Benjamin Chen et al on Detecting the Influence of the Chinese Guiding Cases (Artificial Intelligence and Law)

"Detecting the influence of the Chinese guiding cases: a text reuse approach"

Benjamin M. Chen, Zhiyu Li, David Cai & Elliott Ash

Artificial Intelligence and Law

Published: 06 May 2023

Abstract: Socialist courts are supposed to apply the law, not make it, and socialist legality denies judicial decisions any precedential status. In 2011, the Chinese Supreme People’s Court designated selected decisions as Guiding Cases to be referred to by all judges when adjudicating similar disputes. One decade on, the paucity of citations to Guiding Cases has been taken as demonstrating the incongruity of case-based adjudication and the socialist legal tradition. Citations are, however, an imperfect measure of influence. Reproduction of language uniquely traceable to Guiding Cases can also be evidence of their impact on judicial decision-making. We employ a local alignment tool to detect unattributed text reuse of Guiding Cases in local court decisions. Our findings suggest that Guiding Cases are more consequential than commonly assumed, thereby complicating prevailing narratives about the antagonism of socialist legality to case law.

Fu, Gillespie , Nicholson & William Partlett on East Asian Socialism and East Asian Legality: A Response to Ewan Smith (Asian J of Comp L)

"East Asian Socialism and East Asian Legality: A Response to Ewan Smith"
Hualing Fu, John Gillespie, Pip Nicholson and William Partlett

Asian Journal of Comparative Law 

Published online on 19 November 2019

Introduction: Ewan Smith has written a thoughtful and nuanced review of Socialist Law in Socialist East Asia that effectively highlights the main difficulties in researching and analyzing socialist law in East Asia. He has a keen understanding of socialist law and supports the objective of the book, which is to place 'socialism back in the foreground of our analysis of law in East Asia'. He discusses the problems the authors faced in disentangling socialist law from socialist state institutions. In addition, he reflects on what `socialist' law might resemble if it were disaggregated from Marxist-Leninist thought. Smith also points out that law is not socialist just because self-declared socialist states say it is socialist. Or as he eloquently puts it: 'The party's account of socialist law is a treacherous guide to its true nature and true objectives'... Click here to read the article.

New Book: Socialist Law in Socialist East Asia (CUP, Hualing Fu and others)

Socialist Law in Socialist East Asia

Edited by Hualing Fu,  John Gillespie, Pip Nicholson and William Edmund Partlett

Cambridge University Press
July 2018, 460 pp.

Description: Since China's reform and opening up started in 1978 and Vietnam's Doi Moi reforms were initiated in 1986, these two East Asian economies have adopted capitalistic models of development while retaining and reforming their socialist legal systems along the way. Tracking the trajectory of socialist laws and their legacy, this book offers a unique comparison of laws and institutional designs in China and Vietnam. Leading scholars from China, Vietnam, Australia and the United States analyze the history, development and impact of socialist law reforms in these two continuing socialist states. Readers are offered a varied insight into the complex quality and unique features of socialist law and why it should be taken seriously. This is a fresh theoretical approach to, and internal critique of, socialist laws which demonstrates how socialist law in China and Vietnam may shape the future of global legal development among developing countries.

• Rejuvenates academic interest in socialist law with a unique comparison of laws and institutional designs in different socialist states
• Insightfully accounts for the resilience of authoritarian socialism and explores the function of law in legitimizing and governing socialist states in transitions
• Offers a sharp focus on China and Vietnam as an ongoing interpretation of the Soviet formulation of socialist law following the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution

Editors:
Hualing Fu, The University of Hong Kong
Professor of Law and Associate Dean at The University of Hong Kong.

John Gillespie, Monash University, Victoria
Professor of Law in the Monash Business School at Monash University, Victoria.

Pip Nicholson, University of Melbourne
Professor of Law and Dean at Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne, Australia.

William Edmund Partlett, University of Melbourne
Associate Professor at Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne, Australia.

Contributors:

Hualing Fu, John Gillespie, Pip Nicholson, William Partlett, Michael Dowdle, Glenn Tiffert, Pham Duy Nhia, Jason Buhi (PhD 2018), Bui Ngoc Son (PhD 2013), Sarah Biddulph, Pham Lan Phuong, Aaron Halegua, Cynthia Estlund, Do Hai Ha, Wendy Ng, Chen Li, Toan Le

Praise:

'Socialism is dead – long live socialist law! This important volume examines the genealogy, influence and continued relevance of socialist law in contemporary East Asia. Relying on a mix of conceptual, historical and analytic contributions, the authors collectively shed light on this understudied tradition, and in doing so advance our understanding of several important countries.' 

- Tom Ginsburg, Leo Spitz Professor of International Law, Ludwig and Hilde Wolf Research Scholar, University of Chicago Law School

'This rich volume demonstrates that socialist law remains a critical concept despite decades of liberal reforms. The fascinating chapters in this book not only shed light on the myriad ways in which socialist legal traditions have adapted to the modern world, but also highlight underappreciated institutions and practices. There is much here that will drive agendas in future comparative work.'

- David E. Landau, Mason Ladd Professor and Associate Dean for International Programs, Florida State University College of Law

'Socialist legality, which originated from the Russian Revolution one century ago, is still very much alive and well today in Asia. In this book, leading scholars of Chinese, Vietnamese and Soviet laws provide up-do-date accounts of contemporary socialist law and society. They demonstrate that despite far-reaching reforms in recent decades, the contemporary legal systems and practices of China and Vietnam can only be fully understood in light of the socialist/communist political-legal tradition.' 

- Albert H. Y. Chen, Cheng Chan Lan Yue Professor in Constitutional Law, University of Hong Kong

Fu, Gillespie, Nicholson and Partlett on "Socialist Law in Socialist East Asia" (new book chapter)

"Socialist Law in Socialist East Asia"

Hualing Fu, John Gillespie, Pip Nicholson and William Edmund Partlett

in Socialist Law in Socialist East Asia (Cambridge University Press, July 2018), pp. 3 -22

Introduction: More than fifty years ago, socialist states in Asia turned to the Soviet Bloc for inspiration in developing their political and legal systems. They enacted constitutions and laws, and established institutions that, with varying degrees of faithfulness, replicated Soviet regulatory models. The collapse of socialism in the Soviet Bloc was accompanied by the literal collapse of structures and bodies previously considered indestructible, such as the Berlin Wall and statues venerating social heroes. Mirroring this decline, much subsequent analysis about socialist Asia promptly devalued and dismissed social institutions, legal theories and forms of knowledge - presupposing a linear transition from socialism to liberal legalism. Far from linear, legal reform in this region has been variegated and complex - raising the question of whether socialist laws and institutions were more resilient and adaptable than previously thought. 

     This book argues that the scholarly focus on the emergence of liberal legalism has marginalized the ongoing normative and structural legacy of Asian socialism found in various guises in contemporary Vietnam and China. The assumption of the inevitable export of Western capitalism, together with versions of liberalism and its institutional manifestations, is, we suggest, flawed, or at least misconceived, in socialist Asia. The chapters suggest that, at lease in part, a failure to recognize the normative and structural legacy of Marxist-Leninist approaches to socialism constrains our capacity to interpret the contemporary Vietnamese and Chinese reforms. Further and significantly, a failure to recognize the socialist legacy risks overlooking a key reason for ongoing local support for strong/authoritarian states in socialist Asia, which seek to promote 'development' while also resisting its destabilizing effects. As will become evident, the impacts of contemporary socialism vary across countries, jurisdictions and institutions.

     We commence this Chapter with a brief review of the history of socialism, including recalling socialist debates before the advent of the Russian revolution. Subsequently, we briefly trace the 'import' of Soviet socialism into both the People's Republic of China, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. We turn then to the 'puzzle' of socialism's resonance and relevance today, outlining the debates about its resilience and adaptation in socialist Asia...