Tag: China law

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An interview with Prof. Kimmo Nuotio (Part I): The development of the China Law Center from its infancy

 

Introduction to this blog post

In this two-part blog post, we would be reporting on the interview of Prof. Kimmo Nuotio, done by our research assistant, Ngor Sin. In the interview, Prof. Nuotio talked about how the China Law Center was first conceived and subsequently established, followed by his participation in the scholarly efforts on the Belt and Road Initiative and New Silk Road Law Schools alliance. Lastly, Prof. Nuotio recalled his personal experience and views on collaboration with Chinese scholars. Part II can be found here.

The first part of this interview blog post would cover Prof. Nuotio’s experience with the China Law Center, as well as his personal opinion on the impact and development of the work done by the  Center. In the second part, we would cover Prof. Nuotio’s participation in collaboration with Chinese scholars in general, as well as his recent involvement in the Belt and Road Initiative scholarly efforts and the New Silk Road Alliance of Law Schools.

The birth of China Law Center

Prof. Nuotio first recalled how the idea of establishing the China Law Center came about. In 2009, the Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS Law) and the Academy of Finland agreed to collaborate in the field of comparative law, related to rule of law topics. Such collaboration resulted in several comparative law conferences held among Finnish and Chinese legal scholars, which has become a tradition since. Details of the conferences are reported on our blog: 2019, 2018, 2017).

According to Prof. Nuotio, the actual plan of building a China Law Center has been materialised in 2012-2013. Given the increase in collaboration, it has been noted that a coordinating unit between Finnish institutions and Chinese institutions is needed. Therefore, around 2012, discussions regarding the establishment of such unit initiated among the Finnish institutions, and the Center was formally launched in 2013. While the Center is based at the University of Helsinki, the whole Sino-Finnish collaboration, including the establishment of the Center, is a joint effort among all the Finnish institutions, which eventually become members of the Center.

Representatives of the Center, the Academy of Finland and the Faculty of Law of University of Helsinki visited Peking University Law School in 2013

Impact and other Thoughts about the China Law Center

On the questions regarding the impact of the China Law Center on Sino-Finnish collaboration, Prof. Nuotio is very positive about the Center’s work. He referred the Center as a national center for coordination of Sino-Finnish research efforts in legal sciences. Another notable achievement that the Center has obtained would be the China Law Center collection, which has been built with the assistance of the Center’s Chinese partners, notably Faculty of Law of Peking University, and is currently hosted by the University of Helsinki Library.

On the impacts that the China Law Center might have been exerting on the scholarly scene, Prof. Nuotio noted that research efforts are usually not easily quantifiable. Instead, it is the existence of the China Law Center that leads to many other possible Sino-Finnish collaboration. In his opinion, the China Law Center presents an alternative to the Chinese scholars on possible collaboration partners and opportunities. Through the Center, Chinese scholars have started to explore European and particularly Nordic legal tradition. Although the Center is not the only European institution engaging the same kind of work, it is the first one in the Nordic countries.

CASS President and delegation visiting the China Law Center in 2017

Prof. Nuotio remarked that the China Law Center is like a baby that he has built from scratch, since he has been involved in the establishment of the Center, and later was also heavily involved in the strategic development of the China Law Center. He is now very happy to see the Center’s current development and that it is very active in Sino-Finnish collaboration. He is also please to notice that every member institution of the Center is making the best use of the Center, and hope that this will continue under the new leadership of the Center’s Board.

In the next part, we will talk about Prof. Nuotio’s personal experience in Chinese collaborations and his recent involvement the Belt and Road Initiative-related projects.

Background of Prof. Kimmo Nuotio

Prof. Kimmo Nuotio is a renowned legal scholar with Chinese collaboration experience. He is currently the professor of criminal law at University of Helsinki and is chairing the Strategic Research Council. Previously, he was the Dean of the Law Faculty at University of Helsinki between 2010–2017, and was also the chair of the board of China Law Center between 2013–2019. He also has experience in collaboration with Chinese scholars and working with Chinese materials, including several seminars given at Chinese universities and academic institutions, as well as a journal article on comparative perspectives between Finnish and Chinese law — “the transformation of criminal law and criminal law theory in Finland and China”. He also recently edited a book concerning the Belt and Road Initiative — “Normative Readings of the Belt and Road Initiative”. He was also appointed as a member of Peking University Law School’s new Global Faculty in 2018.

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BJÖRN AHL ON THE EXPANSION OF POWERS OF THE CHINESE SUPREME PEOPLE’S COURT

On 29 November 2019, Björn Ahl, Professor from University of Cologne and President of the European China Law Studies Association, gave a guest lecture at the Finnish China Law Center. The topic of his presentation was ‘Judicialization in Authoritarian Regimes: The Expansion of Powers of the Chinese Supreme People’s Court’.

Professor Björn Ahl aimed to demonstrate how the Chinese constitutional system works and what the position and function of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) are through this lecture. He firstly introduced the global phenomenon of the 20th-century judicialization, under which, judicialization can be distinguished into two forms: expansion of the courts’ scope of action at the expense of politics, and the absorption of methods of judicial decision-making by other executive and legislative state organs.

The development of judicialization has been seen in three layers. First, legal discourses, legal terminology, legal rules, and procedures diffuse into processes of judicial decision-making. Then, courts expand their competence and increase their influence over the outcomes of political possesses. And finally, courts decide important political questions. These can be reflected from the development of the Chinese legal system. While some scholars stated that there was no judicialization in the authoritarian legal system, Professor Ahl contended that the strengthened rule of law in China can also be observed in the development of other constitutional systems.

Professor Björn Ahl, Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki, 29 November 2019

As a One-party system concentrates powers of decision-making in the organs of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and in the executive organs of the state, Chinese courts, particularly the SPC become an integral part of the party-state structure and political institutions. This, as Professor Ahl presented, has led to some special feature of a limited and reversible judicialization in China as dynamics have been seen as intrinsically local’ and courts rely on party support and active engagement of administrative agencies under administrative litigation.

As for the SPC, Professor Ahl said that motivated by institutional self-interest, it was now less influenced by party leadership or legal reform ideologies and had transformed into a relatively autonomous policy-making organization. He then analyzed from four aspects of SPC: Fundamental rights in courts, self-empowerment through judicial interpretations, guiding cases mechanism, and mandatory death penalty review power, in which Professor Ahl emphasized the last three aspects and how they worked under the current special constitutional structure in China as a reflection of the strengthening of the SPC’s power.

Professor Björn Ahl finally concluded that Chinese judicialization bore significant differences from the judicialization in liberal constitutional systems. According to this opinion, judicialization in China has its own characteristics. The SPC still operates as an ‘active lawmaker’ even though it possessed parallel law-making powers, and has no ultimate power of decision-making on critical problems in society. As SPC’s power increasing, political decision-making of other actors of the party-state would not be changed into more rule-based judicial forms of decision making.

The text is contributed by the Center’s intern, Ms. Xiaodan Zhang who is completing her Masters in International and Comparative Law (International Business Law) at the University of Helsinki.

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NEW INTERNATIONAL MASTER’S PROGRAMME WITH CHINESE LAW STREAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Globalization has brought about situations where which different bodies of law become increasingly intertwined beyond traditional borders. Legal experts and scholars are now required to examine the content of national, international, European, and transnational laws when they apply norms.

In order to deliver the most practical knowledge and insight into the increasing globalization of law and legal thinking, University of Helsinki, a member institution of the Finnish China Law Center, sets up a new master’s programme called Global Governance Law (GGL).

The two-year long research-oriented Master’s programme offers series of lectures, seminars and interactive tutorials built by internationally distinguished experts in their fields. It is designed to provide solid foundation and skills to prepare students for expert duties in public administration, international organizations, NGO, law firms, corporate legal departments, and legal academia. During their study, programme participants will be able to specialize in key fields of law are of particular interest to them such as Global Governance Law, Public International Law, European Union Law, Global Administrative Law, Human Rights Law, International Institutions, Finance and the Environment, and Business and Company Law.

“The Master’s programme also provides the opportunity to study Chinese law, rarely on offer in faculties of law”, said Päivi Leino-Sandberg, Professor of Transnational European Law and Director of GGL.  The Director of the Finnish China Law Center, Professor Ulla Liukkunen is in charge of the Chinese law stream of GGL which provides courses on the following subjects:

  • Chinese legal system: history and presence
  • Business and Company law: governing economics
  • China in international organisations – transnational governance
  • Corporate social responsibility and fundamental labour rights in China

Students can also engage in Chinese law research activities through the Center with our strong connections with top Chinese universities.

The application period for the programme begins on 03 Dec 2019 at 08.00 (UTC+2), and ends on 10 Jan 2020 at 15.00 (UTC+2). For information about the application process and how to apply, please visit the programme website.

 

Teaching staff of the Master’s Programme in Global Governance Law: Jaakko Husa (on the left), Heikki Pihlajamäki, Päivi Leino-Sandberg, Ida Koivisto, Sakari Melander and Marianna Muravyeva. Photo credit: Mika Federley.

 

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Conference on Methodology of researching and teaching of Chinese law in Russia

On 18 October 2019, the Saint Petersburg State University in collaboration with the Polish Research Center for Chinese Law and Economy, the Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture, and Sino-Russian Legal Research Center of Jilin University will hold an International Conference on ‘Methodology of researching and teaching Chinese law.’

Time: Friday 18 October 2019, 10:00 – 17:40.

Venue: Assembly hall (room N 64), Saint Petersburg State University, 22nd Line of Vasilyevskyisland, 7.

The event is free and open to all that are interested in research and teaching of Chinese law to non-Chinese students.

The full program and list of speakers can be found in the conference programme.

For all inquiries please contact the Organizing Committee at chinalawconferencespbu@gmail.com.

About the Conference:

The Conference aims to create a platform for discussing and sharing ideas on the issues of Chinese law research and teaching in foreign universities, and to establish cooperation between specialists in relevant fields of Chinese law. The presentations focus on:

  • Defining the concept and the object of legal research.
  • Criteria for good legal research.
  • The role of practice in teaching and researching Chinese Law.
  • The contributions of comparative law to teaching and researching Chinese Law.
  • The interpretation of legal sources.
  • The use of interdisciplinary methods.
  • Quantitative empirical approaches to researching Chinese Law.
  • Building the syllabus for teaching different branches of Chinese Law.

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Annual ‘One Belt, One Road’ Law Summit Attended by Pia Letto-Vanamo, Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki

On 27-28 September 2018, Professor Pia Letto-Vanamo, Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki and a member of the board of the Finnish China Law Center, attended the 2018 annual summit of the New Silk Road Law Schools Alliance.

The Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki, one of the 10 member institutions of the Finnish China Law Center, is one of the founding members of the Alliance.

The Summit was hosted by the People’s Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University) Law School, and was the fourth Summit since the establishment of the Alliance at Xi’an Jiaotong University in 2015, with the following two Summits organised respectively by the law schools of the University of New South Wales (Australia), and Wuhan University (China).

The 2018 Annual Summit included academic discussions and a meeting of Alliance deans.

The academic sessions included the book launch of the edited volume by Professor Wenhua SHAN, Professor Kimmo Nuotio, and Mr. Kangle Zhang. Professor Nuotio is Professor of Criminal Law in the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki and Kangle Zhang, who also attended and spoke at the Summit, is a Doctoral Researcher in the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki.

The Summit also included presentations by participants from various member law schools on topics such as business activities and human rights along the Belt and Road (Professor Michael Hor of the University of Hong Kong), dispute settlement of electronic commerce (Professor Yun ZHAO of the University of Hong Kong), and environmental rights along the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative (Kangle ZHANG of University of Helsinki).

 

Professor Pia Letto-Vanamo, Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki, in middle front of photo, pictured with other attendees of the Annual Summit of the New Silk Road Law Schools Alliance in RUDN University, 27-28 September 2018. Photo courtesy of RUDN University.

 

At the deans’ meetings, issues including academic collaboration amongst member law schools, publication of research results, comparative law education and student exchange programs.

Law Schools represented at the Summit include the University of Hong Kong, National University of Singapore, Wuhan University, Xi’an Jiaotong University, University of New South Wales, University of Belgrade, University of Bergen, People’s Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), and the University of Helsinki.

Thanks to Kangle Zhang, Doctoral Researcher in the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki, for contributing to this article.

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Asianet’s annual ‘Academic Research Projects on Asia in Finland’ catalogue

Until 30 August 2018, the Finnish University Network for Asian Studies (Asianet) was collecting information about ongoing or recently completed research on projects on Asia for the 2018 edition of its annual catalogue ‘Academic Research Projects on Asia in Finland’.

Scholars and researchers were invited to update or submit information of their research projects via webropol: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/C8EBE5A100036FD7.

The new catalogue will be published on the Network’s website and in print during the annual Asian Studies Days, which were co-hosted in 2017 by Asianet and the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki, one of the 10 member institutions of the Finnish China Law Center.

The 2018 Asian Studies Days will be hosted by Aalto University, another of the Finnish China Law Center’s member institutions, on 17 – 18 October.

The 2017 research catalogue can be found here: http://www.asianet.fi/research-catalogue/.

Please direct questions to Dr Outi Luova (outluo (at) utu.fi), Director of Asianet and Vice Director of the Centre for East Asian Studies at the University of Turku.

 

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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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Why study Chinese law? – Read answers from international scholars

Three law professors from the United States, Denmark and Hong Kong SAR, have kindly accepted the Center’s interview requests and shared their insights on researching and studying Chinese law.

larry-cata-backer-copyProfessor Larry Catà Backer

W. Richard and Mary Eshelman Faculty Scholar, Professor of Law and International Affairs, Pennsylvania University

How did you start your research or study of Chinese law?

Professor Backer: I became interested in Chinese law when I was trying to understand the Cuban Leninist system, which was an endeavor that came partly out of my Cuban heritage. I realized quite quickly that I couldn’t understand the Cuban system before I had a proper understanding of the Chinese system. Ever since I opened the door of research on Chinese law, it has been a fascinating area to me. Nowadays I still do some work comparing the Chinese and Cuban approaches.

Why do you think the study of Chinese law is relevant to practitioners and law students?

Professor Backer: For Chinese, studying Chinese law has to be done in global context, in the sense that changes and reforms of Chinese law are not only relevant to China, but also relevant to the development of fundamental legal areas. This is especially true with China’s one belt-one road policy and the law it is likely to generate. For westerners, Chinese law is critically important because we are engaging with China in many different areas. As a result, changes in Chinese law have significant implications. Also, foreign investment in China has made westerners keen to become interlocutors about Chinese law. In addition, China has become a major world actor, like the US and Germany, to the extent that its legal system is critically influential and important to other countries.

Can you recommend some interesting and topical areas of Chinese law to law students?

Professor Backer: Some of the critical areas that would be interesting to practitioners and law students are: foreign investment, investment arbitration, dispute resolution and litigation process. In addition, the fight against corruption and assets repatriation is a great area where foreign and Chinese law intersect.

 

ditlev-tamm-copyProfessor Ditlev Tamm, University of Copenhagen

How did you start your research or study of Chinese law?

Professor Tamm: My starting point was not the law but Chinese culture. I’ve been for many years fascinated by Chinese culture, particularly poems, philosophy, history. I am also interested in comparative law. My approach to Chinese law is thus based on both an interest in Chinese culture and the question of how this culture interacts with the law. I believe that also for lawyers, it is important to learn about Chinese culture, since Chinese law has a strong foundation in value and culture.

Why do you think the study of Chinese law is relevant to practitioners and law students?

Professor Tamm: It is easy to answer this question. Nearly 20% of inhabitants of the world live in China and China is a growing world power. What is happening in China therefore has worldwide influence. In this globalized world, western lawyers and law students should have at least some basic knowledge about Chinese law as part of their general knowledge base.

Can you recommend some interesting and topical areas of Chinese law to law students?

Professor Tamm: At least three areas are interesting. The first area that students should be acquainted with is the interaction between traditional Chinese culture and the modern legal system. Traditional Chinese philosophy still plays an important role in the development of law and the way the law is handled in modern China.  Therefore, an understanding of both the legal philosophical side and the practical side of Chinese law is a basic prerequisite to grasp what is going on.

The second area that is important for student to learn about is how China has worked over the last decades to build a legal system that encourages foreign investment in China. Therefore, law students should be aware of not only law, but also the basics of doing business. In addition, it is important for law students to understand the tension between economic relations and the perhaps less important role of law in Chinese society compared to other factors.

The third area important for student to understand is the current progress of legal reform in China. Students from a western background should understand that the foundations and assumptions of the Chinese legal system are very different from those of the western systems. As a case of comparative law, it’s important to try to understand the tensions of reforms, in which different currents are meeting each other and may lead China’s legal reform to different directions. The Chinese system is closed, and it is often difficult to get information and to understand what actually happens. Westerners should, however, closely observe the development of China’s legal system. It’s always useful to understand different values behind different legal systems, and the legal reform in China is of great importance outside China.

 

mimi-zou-copyAssistant Professor Mimi Zou, the Chinese University of Hong Kong

How did you start your research or study of Chinese law?

Professor Zou: I started to research Chinese law at the end of my economics degree when I was researching Chinese labour issues for my honours thesis on multinational companies operating in China. I went on a student exchange to Tsinghua University School of Economics for a semester and it was next door to the Law School. As I was studying economics and law at the same time, I would occasionally drop by the law school to attend some of the lectures. As I started to do consultancy work at the International Labour Organisation shortly afterwards, I became very interested in the interaction between international law (specifically international labour standards) and Chinese law.

Why do you think the study of Chinese law is relevant to practitioners and law students?

Professor Zou: Given the economic and political significance of China in our era of globalisation, understanding some basic aspects of the Chinese legal system would be of immense utility to law students and practitioners in any part of the world. Also, studying Chinese law is indeed fascinating!

Can you recommend some interesting and topical areas of Chinese law to law students?

Professor Zou: There are too many topics out there for me to recommend! As a comparative lawyer, I would suggest identifying an area/issue of law that you find interesting in your own jurisdiction and see how Chinese law addresses the issue.

By Dr. Zhang Yihong