[ { "id": 205188, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 144, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "BOOK REVIEWS\n\nKUAN-TZU: A REPOSITORY OF EARLY CHINESE THOUGHT, Vol. I. By W. Allyn Rickett. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1965. xviii, pp. 269. Bibliography, Index. HK$45.\n\nThe Kuan-tzu is said to have been written by the famous statesman Kuan Chung who died around 645 B.C. Many chapters record social and economic reforms allegedly proposed by him to his ruler, Duke Huan of Ch'i who ruled from 685 to 643 B.C. Also included are proposals for the establishment of state monopolies over salt and iron, the different ways government might control currency and grain prices, and other measures advocating state interference in economic affairs.\n\nAccording to some scholarly studies the Kuan-tzu is really a work of collected writings by various writers, and therefore it could not have been entirely written by Kuan Chung. If this assertion is true, many chapters were probably written by Confucians, Mohists, Legalists, and Taoists during the third century B.C., although a few may have been written as early as the late fourth century, while some were probably produced during the second or even the first century B.C.\n\nOne reason why certain sections of the Kuan-tzu, written after Kuan Chung's death, were attributed to him is that he played a major role in strengthening the state of Ch'i. As soon as Duke Huan took over the government of Ch'i after a civil war, he appointed Kuan Chung as his chief minister. With his new power Kuan Chung was able to persuade the Duke to carry out political, military, social, and economic reforms which soon made Ch'i one of the most powerful feudal states of the day. By 680 B.C. Duke Huan was recognized as the lord protector or chief over the feudal lords. He had the responsibility of controlling the barbarian peoples on the frontier and ensuring that all states be loyal to the ruler of Chou. After the seventh century B.C. feudal society gradually disintegrated. It was during this period that Kuan Chung came to the fore as a new type of professional bureaucrat and political adviser to replace the former hereditary officials who", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209346, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 5, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "CONTENTS\n\nPage\n\nPRESIDENT'S REPORT\n\nviii\n\nADDRESS BY DR. J.W. HAYES\n\nxiv\n\nADDRESS BY REV. C.T. SMITH\n\nxvii\n\nTREASURER'S REPORT\n\nxviii\n\nLIBRARIAN'S REPORT\n\nxxi\n\nARTICLES:\n\nStructure and Function in an Urban Organization:\n\nThe Mutual Aid Committees JANET LEE\n\nSCOTT\n\n1\n\nOrigin and Development of the Political System in the\n\nShanghai International Settlement J.H. HAAN\n\n31\n\nThe Strike and Riot of 1884 A Hong Kong\n\nPerspective - ELIZABETH SINN\n\n65\n\nThe New Constitution and China's Emerging Legal System in Perspective W. ALLYN RICKETT\n\nTwo Chinese Domestic Murders\n\nLETHBRIDGE\n\n99\n\nH.J.\n\n118\n\nPhonology of a Cantonese Dialect of the New Territories: Kat Hing Wai -- LAURENT\n\nSAGART\n\n142\n\nSaikung, The Making of the District and its Experience during World War II-DAVID\n\nFAURE\n\n161\n\nThe Hong Kong Amateur Dramatic Club and its\n\nPredecessors - CARL T. SMITH\n\n217\n\nVillage Education in Transition: The Case of Sheung\n\nShui — NG LUN NGAI-HA\n\n252\n\nV", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209464, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 121, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "THE NEW CONSTITUTION AND\n\nCHINA'S EMERGING LEGAL SYSTEM\n\nIN PERSPECTIVE\n\nW. ALLYN RICKETT*\n\nOn December 4, 1982, China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted the fourth and perhaps most favourable constitution since 1949 in terms of paper guarantees for the protection of individual citizens against the arbitrary abuse of Party and state power. When coupled with such laws as the Criminal Code and Criminal Code of Procedure, promulgated in July 1979 and implemented in January 1980, there is some room for optimism that China has embarked on a path toward a stable legal system and the provision of basic guarantees for the rights of its citizens. However, given China's traditional disregard of individual rights and the almost constant state of political turmoil prevailing throughout this century, not to mention the Chinese Communists' generally negative attitude toward jural or formal law in the past, such optimism may well prove to have been undeserved. It might be worthwhile to look briefly at previous efforts on the part of the Chinese Communists to establish some semblance of a stable legal system before trying to reach any conclusions about the future.\n\nThe early judicial experience of the Chinese Communists, which began with the special tribunals set up in Hunan in 1926-27 to try \"bad elements,\" can at best be described by Mao Zedong's own words \"zao de hen\" [extremely crude]. It was not until November 1931 with the founding of the Chinese Soviet Republic in Jiangxi that any real attempt was made by the Communists to establish a formal body of law and judicial procedure. During this and the following Yenan period, laws were promulgated and legal institutions established, but this took place within the context of violent revolutionary struggle and the war of resistance against Japan. Moreover, judicial personnel\n\n* Professor Rickett is Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209465, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 122, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "100 \n\nW. ALLYN RICKETT \n\nat the operations level consisted almost entirely of hastily trained students or political cadres, amateur in approach and guerrilla in methods of work. Thus, while the Chinese Communists may have had some intellectual appreciation of the need for formal laws and institutions, the slightest excuse in the name of survival was sufficient for a reversion to revolutionary expediency.3 Moreover, Mao Zedong himself, with his hatred for bureaucratization and emphasis on the mass line, was never willing to consider law any more than a mere tool of the revolution, to be used or rejected as changes in the political scene dictated.\n\nThe basic guidelines for the new China were set out in a series of Mao's speeches and writings involving his concept of \"New Democracy,\" culminating in his essay \"On the People's Democratic Dictatorship\" released on June 30, 1949 just before the founding of the new People's Republic. In this latter document in particular, Mao does not mince words; good people belonging to the four classes of the New Democracy (workers, peasants, petty bourgeoisie and national bourgeoisie) would be entitled to democratic rights, people belonging to the enemy classes (landlords and bureaucratic capitalists) would be subjected to repression and dictatorship.\n\nWhen Communist forces took over the country in 1948-49, local areas first came under military control commissions. In the cities these brought together \"conferences of all circles\" which formed people's governments beginning at the local level and then expanding upwards. In the countryside peasant associations formed the basic units which were to conduct land reform and form the bases for local governments. As local people's governments developed, powers were increasingly turned over to them by the military control commissions. However, the military control commissions retained power in all cases affecting security through their public security forces. The military control commissions also continued to maintain military tribunals in some areas for trying counter-revolutionary cases as late as 1954. People's Courts were formed immediately following 1949, largely in accordance with the demands of the situation and types of personnel available. In Shanghai, for example, a new People's Court was constituted by giving some 200 former judicial personnel and", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209467, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 124, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "102\n\nW. ALLYN RICKETT\n\nJudicial Conference was held for the primary purpose of regulating local courts and local court-affiliated organizations such as neighbourhood mediation and factory-based comrade adjudication committees.\n\nBy the end of 1953, the Chinese Communists announced that the period of reconstruction was coming to an end, the \"New Democratic\" phase of the revolution was complete, and it was time to start the building of socialism. In September 1954, a new constitution was promulgated which established a new government under a National People's Congress (NPC) and provided the basis for a judicial system, which in administering justice, was supposed to be independent, subject only to law. There was a standard list of rights for citizens including freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press. Although this did not prevent a repressive campaign against intellectuals and the arrest of the writer Hu Feng in 1955, in general the 1954 Constitution set the stage for what was to be the most constructive period for legal development in China during the first 30 years of the People's Republic. Provision was made for a Ministry of Justice responsible for the general administration of justice and the training of judicial cadres, and for a procuratorate which was to review recommendations from public security offices concerning the arrest of suspected criminals, and which would also prosecute cases before the court. The procuratorate was also charged with ensuring that the activities of government complied with the law, and investigating and prosecuting serious crimes committed by state officials. Malfeasance involving officials was also investigated by a Ministry of Supervision, an organ which was later eliminated. However, the investigation of Party members was the prerogative of Party control commissions.\n\n\"The Organic Law of the People's Courts,\" adopted by the NPC at the same time as the Constitution, spelled out in more detail some of the basic provisions of the Constitution, providing, for example, that in \"adjudicating cases the people's courts shall apply the law equally to all citizens irrespective of their nationality, race, sex, occupation, social origin, religious belief, educational standard, property status, and length of residence.\" It also stated that cases \"shall be heard in public unless otherwise provided for", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209469, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 126, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "104\n\nW. ALLYN RICKETT\n\nof presenting their opinions to the Party. The opportunity was too much for judicial workers to pass up, and the speeches which followed were often extremely vitriolic. Almost every aspect of existing judicial practice came under attack, particularly the role played by the Party. The editor of the Association's journal, Zhengfa yanjiu, demanded that high Communist cadres “get down out of their sedan chairs\". Some of the more important demands presented, as reported by the New China News Agency on May 29, 1957, included: 1) reform of law schools and the broadening of legal education to include such subjects as international law, which had been neglected under the Communists; 2) relaxation of the dictatorship and stress on the protection of democratic privileges; 3) immediate codification of the laws which were said in many fields to be entirely lacking or so vague they could not be used as a basis for sound legal judgments; 4) elimination of mass movements which usurped the function of the courts; 5) assertion of judicial independence and elimination of Party interference in judicial matters. What was even more surprising was that among the strongest critics were members of the Party, including Jia Qian, chief judge of one of the two criminal divisions of the Supreme Court. In spite of the highly emotional language used in expressing these demands, there was little questioning of the basic leadership role of the Party in society at large. Yet, when the counterattack came in the context of the well-known Anti-Rightist Movement two weeks later, it soon became clear that the Party was going to interpret these demands in that light. Extensive purges followed. Many leading judicial figures were declared “rightists” and relieved of their posts and some were sent to the countryside for reform through labour.\n\nThe attack on the \"rightists\" continued throughout the rest of the year and on into the spring of 1958. The arguments that filled the law journals during these months indicated a complete reversal of the former trend toward an independent judicial system and its attendant professionalism. The anti-rightist arguments of this period are well represented in a January 19, 1958 radio speech of Wu Defeng, Vice-President of the Chinese Political Science and Law Association. Wu presented a series of statements which he claimed represented the views of the \"rightists\" along with his replies:", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209471, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 128, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "106\n\nW. ALLYN RICKETT\n\n6) The Rightists maintain that the Constitution provides for judicial independence.\n\nAnswer: This simply means that their work is not to be subjected to illegal interference on the part of other government organizations, people's bodies, or individuals. However, the courts are created by the country's organ of state power and ought to be responsible to it. Since the Party is the heart of the leadership of the state and the people's courts are only one of its organizations, naturally the courts cannot be independent of the Party.\n\n7) The Rightists say the courts are to administer law, not policy,\n\nAnswer: This is wrong because political policy is the soul of law, and law is but the formulation of policy into articles. The two are inseparable. Thus in some cases, in order to seek a correct judgment which fits the needs of the struggle of the moment, the courts should consult the Party committees because they have a better grasp of the political situation and current policy.\n\nI have gone to some length in citing Wu Defeng because his arguments present the position of China's ideological leadership throughout most of the history of the People's Republic, and, in spite of the changes that have taken place since the fall of the Gang of Four in late 1976, such arguments are by no means dead. Should China be faced with a real crisis or the present leadership be seriously threatened, these arguments could well be heard again.\n\nThe Anti-Rightist Movement proved to be a disaster for China's budding judicial profession and its concern for civil rights. Legal publications dried up, and although Zhengfa yanjiu continued to be published for a while longer, its contents were limited to articles of a general propaganda nature. Judicial personnel who had been going abroad in great numbers were required to stay home, and less and less was heard of people's lawyers. The blow dealt to Chinese intellectuals and professionalism in general was of course not limited to the legal profession. Throughout the entire society there was a general", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209473, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 130, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "108\n\nW. ALLYN RICKETT\n\nwere usually removed and their activities closely controlled by whatever leftist faction happened to be in control at the moment. At this time, the procuratorate was eliminated, as had been the Ministry of Justice in 1959. One of the most important developments during this period was the expansion in the cities of so-called non-criminal sanctions, generally ranging from warnings to three years reform through labour, imposed by local mediation or residents' committees in conjunction with the local police station. The mediation of neighbourhood disputes and the handling of petty local crime and anti-social behaviour by properly supervised local institutions has been, in principle, one of the more constructive developments in China since the Revolution. However, during the Cultural Revolution a vast expansion of informal and arbitrary punishment, including beatings and long-term imprisonment or deportation to the countryside, was instituted by Red Guard and other leftist groups operating in such places as schools, factories, government organizations. These leftist groups merely charged their victims with being \"rightists\" and then proceeded to take any suppressive action that seemed desirable to them.\n\nViolence and factionalism reached such proportions that in September 1967 the Army was ordered to restore order, but major outbreaks continued to occur throughout 1968 and into 1969. In April 1969 the Ninth Party Congress was held, this marking the official end of the Cultural Revolution, and though some semblance of stability began to emerge thereafter, tension throughout the society continued, especially as many purged Party officials were returned to office and the split between Mao and Lin Biao intensified. During the early 1970s, the Party machinery was restored and under the leadership of Zhou En-lai the country seemed to be entering a new period of stability. However, even after the death of Lin Biao, the leadership remained divided, with the Cultural Revolution forces now being represented by what was later to be called the Gang of Four. It was not until January 1975 that the NPC met to pass a new Constitution designed to formalize the changes in China's political and social life over the past twenty years. According to the new Constitution, the People's Republic was no longer a \"people's democratic state,\" but a \"socialist state of the dictatorship of the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209475, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 132, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "110\n\nW. ALLYN RICKETT\n\nadvisory offices were established in most cities throughout the country. The year 1979 also witnessed the beginnings of a major nationwide campaign to publicize the new laws and explain the rights and obligations of citizens contained therein. An impressive number of legal publications have appeared, including an increasing number of law journals. Numerous delegations of Chinese lawyers have visited abroad, and a number of Chinese students have been sent abroad to study Western law.\n\nThe new system, with some minor changes, harks back to that instituted in 1954. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the general administration of justice and the training of judicial cadres. The court system is composed of the Supreme People's Court, Higher People's Courts, Intermediate People's Courts, and Basic People's Courts. There are also special courts: military, railway transport, water transport, forestry, as well as special branch courts dealing with economic affairs. There is a two-trial (one appeal) system, and trials are open unless they involve state secrets, matters of personal shame such as rape, or juveniles. As in the 1950s, judges, except in minor civil and criminal cases or where otherwise specified by law, are assisted by elected lay assessors, who are members of the trial court and enjoy equal rights with its judges when the judges perform their duties in court. Court presidents are elected by people's congresses at various levels while judges are appointed by the standing committees of these congresses. Courts are no longer accountable to local governments, but only to the people's congress of their constituency. The Supreme Court has been given an expanded role over its 1954 predecessor. While only the Standing Committee of the NPC has the authority to interpret the Constitution and other laws, the Supreme Court can give explanations on questions concerning the specific application of laws and decrees in judicial procedure. It also must rule on all death sentences.12\n\nThe right of defense is spelled out in the Criminal Code of Procedure, which provides that the accused may either defend himself or request the assistance of a relative or guardian, a member of his unit, people's organization, or other citizens approved by the court, or a lawyer. Lawyers function under provisions contained in Articles 28 and 29 of the Criminal Code of Procedure and \"The Provisional Regulations Governing the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209477, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 134, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "112\n\nW. ALLYN RICKETT\n\nunfortunate that some of its worst features have been incorporated into the Chinese Code, including the use of analogy (Article 79) and a broad classification of \"counter-revolutionary offenses.” Articles 90 to 104, dealing with such offenses require the court to determine the motive for a range of acts which might or might not have as their purpose \"overthrowing the political power of the dictatorship of the proletariat.\" For example, Article 102 stipulates that \"using counter-revolutionary slogans, leaflets or other means to spread propaganda inciting the overthrow of the political power of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the socialist system\" is to be punished by a fixed-term imprisonment, detention, surveillance, or deprivation of political rights for not less than five years. Since the classification of a presumed offense as counter-revolutionary then depends on a subjective interpretation of motive in this type of case, it is difficult to know when the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and press become counter-revolutionary.\n\nIt is understandable that since this is their first attempt to produce a general criminal code, the compilers were reluctant to give up the useful tool of analogy to cover any gaps in the law that might appear later on. The drafters of the Code were, however, not oblivious to the dangers inherent in the application of analogy and therefore stipulated that its use had to have the approval of a Higher People's Court. The articles dealing with counter-revolution are a far more serious matter. Again they are understandable given the turbulent history of modern China, the on-going civil war with the Kuomintang on Taiwan, and the hostile treatment accorded the People's Republic by most of the world throughout most of its history, not to mention the general paranoia which seems to take hold of most societies going through a revolution. However, it is precisely because of these articles and the psychological condition which produced them, that one continues to feel some concern for the future in spite of all the positive steps that have been taken since the fall of the Gang of Four.\n\nThis concern is further strengthened by another disturbing factor. I mentioned earlier that one of the characteristics of the period following the Anti-Rightist Movement was the development", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209479, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 136, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "114\n\nW. ALLYN RICKETT\n\nnew laws, can it be said that that there is any more hope now than existed in 1956 that the paper guarantees of the new legal system will prevail? I think there is. This optimism rests primarily on some major changes taking place in the society and in the thinking of the top leadership in the Communist Party. Unlike the earlier reforms, which in respect of the 1954 Constitution were more formal than real and pushed primarily by a small group of profession-oriented intellectuals, the new reforms come from the top and are based on the disastrous experience of the Cultural Revolution. Most of China's present leadership personally suffered from the arbitrary abuse of power at that time and have come to realize the need for a stable legal system. Furthermore, post-Gang of Four China is no longer the China of the past. The prestige of the Party has diminished greatly, the general population is no longer as malleable as it was in the past, and, perhaps most important of all, the rapid modernization and internationalization of the economy require a stable legal system.\n\nIndicative of some of the change taking place in China is the new Constitution adopted on December 4, 1982. In the 1975 and 1978 Constitutions, the Party is clearly recognized as having a special position of power. The 1978 Constitution begins by stating:\n\nThe People's Republic of China is a socialist state of the dictatorship of the proletariat led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants. (Article 1)\n\nThe Communist Party of China is the core of leadership of the whole Chinese people. The working class exercises leadership over the state through its vanguard the Communist Party of China.\n\nThe guiding ideology of the People's Republic of China is Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought. (Article 2)\n\nAlthough Article 3 goes on to say that all power belongs to the people and is to be exercised through the National People's Congress and local people's congresses, in point of fact the first two articles clearly give that power to the Communist Party and", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209481, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 138, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "116\n\nW. ALLYN RICKETT\n\n' Mao Zedong, “Hunan nongmin yundong kaocha baokao,” Mao Zedong xuanji (Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 1964), 16.\n\n* See Patricia Griffin, The Chinese Communist Treatment of Counter-Revolutionaries: 1924-1949. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976.\n\nIt is interesting that in many cases involving homicide resulting from marriage or family problems, the accused was formally sentenced in accordance with the Marriage Law of June 1950, which in itself simply stated that persons guilty of such an offense would bear criminal responsibility before the law.\n\n\"The right of defense was provided for in Art. 12 of the \"Provisional Regulations of the Shanghai People's Court Governing the Disposal of Civil and Criminal Cases\" (Aug. 11, 1949) and in Art. 6 of the \"Organic Regulations of the People's Tribunals\" (July 20, 1950), but was left out of the \"Provisional Organic Regulations of the People's Courts\" (Sept. 3, 1950). I know of no case where defense was actually permitted during the pre-Constitution period. Even appeal was very rare. The first public notice of the use of lawyers that I know of involved thirteen American nationals charged with espionage who were tried and then released in November 1954 by a military tribunal.\n\n冉\n\n* According to an editorial in the Guangming Ribao (Jan. 27, 1957), by 1957 there were some 670 legal advisory offices with 2,100 professional lawyers scattered throughout the country. Fees were paid by clients to the legal advisory office according to their ability to pay. Lawyers were paid salaries by the advisory office. As a defense counsel, people's lawyers were not considered an agent of the accused. They constituted an independent party at the trial and were not bound by the will of the defendant. Their duty was to help clarify the facts and present whatever extenuating circumstances might assist the judges in rendering a fair sentence.\n\n* Codification had been called for as far back as the Yenan Period and in 1948 it was discussed by the Central Committee of the CCP. This led to the formation of a Law Codification Committee in 1950. However, nothing seems to have been done until after the passage of the Constitution. Finally in Nov. 1956 it was announced that a draft criminal code consisting of some 261 articles had been completed by the Law Section of the Standing Committee of the NPC and had been turned over to the Standing Committee's Bills Committee for discussion and amendments.\n\n* Renmin Ribao, Dec. 12, 1957 and Zhenfa yanjiu, 1958, No. 1, 18-23. * Zhengfa yanjiu, 1958, No. 1, 10-17.\n\n10 For an excellent survey of developments during the period 1978-80, see Shao-chuan Leng, \"Criminal Justice in Post-Mao China: Some Preliminary Observations,\" China Quarterly, 87 (Sept. 1981), 440-469.\n\n\"For an English translation of all seven laws, see Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Daily Report: PRC, 27 and 30 July 1979. The Criminal Code and Criminal Code of Procedure have also been translated by Jerome Cohen, The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 73,1 (Spring 1982), 135-203, and by Chin Kim, The American Series of Foreign Penal Codes, No. 25 (Littleton, Colorado: Fred B. Rothman & Co., 1982).\n\n12 Article 43 of the Criminal Code limits the use of the death penalty to only \"the most heinous offenses\" (homicide, rape, arson, robbery, dike-breaching, planting explosives, embezzling public property, and counter-revolutionary crimes). It also stipulates that unless immediate execution is mandatory, a two-year reprieve may be granted. If the offender shows evidence of repentance, the death penalty may be converted to a life or term sentence.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 } ]