Justice in the PRC

Abstract

How the Chinese Communist Party Has Struggled with Managing Public Opinion and the Administration of Criminal Justice in the Internet Age ira belkin 'Nothing short of the death [of the defendant] will appease the public outrage'. 'Agreed. But just this once'. Ren Jianxin, then Secretary of the Central Political-Legal Commission, endorsing a subordinate's recommendation to approve the death sentence of a hit-and-run drunk driver in January 1998 (Chen 2013).

A Case Study of Chinese Netizens’ Opinions on Capital Punishment: Diversity, Rationale, and Interaction

“…Yao Jiaxin was convicted of murder after a car accident in 2010 and executed in 2011 at the age of twenty-one. In Yao's case, minfen played a significantly role in the death sentence (see Belkin, 2017). 4.…”

“…Moreover, the impact of this kind of minyi on cases is very unpredictable, as it is influenced by factors such as the media, judicial rulings, and actions by administrations (Tang and Wang, 2007; Zuo, 2009). Most recently, Ira Belkin (2017) has paid special attention to judicial policies that have pressured Chinese judges to consider “people’s feelings” as exemplified by online minyi with the growing use of the internet. Belkin discusses a number of well-known cases in recent decades (especially after the new century) and shows how judicial decisions have been swayed by the demands of fervent netizens.…”

The Autocrat’s Moral-Legal Dilemma: Popular Morality and Legal Institutions in China

“…Yet Chinese legality is simultaneously entwined with traditional morality and historical legal institutions (Huang, 2010). When formal legality and popular morality come into sharp conflict, scholars have observed a rise in the Party's responsiveness to popular moral outrage over legal decisions-a phenomena sometimes called "judicial populism" (Belkin, 2018) or "populist legalism" (Liebman, 2011). Judicial populism refers to the Party's willingness to align legal decisions with public opinion, usually against the letter of the law, in order to mitigate popular outrage triggered by a conflict between the law and citizens' expectations of justice.…”

Criminal Justice Reform in the Xi Jinping Era

“…Believed to be the son of a rich family, Yao's case attracted significant public attention and arising angry sentiments supporting his execution. public trust in the law (Belkin 2017;Fu 2016a;Miao 2013;Trevaskes 2013aTrevaskes , 2015Zhao & Yuan 2013). After the end of the Stability Maintenance and Harmonious Society era, central Party authorities encouraged the SPC to expand its authority over local courts and to limit local discretion by embedding its own judicial guidance within the wide interpretive space of judicial discretion, in the form of SPC interpretations, policy and model cases.P 20F 21 P These initiatives include the case guidance system controlled by the SPC.…”