one of the amazing feats that china's government is currently managing is the ability to do in 20 years what the united states and western european countries have done in about 200-800 years - establish a legal code. well, not just a legal code. see, china has always had laws, of course (an understatement, really). but now china has to reform many of its laws, make them more amenable to foreign investors (and not so one-sided, as many of them are/were). over the past 7 years or so, china has adopted over 100 new laws (e.g. Company Law, Business Law, etc). that's quite an amazing feat for a country like china. but, if that's what it takes to bring in the foreign companies (and therefore the money)...you can bet china will step up to the plate. the laws are being implemented through legislation, which means that chinese law is civil law (as opposed to common law, which is developed and based upon case law - or precedent). so, essentially, the government is asserting directives - quite appropos for the chinese government, no?
Nobody has a more sacred obligation to obey the law than those who make the law. (Sophocles)
now, we have to sit back and wait to see if china will actually uphold these laws. however, judging from the quality of the lawyers with whom i worked this summer, i have no doubt that the future of chinese law will only continue to improve.