Online Seminar: The Application of the Proportionality Principle by Chinese Courts

On 20 June 2023, the Finnish China Law Center will hold an online mini seminar on “The Application of the Proportionality Principle by Chinese Courts” at 10:15-11:45 Helsinki time (9:15-10:45 CEST / 15:15-16:45 CST).

The event will be chaired by Björn Ahl, Professor and Chair of Chinese Legal Culture at the University of Cologne and President of the European China Law Studies Association.

The seminar programme can be found here.

Register by 18 June at:

https://www.lyyti.in/The_Application_of_the_Proportionality_Principle_by_Chinese_Courts_4133 

Background of the presentation

Selective Application of the Principle of Proportionality in Chinese Administrative Litigation

This paper provides a quantitative analysis of the application of the principle of proportionality in administrative trials, based on published online judicial decisions. The analysis reveals an imbalanced impact with regards to its three sub-principles. We observe that the level of support obtained from national legislation in applying the principle of proportionality, a factor previously overlooked, significantly influences the outcomes. Our findings indicate that both the principle of necessity and the narrowly-defined principle of proportionality demonstrate mediating effects in the correlation between national legislation and judicial decisions, suggesting that judges selectively apply the proportionality principle in administrative trials. We propose two strategies to promote the localization of the principle of proportionality. For the principles of appropriateness and necessity, actualization can be achieved in line with the current surge in administrative law codification. As for the narrowly-defined principle of proportionality, a proper understanding and handling of the relationship between public and private interest is essential. Furthermore, judges should be urged to explicitly delineate the criteria for assessing relevant interests during their reasoning process to improve the objectivity of interest measurement.

State-centric Proportionality Analysis in Chinese Administrative Litigation

This article examines the application of proportionality in Chinese administrative litigation over the last two decades, and argues that courts in administrative litigation that serve the party-state and tend to uphold state/collective interest have altered proportionality to be state-centric. It finds that the courts invoked proportionality in a negligible portion of all administrative litigation judgments and had inadequate emphases on protecting individual rights. Proportionality has not appreciably assisted the courts in enhancing their oversight of governmental power and protection of individual rights. This article suggests that this is attributed to the restricted function of administrative litigation in China’s party-state governance structure and owing to the country’s long-held belief that public interest takes precedence over individual rights. Administrative litigation, which China’s ruling party employs to resolve principal-agent issues, is seriously constrained. The courts are expected to review the formal legality of executive actions, but not their substance. Informed by the Chinese human rights belief, which favors collectivism over individualism, the courts are skewed toward public interest in the balancing analysis when applying proportionality.

About the speakers

Dr. Xiaohong Yu is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University. She earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University. Prior to her position at Tsinghua, she served as an An Wang Postdoctoral Fellow at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and was a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Government at Harvard University. Her primary research interests include Chinese politics, comparative judicial politics, and empirical legal studies. She continually explores China’s judicial reforms, the interplay between law and politics in China, and instructs courses such as “Judicial Politics” and “Law and Politics in the Era of Big Data.” Her scholarly work has been featured in leading domestic and international journals and academic presses, including the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, China Review, Cambridge University Press, CASS Journal of Political Science, Tsinghua Law Review, Open Times, and China Law Review, among others.

Dr. Shiling Xiao is a Post-doctor Research Fellow at the School of Law, City University of Hong Kong. He obtained his PhD in law from HKU, MPhil in international and comparative law from the University of Macau, and LLB from the Southwest University of Political Science and Law. He was a practising lawyer in Mainland China and was called to the bar in 2018. His research interests embrace comparative public law, human rights law and judicial review. His publications appear in International Journal of Constitutional Law, Hong Kong Law Journal, Journal of Comparative Law and others.

Online Seminar: Chinese Companies Abroad and the Host Country’s Laws: the Case of Dirty Industries in Serbia

On 4 April 2023, University of Helsinki Chinese Studies and the Finnish China Law Center will hold an online seminar on “Chinese Companies Abroad and the Host Country’s Laws: the Case of Dirty Industries in Serbia“. The event will be moderated by Julie Yu-Wen Chen, Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Helsinki.

Time: Tuesday 4 April, 14:00-15:30 Helsinki Time (13:00-14:30 CEST)

Venue: Online. Please register before Friday 31 March at https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/122724/lomake.html to receive link.

The activities of Chinese companies abroad are an integral part of the robust transformation of today’s economic, geopolitical, and sociocultural landscapes at the local, regional, and global levels. The presence of Chinese capital abroad has been encountering and provoking a wide range of reactions among different political and social actors—from suspicion, reservation, and resistance to warm welcome and exceptional enthusiasm.

This talk will look at the ongoing situation in Serbia, a country governed by a regime that has been among the closest partners of the Chinese government and Chinese companies in Europe and beyond. The talk will focus on the legal dynamics that enable and maintain the much acclaimed “iron-clad friendship” between the two countries and the energetic economic interactions between their governments and businesses. The legal dynamics in question pertain to the Chinese companies that work in Serbia’s dirty industries, namely the production of tires, iron, and steel. Special attention will also be paid to the analysis of the legal aspects of China’s presence in Serbia’s copper and gold mining industry.

About the Speaker

Dušica Ristivojević is a senior researcher in the Department of Cultures of the University of Helsinki. Dušica specializes in the longue-durée dynamics of China’s global interactions, print and digital media, and social organizing in and out of China. She is finalizing her book manuscript on the transnational links of China’s political movements and is observing the country’s presence in Europe’s Eastern peripheries with regard to dirty industry and digital technology.

Call for Papers: 17th Annual Conference of the European China Law Studies Association

The 17th Annual Conference of the European China Law Studies Association (ECLS) which will take place during 20- 22 September 2023.

The conference will be hosted and organized by the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki in cooperation with the Finnish China Law Center. The event will take place at the Main Building of the University of Helsinki, Unioninkatu 34, 00100 Helsinki, Finland.

Since the ECLS’s main objective is to encourage comparative and interdisciplinary research on Chinese law, the conference will be a platform for scholars and professionals to exchange ideas about Chinese law and initiate research collaboration.

The Annual Conference Organizing Committee is now inviting submissions. The Conference will highlight legal issues relating to the topics below. Please note that submissions are not necessarily limited to the listed topics.

  • Legal Issues of EU-China Relations
  • China in the International Legal Order
  • Legal Culture, Legal Traditions and Rule of Law Development
  • Legal Aspects of the Belt and Road Initiative
  • Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure
  • Gender Equality in China
  • International Human Rights Protection and the Chinese Legal System
  • Chinese Law, COVID and the Emergency/Pandemic Preparedness
  • Chinese Policy and Presence in the Arctic
  • Sustainable Development and the Role of Regulation
  • Legal and Economic Issues of International Investment
  • Developments in Corporate and Commercial Law
  • Cyber Security, Data Privacy and Personal Information Protection
  • Artificial Intelligence and Ethics, Big Data and Intellectual Property Law
  • Social Credit and the Law, Judicial Reforms and Smart Courts
  • Labour Law Developments, Decent Work and Fundamental Labour Rights
  • Administrative Law and Administrative Procedure
  • China’s Environment, Climate Change and Air Pollution Laws and Policies

Call for papers:

The ECLS welcomes the submission of paper abstracts and panel proposals. Both abstracts (max. 300 words) and proposals for panel sessions (max. 1000 words) should include the title of the paper or panel; name, institution, and email address of the author(s); and up to five keywords.

Abstracts and proposals from young researchers (PhD candidates, MA students, etc.) are welcomed as well. Young scholars’ sessions will be organized as roundtables to be moderated by senior researchers.

Proposals should be submitted via the online submission form. All proposals will be subject to peer-review. The deadline for submissions of abstracts and panel proposals is 19 March 2023, and the deadline for submission of full papers (max. 8000 words) is 18 June 2023.

Further information regarding the call for papers can be found at https://www.helsinki.fi/en/conferences/17th-annual-conference-european-china-law-studies-association/call-papers.

All questions about submissions can be addressed to Professor Björn Ahl (bjoern.ahl@me.com).

Main Building of the University of Helsinki

Call for Papers: 16th Annual Conference of the European China Law Studies Association

During 21- 23 September 2022, the 16th Annual Conference of the European China Law Studies Association (ECLS) will be hosted and organized by hosted and organized by the Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre of Excellence for International Courts (iCourts), Study Hub for International Economic Law and Development (SHIELD) and Centre for Private Governance (CEPRI), Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen.

Since the ECLS’s main objective is to encourage comparative and interdisciplinary research on Chinese law, the conference will be a platform for scholars and professionals to exchange ideas about Chinese law and initiate research collaboration. Although there is no strict specification on the choice of topic, the organizers especially welcome submissions that concern the following themes:

  • Legal Issues of EU-China Relations
  • China in the International Legal Order
  • China’s New Structure of Party and State
  • Extraterritorial Jurisdiction of Chinese Law
  • China’s Legal Culture, Legal Traditions and Comparative Law
  • International Courts and Tribunals and the Rule of Law in
    China
  • China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Global Economic Governance
  • China and the Inbound and Outbound Foreign Investments: Forms of Regulation, Special Economic Zones, Investment Screening
  • Global Circular Supply Chains and Regulations in China
  • Cyber Security, Data Privacy and Personal Information Protection
  • Artificial Intelligence and Ethics, Big Data and Intellectual Property Law
  • China’s Civil Code, Corporate and Securities law
  • China’s Climate Change and Biodiversity Conservation Law in Global Context
  • Chinese and Comparative Labor Law
  • New developments in China’s Judicial Reforms and Autonomy of the Legal Profession

Call for papers:

The ECLS welcomes the submission of paper abstracts and panel proposals. Both abstracts (max. 300 words) and proposals for panel sessions (max. 1000 words) should include the title of the paper or panel; name, institution, and email address of the author(s); and up to five keywords.

Abstracts and proposals from young researchers (PhD candidates, MA students, etc.) are welcomed as well. Young scholars’ sessions will be organized as roundtables to be moderated by senior researchers.

Proposals should be submitted online; the submission form can be found here: https://jura.ku.dk/icourts/calendar/2022/european-china-law-studies-association-annual-conference-2022/submission/. All proposals will be subject to peer-review by the organizing committee. The deadline for submissions of abstracts and panel proposals is 10 June 2022, and the deadline for submission of full papers (max. 8000 words) is 8 September 2022.

Further information regarding the call for papers can be found at https://jura.ku.dk/icourts/calendar/2022/european-china-law-studies-association-annual-conference-2022/.

All questions about submissions can be addressed to Dr. Wen Xiang (wen.xiang@jur.ku.dk).

Online Seminar – Standard Essential Patents in China

On 23 March 2022, an online mini seminar on Standard Essential Patents in China will be held by IPR University Center in collaboration with the Finnish China Law Center.

This seminar addresses the challenges that SEP licensing currently faces between EU and China. In the wave of technology developments, Chinese courts have been more proactive in handling SEP-related disputes. The judicial approach in handling SEP litigations by Chinese courts should be closely monitored and multiple legal issues are discussed in rulings from the Chinese courts. Also a debate on whether courts have the authority to decide global rates is attracting attention.

The seminar programme is available at https://ipruc.fi/koulutus-tapahtuma/standard-essential-patents-in-china/.

The seminar is free of charge. Registration is open till 21 March 2022 at

https://link.webropolsurveys.com/Participation/Public/c86860d7-db36-415e-8d0d-0ff9fb861d73?displayId=Fin2457991

Online Seminar: Recent Developments in Chinese Labour Law

On 22 November 2021, the Finnish China Law Center will organize an online mini seminar titled ‘Recent Developments in Chinese Labour Law’.

Event speakers include Ronald Brown, Law Professor at the University of Hawai’i Law School, Wang Tianyu, Professor at Department of Social Law, Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Science, Yan Tian, Assistant Professor & Assistant Dean at Peking University Law School, and Ulla Liukkunen, Professor of Labour Law and Private International Law at Faculty of Law University of Helsinki and Director of the Finnish China Law Center.

Further information about the seminar programme and registration is published on the Center’s website at https://blogs.helsinki.fi/chinalawcenter/online-seminar-recent-developments-in-chinese-labour-law/

Image by Marko Lovric

Online Seminar: Smart Courts and the Informatization of China’s Judicial System

On 25 October 2021, the Finnish China Law Center will hold an online mini seminar on the topic of ‘Smart Courts and the Informatization of China’s Judicial System’. The event is part of the Center’s new mini seminar series on topical issues of Chinese law.

The event is free and open to all audiences including lawyers, the business sector, students, scholars, legislature and policymakers interested in topic. However, registration is required to receive the Zoom meeting information.

More information about the programme and registration can be found at https://blogs.helsinki.fi/chinalawcenter/online-seminar-smart-courts-and-the-informatization-of-chinas-judicial-system/ 

Image by herbinisaac