Category: Sekalaista

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China’s New Food Safety Law a ‘Milestone’ in China’s Legislative Reforms: Dr Harriet Lonka, University of Eastern Finland

China’s new Food Safety Law was issued in 2009 and revised in 2015. For Post-Doctoral Researcher Harriet Lonka, the chance to be a visiting scholar at Peking University Law School and research this important legislative reform was an opportunity not to be missed.

Dr Harriet Lonka, from Finnish China Law Center member institution the University of Eastern Finland (UEF), was a visiting Post-Doctoral Researcher at Peking University from 1 October to 17 November 2017.

The highly respected Peking University is a key strategic partner of the Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture, as detailed in the recently published Report on the First Four Years of the Center.

‘My research in China focused on the new Chinese Food Safety Law. This legislation is an important milestone in China’s legislative reforms and also a key issue concerning trade policy and China’s relations with its international trade partners, especially the WTO’.

During her time in Peking University Law School, Dr Lonka worked closely with Chinese legal scholar Professor Chen Yifeng.

Professor Chen is also a Docent at the University of Helsinki and played a key role in establishing and growing the Finnish China Law Center.

Dr Lonka has a long background in the field of risk management studies, and during her PhD studies she studied the Finnish government’s Security Strategy work and how it effects the shaping of legislation.

‘Chinese Food Safety legislation is comparable in its target and format to the risk regulation tradition in Europe and in Finland’, Dr Lonka says.

‘In my current research, I focus on the aspects of the implementation of the law that have been identified as potential ‘Achilles heels’ of enforcement of the Food Safety Law in China’.

Dr Lonka believes that there are new and interesting challenges in applying measures of risk surveillance, risk management and risk communication at different levels of administration in China.

Post-Doctoral Researcher Dr Harriet Lonka (University of Eastern Finland), during her study visit to Peking University Law School, 2017

Given the angle of her research, she envisages many more opportunities for fruitful research cooperation with Chinese colleagues in the future.

Dr Lonka’s research was also supported by the fact that she had contacts to the local level administration and foodstuff producers in Hunan Province, which enabled useful data collection in the field.

The opportunity to conduct research not only in Beijing, but also in Hunan Province, was beneficial in many respects, Dr Lonka says.

‘My study visit provided me a lot of important background knowledge and new understanding of Chinese legislation, how it is created and implemented. This is of great interest to me as my own research field is legislative studies. Legislative studies concentrate on how laws are drafted and implemented and what defines their effect’.

One area of particular interest to Dr Lonka is the question of ‘decentralized development’ in China.

‘I would wish to better understand the structures and mechanisms for guidance and supervision from the central government level to provinces and further to the local level in China’.

‘The study of Chinese Food Safety Law provides an excellent case study to scrutinize these phenomena. I think this research focus can help us in general better understand the ‘many faces of China’ and how that effects the legislative processes and implementation of the administrative laws in the country’.

Dr Lonka is grateful for financial support from the Finnish China Law Center and the Saastamoinen Foundation, and for the support of her Finnish supervisors: Professor Ulla Liukkunen from the University of Helsinki / Finnish China Law Center, and Professors Anssi Keinänen and Katja Lindroos from UEF.

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NEW NORDIC LAW CENTER TO BE ESTABLISHED AT BEIHANG UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

Beihang University School of Law (China) has announced the establishment of a new Nordic Law Center.

The announcement comes in the wake of the creation of formal relations between the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki, a member institution of the Finnish China Law Center, and Beihang University Law School in late November.

A six-person delegation from Beihang University, headed by Professor Long Weiqiu, Dean of the Law School, visited Helsinki last month to sign an MOU with the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki and to discuss future collaboration.

(Left to right): Professor Kimmo Nuotio, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki; Professor Ulla Liukkunen, Director of the Finnish China Law Center; and Dr Zhang Yihong, Post-doctoral Researcher in the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki during talks with Beihang University Law School.

The move to establish a new Nordic Law Center has been warmly welcomed by outgoing Dean of the Faculty of Law, Professor Kimmo Nuotio, and incoming Dean, Professor Pia Letto-Vanamo.

‘The establishment of a Nordic Law Center in Beihang University Law School is an excellent idea. It provides an opportunity to build on our common interests, and we look forward to a fruitful collaboration’ , Professor Nuotio says.

While in Finland, the delegation also met with the University of Turku, another member institution of the Finnish China Law Center, and Pekka Hallberg, Emeritus President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland and the founder of Rule of Law Finland (ROLFI). Justice Hallberg has been long involved in China and Chinese law, and earlier this year the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki hosted the launch of Justice Hallberg’s book, ‘Rule of Law and Sustainable Development’.

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SINO-NORDIC LEGAL COLLABORATION GROWS WITH ANNUAL SINO-FINNISH RESEARCH DAYS IN NORDIC CENTRE, FUDAN UNIVERSITY 复旦大学芬兰科研日

The annual Sino-Finnish Days, held at the Nordic Center in Fudan University, represented yet another important initiative in a year marked by a growing number of legal research and education activities between China and the Nordic countries.

The two day conference provided a platform for Chinese and Finnish researchers to meet and share perspectives on areas of common interest.

The themes of this year’s conference, held on 24 and 25 October, were children and youth, education, environment and public health.

Associate Professor Suvianna Hakalehto, one of Finland’s leading scholars of child law and education law, was a member of the large Finnish delegation.

Based in the Faculty of Law of the University of Eastern Finland, a member institution of the Finnish China Law Center, Professor Hakalehto gave a presentation titled ‘From Social Problem to Rights Holders: Development of Children’s Rights in legislation and in legal research in Finland’.

According to Professor Hakalehto, the conference proved an excellent opportunity to discuss in-depth a range of issues of critical, and growing, importance to both China and the Nordic countries.

‘China is grappling with many of the same challenges as Finland the Nordic countries, including how to fully respect the rights and interests of children’, Professor Hakalehto says. ‘The chance to meet and share knowledge with Chinese colleagues working on these issues proved beneficial to both sides, and provided an enlightening comparative framework through which to develop the law and policies of our respective countries’.

The Finnish delegation also included representatives from other member institutions of the Finnish China Law Center, including Professor Heli Ruokama of the University of Lapland, Professor Jussi Kauhanen of the University of Tampere, and Professor Gyöngyi Kovacs from the Hanken School of Economics.

This year’s conference was a part of the Finland 100 festivities and was organized by the Finnish member universities of the Nordic Centre Fudan University.

Fudan University, a key partner in China of the Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture.
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SINO-FINNISH CENTRE FOR CHILD PROTECTION RESEARCH: ADVANCING INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW RESEARCH BETWEEN FINLAND AND CHINA

International and comparative child protection research is in great demand in China, as the country continues to develop its child welfare policies and child protection practices.

The Sino-Finnish Center for Child Protection Research, led by Professor Zhao Fang, Director of the Department of Social Work in Fudan University, is well-placed to provide high-level expertise and experience needed to meet this increasing demand.

The Center is a joint project between Fudan University and the University of Eastern Finland, a member institution of the Finnish China Law Center.

The Center’s main goal is to promote interdisciplinary research and education in the fields of child welfare and child protection, says Associate Professor Suvianna Hakalehto.

A child law and education law scholar, Professor Hakalehto is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Center and one of her forthcoming projects with the Center concerns the position of migrant children in China.

The project will also involve Professor Juha Hämäläinen, also of the University of Eastern Finland, and Professor Yuan Ren, Deputy Director of the Institute of Population Research at the University of Fudan.

‘Contemporary Chinese welfare ideology and policies aim at negotiating and merging the traditional family concept and beliefs expressing a hundred years’ development and the modern civilization of late’, Professor Hakalehto says.

‘In research concerning the rights of children, and the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is important to pay attention to cultural aspects’.

‘For me, learning about the Chinese legal system and the country’s child protection paradigm has been personally enriching and professionally rewarding’, says Professor Hakalehto. ‘I hope to contribute to the Chinese discussion about the legal position of children’.

During her visit in October 2017 to the Center, Professor Hakalehto met Professor Lu Zhian, a Professor of Law at the Fudan University School of Law.

One of China’s leading scholars in the field, Professor Zhian invited Professor Hakalehto to Fudan University in 2018 to lecture on human rights in the school environment.

 

(Left to right) Professor Juha Hämäläinen, Professor Suvianna Hakalehto and Professor Lu Zhian

‘This is a great opportunity, and I look forward to another exciting visit to China and to learning more about the Chinese legal system and Chinese cultural generally’, Professor Hakalehto says.

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Upcoming event: The Legacy of Liu Xiaobo, University of Helsinki: 12 January 2018

Logo of the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights, University of Helsinki

University of HelsinkiFinnish China Law Center member institution, the University of Helsinki, will hold a day-long conference ‘The Legacy of Liu Xiaobo’ on 12 January 2018.

The life and choices of Liu Xiaobo, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and recently deceased, stand as an example of political and ethical activism in a world yearning for such examples.

This event evokes Liu Xiaobo’s experience, investigates its legacy and reflects on broader themes of China’s constitutional, rights, ethics and international relations thinking and practice.

This international conference, featuring participants from China, Singapore, USA, Britain, Finland and elsewhere, is organized by Professor Jan Klabbers and Post-Doctoral Researcher Guilherme Vasconcelos Vilaça of the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights, University of Helsinki.

Time and date: 0930 – 1630, Friday 12 January 2018

Location: Room P674, Faculty of Law (Porthania Building), University of Helsinki, Yliopistonkatu 4

Registration: The event is free and registration can be made through this link: https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/85190/lomake.html

Program

9:30 – 10:10 Key note speech: Jean-Philippe Béja (Centre national de la recherche scientifique & Centre de recherches internationales): “Liu Xiaobo’s Legacy: Life in Truth, the Magic Weapon Against Post-Totalitarian Lie”

10:10 – 10:30 Hermann Aubié (Aston University): “Unlearning Enmity and Hatred: Listening to Liu Xiaobo’s Voice of Conscience by Revisiting his Struggle for Human Dignity and a Future Free China”

Coffee Break until 11

1. Rights, Constitutionalism, Democracy (Chair: Maria Varaki)

11:00 – 11:20 Fu Hualing (University of Hong Kong): “Public Interest Lawyering in China: Escalation and Backlash?”

11:20 – 11:40 Panu Minkkinen (University of Helsinki): “Why Are Human Rights Important (Even For A Crit)?”

11:40 – 12:00 Eva Pils (King’s College, London): “China’s Dual State And Its ‘Enemies’ Under Xi Jinping”

12:00 – 12:20 Michael W. Dowdle (National University of Singapore): “China and Dual Constitutionalism”

Discussion until 13

Lunch 13:00 – 14:30

2. Ethical Leadership and Chinese Ethics (Chair: Pamela Slotte)

14:30 – 14:50 Jan Klabbers (University of Helsinki): “On Ethical Leadership”

14:50 – 15:10 Justin Tiwald (San Francisco State University): “Character-centered Theories of Governance in Confucian Political Thought”

15:10 – 15:30 Ralph Weber (University of Basel):  tbd

15:30 – 15:50 Guilherme Vasconcelos Vilaça (University of Helsinki): “Values and the Belt & Road Initiative”

Discussion until 16:30

Conference Dinner

Further information

Please contact Project Coordinator Hector Nystedt at hector.nystedt (at) helsinki.fi.

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UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI SIGNS MOU WITH BEIHANG UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

On 29 November 2017, the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki, a member institution of the Finnish China Law Center, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Beihang University School of Law (China).

The signing paves the way for cooperation on legal research and education between the two institutions, and opens the door to collaboration between Beihang University and the other nine members of the Finnish China Law Center.

A six-person delegation from Beihang University, headed by Professor Long Weiqiu, Dean of the Law School, visited Helsinki to sign the MOU and discuss future collaboration.

The delegation was hosted in the University of Helsinki by Professor Ulla Liukkunen, Director of the Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture.

The collaboration is already bearing fruit, with the announcement by Beihang University Law School that it is establishing a Nordic Law Center, a move supported by outgoing Dean of the Faculty of Law, Professor Kimmo Nuotio, and incoming Dean, Professor Pia Letto-Vanamo.

Given the Center’s role in supporting China law-related initiatives across the Nordic countries, the establishment of relations with Beihang University Law School and creation of the Nordic Law Center opens up new avenues across the region for China law and comparative law activities.

Professor Kimmo Nuotio, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki, and Professor Long Weiqiu, Dean of the Beihang University Law School, signing an MOU at the University of Helsinki on 29 November 2017.

Beihang University Law School houses a number of specialty units concerning areas of potential Sino-Nordic collaboration, including:

  • Internet Information Security & Rule of Law Research Center
  • Law and Technology Development Center
  • IP Law and Law of Science and Technology Institute
  • Space Law Institute
  • Aviation Law Institute
  • Spectrum Law and Standard Research Center
  • Insurance Law Institute
  • Scientific Evidence Law & Experiments Research Center

Another institution of the Law School is the Research Base of Beijing Technology Innovation Center (Beijing Social Science Base).

 

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GUEST LECTURE BY PROFESSOR LONG, BEIHANG UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: CODIFICATION OF CIVIL LAW IN CHINA: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

On Wednesday 29 November 2017, the Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture hosted a guest lecture by Professor LONG Weiqiu of Beihang University, China.

Professor Long, a Fulbright Scholar and Dean of the Law School of Beihang University, gave a lecture on ‘Codification of Civil Law in China: Recent Developments and Future Prospects’.

The lecture was held in the Law Faculty of the University of Helsinki, a member institution of the Finnish China Law Center.

Dean Long’s lecture introduced the motivations, conditions and bases of the current codification of civil law in China, and discussed the controversies regarding the framework and other crucial matters.

Dean Long also commented on the relationship between the new civil code and the existing civil law system in China, and shared his thoughts on the prospects for future codification.

Professor Matti Mikkola commenting on Dean Long’s guest lecture in the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki on 29 November 2017.

The event attracted senior scholars from the University of Helsinki, including Professor Pia Letto-Vanamo, incoming Dean of the Law Faculty, Professor Thomas Wilhelmsson (outgoing Chancellor of the University of Helsinki), Professor Matti Mikkola, and Professor Ulla Liukkunen, Director of the Finnish China Law Center.

Professor Long Weiqiu, Dean of the School of Law, University of Beihang.

The event was free and open to the public. No registration was required.

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Asianet online courses

 

The application period to apply for online courses in Spring 2018 offered through Finnish University Network for Asian Studies / Asianet, based in Finnish China Law Center member institution, University of Turku, ended on 24 November.

 

Within the course application courses were listed in two categories.

1. Asian Programme and Mini Minor

You can study BASIC COURSES offered in the Asian Programme such as Business in East and Southeast Asia or Contemporary East Asia. In the Asian Programme you have the possibility to do a 25 ECTS minor subject. These BASIC COURSES are also used as the foundation for the Mini Minor (10 ECTS to complete the minor), which lets you concentrate in more depth on one thematic aspect such as business or society.

Read more about the Asian Programme http://www.asianet.fi/courses/ap/what-is-the-asian-programme/
and the Mini Minor http://www.asianet.fi/courses/mini-minor/mini-minor-in-asian-studies/

2. Master’s Level Courses

If you want to take individual courses you can apply for the various Master’s Level Courses offered by Asianet. This includes courses such as Introduction to Mongolian Politics and Society or Business Environment in Japan and South Korea. This spring we have two brand new courses: China-US relations – Asian Security and Chinese Working Places Cultures.

Read more about our Master’s Level Courses here: http://www.asianet.fi/courses/masters/how-to-apply-and-study/

Who Can Apply?

Students from Asianet member universities may take these courses for free. This includes Aalto University, the universities of Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Tampere, Turku, and Vaasa, and Åbo Akademi.

A student from a University of Applied Sciences may also apply if their university agrees to cover the course fees, or if the student is willing to cover the course fees themself.

Other individuals including students from non-member universities can apply to Asianet courses as independent self-paying students.

Read more about applying to Asianet courses from each relevant programme page.

Further information

If you have any questions about these studies, please contact Ulla Morelli, University of Turku (e-mail: ulla.morelli@utu.fi).

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Working as Visiting Researcher in Leading Chinese University Gives Fresh Perspectives on China-Africa Relations, Global Governance and International Law

Dr Obert Hodzi, a postdoctoral researcher and Sino-Africa relations scholar in the University of Helsinki, recently returned from a six-week stint as a Visiting Scholar in Renmin University, China. Renmin University is a key partner of the Finnish China Law Center. The strong links between the Center’s 10 member institutions, including the University of Helsinki, and Renmin University are detailed in the Report recently published by the Center.

Upon his return, the Finnish China Law Center took the opportunity to discuss with Dr Hodzi his experience as Visiting Scholar at one of China’s best universities, and to learn more about his current research into Chinese politics and law.

Finnish China Law Center: Congratulations on your appointment as a Visiting Scholar at Renmin University. Before we discuss that experience, could you please say a little about your background?

Dr Hodzi: I’m a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Cultures at the University of Helsinki. Before joining the University of Helsinki, I was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies, Ethiopia. I have also worked for various international and regional organizations in my home country of Zimbabwe, as well as Kenya and Germany on projects about democratic governance and transitional justice.

Finnish China Law Center: Can you explain your main research interests?

Dr Hodzi: I’ve long had an interest in China’s international political and legal engagement, including in relation to Africa. I obtained my PhD from a Chinese university, Lingnan University in Hong Kong, where I researched political and legal aspects of China’s military engagement in Africa. My current research focuses on emerging powers and global governance. In particular, I look at China-Africa security relations and politics in Africa, including the domestic and legal implications of China’s engagement.

Finnish China Law Center: How was your research assisted by working as a Visiting Scholar in China?

Dr Hodzi: Having lived and worked and lived in both China and different Africa has given me a more nuanced understanding of the different political and legal cultures and orders at play across China and throughout Africa. I’ve come to appreciate that reading, discussing and researching about China is nothing compared to seeing it in real life! This certainly was my realization during my research in mainland China. Being able to discuss with scholars, practitioners and other relevant actors in China – both Chinese and from other countries – enriched my research and has opened new avenues of future collaboration for which I am very grateful.

Finnish China Law Center: The Finnish China Law Center recently co-organized the annual China Research Day and Asian Studies Days. The theme of both events was US-Sino relations and the consequences for Asian security. How does your own research bear on this issue, including from the perspective of international law?

Dr Hodzi: This theme is timely and important, and it connects directly with my current and future work. Over the next two years my research focus will be on the Chinese model of development and governance in Asia and Africa. As China gets comfortable in its global primacy role, all roads are leading to Beijing. In the jostling for a piece of the China cake, there is obviously bound to be conflict and contractions regarding international law. For instance, this is seen in the case of the South China Sea dispute, as was discussed during the China Research Day and Asian Studies Days events, as well as anti-dumping measures against Chinese companies. I would also say that security issues will become even more important for both China and other countries as Chinese firms and citizens go abroad.

Dr Hodzi, Visiting Scholar at Renmin University, with a friend outside the Forbidden City, Beijing, September 2017

Finnish China Law Center: You are helping organize a Conference on the so-called ‘Chinese model’ of governance next year. What thematic ground will be conference cover, and why is the conference important?

Dr Hodzi: The Confucius Center at the University of Helsinki is organizing the Helsinki Conference on Chinese Model of Governance. It will be held on 20 March 2018. During the conference, scholars from Finland and abroad will re-visit discussions of the Chinese model of governance. The old and new features of President Xi’s model of governance will be discussed at length. The conference is important because the bulk of contemporary scholarship on the ‘China model’ questions whether such a model even exists. And even those who acknowledge the existence of such a model debate its characteristics. In light of this ongoing debate, the conference will discuss the various manifestations of the Chinese model of governance. These manifestations range from local governance, local election, civil society to economic policies. A particular strength of the conference will be its interdisciplinary nature, using a variety of perspectives such as critical empirical case studies. I’m already excited about it! We have great keynote speakers, too: Oscar Almén, Uppsala University, Sweden, and Zhongyuan Wang from Fudan University, China.

Finnish China Law Center: Finally, we understand that your book will be published shortly. Congratulations, and could you please say a little about it?

Dr Hodzi: My book, The End of a Non-intervention Era: China in African Civil Wars, will be published by Palgrave Macmillan (London) next year (fall 2018). I hope that it will help set the research agenda on emerging security issues emanating from China’s going out strategy. China is moving, and taking the world with it!

More on Dr Hodzi’s academic work can be found in his University of Helsinki Tuhat page.

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Finnish China Law Center hosts seminar ‘Juvenile Offenders in China and Finland’ with Senior Chinese Judges from Yunnan Province

On 21 November 2017, the Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture, with member institutions the University of Helsinki (Faculty of Law) and the Finnish Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy, hosted a bilateral legal seminar with six senior judges from the Chinese province of Yunnan. Yunnan is situated in the south of China and has a population of roughly 50 million.

The theme for the seminar was ‘Juvenile Offenders in China and Finland’.

The Chinese delegation was headed by Mr. Li Xuesong, Vice President of the High People’s Court of Yunnan Province. Mr Lu Xiaokun, Chief Judge of the High People’s Court of Yunnan Province, was also a member of the delegation.

The Finnish speakers in the bilateral seminar were Dean Kimmo Nuotio, Professor of Criminal Law and the University of Helsinki, Professor Ulla Liukkunen, Director of the Finnish China Law Center, and Professor Tapio Lappi-Seppälä, Director of the Finnish Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy. Other contributors included Professor Sakari Melander and Dr Yihong Zhang, among other academics present from the University of Helsinki. Both the University of Helsinki and the Finnish Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy are member institutions of the Finnish China Law Center.

 

Professor Tapio Lappi-Seppälä, Professor and Director of the Finnish Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy, and Board Member of the Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture, speaking with Professor Kimmo Nuotio on ‘Juvenile Offenders in Finland: General Situation, Trial Proceedings, Rights Protection and Best Interests of the Child Principle’ on 21 November 2017 in the Law Faculty of the University of Helsinki.

During his presentation, Vice President Li underscored that the treatment of children and the centrality of the ‘best interests of the child’ principle are paramount. ‘Governments everywhere’, he said, ‘should take care of children and strive to create better conditions, including educational opportunities, to promote the healthy development of youth’. Vice President Li also emphasized that the treatment of juvenile offenders by the criminal justice system was an issue the Yunnan legal system takes very seriously. Yunnan province has advanced the protection of children in its criminal justice system in a number of ways. ‘For example’, Vice President Li said, ‘we are strengthening judicial institutions and training judges to better deal with juvenile justice issues…and constantly innovating to improve the treatment of children in the court system’.

A notable initiative by the Yunnan judicial system was collaboration with the Save the Children charity to ensure the protection of juvenile offenders and promote judicial diversion through inter-departmental cooperation and the establishment of a community support system. Begun in the Panlong District Court, this international cooperation spread throughout Yunnan province and then beyond. ‘After a long period of practice and exploration, this project became known as the ‘Panlong Mode’ and has had a great impact within the whole of China’, Vice President Li told participants. Overall, Yunnan province was experiencing a decrease in the total number of criminals, the total number of juvenile offenders, and the proportion of juvenile offenders.

Professors Nuotio and Lappi-Seppälä noted that while there were differences between the Chinese and Finnish approaches to juvenile offenders, the similarities in terms of underlying principles and many aspects of the treatment of juveniles in court were notable.

During his presentation, Lappi-Seppälä gave an overview of the ‘Nordic’ model of the treatment of juvenile offenders, noting that the state criminal justice system operates independently alongside municipal child protection services, with the primary emphasis in dealing with juvenile crime lying with child welfare and social services.

Professor Lappi-Seppälä noted that the criminal justice system and child welfare institutions operated under different principles. ‘Child welfare interventions are undertaken under the principle of the ‘best interests of the child’, Professor Lappi-Seppälä observed. ‘All such interventions are supportive and criminal acts have little or no formal role. In contrast, on the ‘criminal justice side’, specific penalties applicable to juveniles are restricted – but now expanding – and the general structure is as follows: diversion, fines, community alternatives, and the finally, custody’.

During their presentation, Professors Nuotio and Lappi-Seppälä shared a number of statistics about juvenile offenders in Finland. Of particular interest to the Chinese judges was the fact that at present, there are only five children aged 15-17 in custody in Finland, a figure so low that it also surprised those more familiar with Finland’s legal system.

 

 

Professor Ulla Liukkunen, speaking at the ‘Juvenile Delinquency in China and Finland’ seminar in the Law Faculty of the University of Helsinki on 21 November 2017.

During its visit to Finland, the delegation of judges will also visit the Finnish Ministry of Justice and the District Court of Helsinki.

The importance of the visit to Finland by senior judges should not be underestimated. The delegation visited Finland to learn from its experience because of Finland’s, and more generally the Nordic region’s, international reputation in reducing the total number and proportion of juvenile offenders, and to reducing to virtually zero the number of children in custody. As Professor Nuotio noted, the population of Yunnan province, at close to 50 million, was around double that of the all the Nordic countries together. Given the size of Yunnan province, even a small change in judicial practice, therefore, would affect the lives of a great many children.

 

Organizers and participants of the bilateral seminar on ‘Juvenile Delinquency in China and Finland’ (left to right): Stuart Mooney (Finnish China Law Center / University of Helsinki); Li Kunbin (High People’s Court of Yunnan); Lu Xiaokun (High People’s Court of Yunnan Province); Professor Tapio Lappi-Seppälä (Finnish Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy); Li Xuesong (High People’s Court of Yunnan Province); Professor Kimmo Nuotio (University of Helsinki); Yin Dekun (Pu’er Intermediate People’s Court); Yihong Zhang (University of Helsinki); Chen Chang (Yuxi Intermediate People’s Court); Zhu Chongfang (Chuxiong Intermediate People’s Court). Absent: Professor Ulla Liukkunen, Director of the Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture.

 

Following the seminar, the judges were given a tour of the China Center Collection, housed in the University of Helsinki’s main library, Kaisa-talo. Special thanks to librarians Leena Huovinen and Eeva Henriksson for giving the tour and for their efforts in supporting the growing collection of publications in the Collection on Chinese law and legal culture.

 

Mr. Li Xuesong, Vice President of the High People’s Court of Yunnan Province, with other members of the judicial delegation visiting Finland from China, touring the China Law Center collection in the University of Helsinki’s main library.

 

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‘Codification of Civil Law in China: Recent Developments and Future Prospects’: Guest lecture by Professor Long, Beihang University Law School

The Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture is pleased to announce an upcoming guest lecture by Professor LONG Weiqiu of Beihang University, China.

Professor Long, a Fulbright Scholar and Dean of the Law School of Beihang University, will give a lecture on ‘Codification of Civil Law in China: Recent Developments and Future Prospects’.

Dean Long’s lecture will introduce the motivations, conditions and bases of the current codification of civil law in China. It will discuss and analyze the controversies regarding the framework and other crucial matters, and also comment on the relationship between the new civil code and the existing civil law system in China. Finally, Dean Long will share his thoughts on the prospects for future codification.

Professor Long Weiqiu, Dean of the School of Law, University of Beihang

The lecture will be held on Wednesday, 29 November 2017 at 10:15 in the Meeting Room of the Law Faculty, University of Helsinki (Room 545, 5th floor, Porthania Building, Yliospistonkatu 3, Helsinki).

The presentation will be followed by a discussion, and the event is expected to finish at 11:30.

The lecture is free and open to the public. No registration is required.

If you have any questions about the event, please contact Stuart Mooney, Coordinator of the Finnish China Law Center, via email at stuart.mooney (at) helsinki.fi.

 

Beihang University School of Law logo