We doubt many of you will be in Oslo mid January…..but… for the record.
The China Programme at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) will prsent an open seminar on the issue of rule of law development in China. We are told that "experts" from the USA, China and Norway will share their views on the topic from a legal and political perspective.
It’s titled..
Are Politics Really in Command? – China and a Rule of Law. Open seminar organised by the NCHR China Programme (Jan. 16, 2009)
Time: 09.00 – 12.00
Venue: Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz-gate 7, Oslo (tel:+47 22411322)
Seminar language: English
Last year marked the 10th anniversary for the introduction of the “Rule of Law policy” in China, setting out an ambition to create a socialist rule of law state with Chinese characteristics. The development has focussed, on among others, the promulgation of a large number of laws, the increased professionalization of the judiciary, as well as efforts to impose a legal consciousness on the Chinese people. These developments led many to the conclusion that China was moving towards a rule of law, although perhaps not of a liberal-democratic flavour.
However, after a long period of liberal legal policies and judicial developments, there has been a return of political and populist rhetoric in the Chinese legal discourse that has not been seen since the 1950’s. Recent policies have also explicitly placed the Chinese Communist Party’s work at the top of concerns for judicial work, on par with the interest of the masses and the constitution and laws. Can recent appointments of non-legally trained personnel to the top of the judiciary be seen as a reversal of the last ten years of judicial progress? One may legitimately ask if the rule of law policy has ultimately failed, or if these developments are in line with the development of a Chinese rule of law model.
The seminar aims at discussing the development of a rule of law in China, if there really is such a development, and what factors that may be involved in such (non)development.
The seminar is open for all, but please register your participation by January 14.
http://www.humanrights.uio.no/programmes/china/news/2008/rule-of-law-seminar
