Sunday, 12 August 2012

Authoritarian Constitutionalism & the Rule of Law in China - Brian Safran


I.                   Introduction: The CCP and the Law

            In his 2009 policy paper entitled “The Party as Polity, The Communist Party, and the Chinese Constitutional State: A Theory of State Party Constitutionalism,” Larry Catá Backer analyzes the theory of constitutionalism in application to China. According to Catá Backer, constitutionalism is a theory which posits that “states ought to be organized to avoid tyranny or despotism by grounding state action in law and by limiting the reach of such lawful state action on the basis of values reflecting the values of the political collective” (Catá Backer 2009: 103). In his paper, he notes that China has developed what he refers to as a system of “authoritarian constitutionalism,” according to which the Communist Party itself “serves as the political collective from which constitutional norms are formulated, developed, defended and reviewed,” and which also “plays a role as constitutional source of values for the application as rule of law” (Catá Backer 2009: 157). Finally, he argues that the Communist Party “sits atop the state apparatus” and serves as the “sovereign collective,” or ultimate representative of the people (Catá Backer 2009: 157). Yet, what remains uncertain in Catá’s analysis is to what extent does the Communist Party have control over judicial outcomes? This paper will seek to examine competing claims over the powers of the Communist Party, and will analyze two divergent areas of Chinese law, including its systems of trade law and criminal law.
In recent years, China has embarked on an ambitious agenda that has resulted in legal reform of expansive scope and depth. Although once seen as a country devoid of law and marked by traditional notions of guanxi (), or a “system of interpersonal relationships” said to take precedence over the rule of law (China Strategic Research 2009: 1), China now has more laws on its books than any other country in the world (Inch 2010). Yet despite these reforms, scholars have noted that China still has a long way to go before it can claim to have a society built on the rule of law. Some have said that the creation of a Chinese system of rule of law is impossible in a system marked by the subordination of law to Communist Party policy and the lack of independence of the courts (Westin 2002: 2). In fact, it is often argued that the key function of the law to the Chinese government is “to order and regulate the exercise of government power” (Horsley 2006: 93). As of May 2009, approximately one-third of registered lawyers were party members, and almost all law firms had party committees, which allocated attorney remuneration based on loyalty to the party (McGregor 2010). In a 2009 pronouncement by the Party, it was said that judges must remain loyal “to the Party, the state, the masses and finally, the law,” in that order (McGregor 2010: 24). Furthermore, despite the establishment of a procedure in 2005 that made it possible for individuals to file petitions with the central government to challenge the legality of local regulations (Horsley: 2006), attempting to do so is said to be futile, as “the Party sits outside, and above the law” (McGregor 2010: 22), and that “[n]o legal obstacle is so great that the party cannot brush it aside” (McGregor 2010: 25).
Another significant problem said to be plaguing the court system is the incompetence of Chinese judges (Horsley 2006). In some respects, there have been signs of improvement. For instance, unlike in the past, where “judges were typically drawn from the ranks of the retired military” and “[a]ppointments were based more on political correctness than on relevant experience or legal knowledge,” today’s judges are “required to hold university degrees” and “pass a national unified bar exam,” as well as “participate in ongoing legal education programs” (Horsley 2006: 102). Yet, judges remain highly “susceptible to pressure” from the Communist Party, as it continues to control judicial salaries and court budgets (Hung 2002: 9); as well as judicial appointments and the personnel arrangements of the Courts (Inch 2010).

II. Trade & The Role of International Law

Despite the forgoing claims, there is reason to believe that the Communist Party’s grip on power is not absolute. One evolving area of the law which demonstrates the limits of the power of the Communist Party is trade law and policy. In 2001, China was permitted to join the World Trade Organization, or WTO, after a fifteen-year-long accession process that required deep reforms to China’s political, economic, and legal systems in exchange for it to be permitted to avail itself of the many benefits of membership in the WTO system (Rumbaugh 2004: 4). The WTO is an international body tasked with administering the rules of trade between nations, providing a forum for trade negotiations, and handling trade disputes and monitoring national trade policies (Kobayashi 2007). Previously known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and limited in its scope to trade in goods, a fully-functioning, multifaceted World Trade Organization subsumed the GATT at the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations in 1995 (Jackson 1997). The WTO introduced agreements on trade in services and intellectual property, and provided for the creation of a fully-functioning organization, and a more procedurally-sound, binding system of dispute resolution (Jackson 1997).
When it comes to trade law and policy, membership in the WTO was predicated on China agreeing to undertake a series of legal reforms and consenting to the application of the entire body of WTO substantive principles and regulations. Among these were requirements that China substantially reduce its imposition of tariffs, or taxes imposed upon imports; and that China provide for fair trade by putting an end to its practice of subsidizing its domestic industries or permitting the “dumping” of its products on other markets through the use of predatory pricing (Hu 2001: 101). China also consented to the non-discrimination principles embodied in the GATT agreement, including “national treatment,” which mandates that “treatment for foreign products be no worse than that for like domestic products” (Hu 2001: 101), and the “most-favored-nation” obligation, which requires “each contracting party to grant to every other contracting party the most favorable treatment that it grants to any other country with respect to imports and exports of products” (Jackson 1997: 157). With respect to its commercial relations, China’s Accession Agreement ultimately involved over six hundred commitments; at least ten percent of which were determined to require China to “enact, repeal, or modify” trade-related laws, policies and regulations (Westin 2002: 3).
Yet, the reforms that China was required to undertake went far beyond substantive economic policy. Among these were obligations to provide for “transparency,” “judicial review,” and the “uniform enforcement of laws” (Westin 2002: 2). With respect to transparency, China agreed to publish its trade regulations (Kobayashi 2007: 5) and “provide a reasonable period of public comment before implementing them” (Westin 2002: 4). Regarding judicial review, China agreed to mandate that the “central government…address areas where WTO [law] is violated and provide a meaningful remedy” (Kobayashi 2007: 5). China also agreed to “establish or designate tribunals to promptly review trade-related actions of administrative agencies” (Westin 2002: 4). As to uniform enforcement, China agreed to apply trade-related laws and regulations “uniformly throughout China” and provide for a complaint procedure whereby “individuals and enterprises can bring complaints to China’s national authorities about cases of nonuniform application of the trade regime” (Westin 2002: 4). Finally, and perhaps most significantly, membership in the WTO required China to consent to becoming subject to the jurisdiction of the Dispute Settlement Body, an international body capable of adjudicating disputes over WTO rules and enforcing decisions against China’s own will (Hu 2001).
It is of course, one thing to agree to a series of obligations and quite another to actually put those agreements into practice. To what extent has China followed through with its WTO commitments? For one, China began to make positive rule of law changes to its domestic legal system in advance of its securing membership to the WTO, as demonstrated by the 1999 amendment to its Constitution, which recognized for the first time that “[t]he People’s Republic of China shall be governed according to the law and shall be built into a socialist country based upon the rule of law” (Chow 2003: 78). By the end of 2002, China had already revised fourteen of its laws and thirty-seven administrative regulations, annulled twelve administrative regulations, suspended thirty-four relevant documents, and changed more than one-thousand departmental rules to comport with WTO obligations (Zou 2006: 89).  By 2003, China had lowered its tariff rates, eliminated non-tariff measures, and relaxed limitations on foreign investment (China Daily 2003). As a result of China’s having undertaken domestic reforms permitting increased market access, its total trade vis-à-vis the rest of the world more than doubled from $509.8 billion in 2001, to $1.2 trillion in 2004 (Winn 2005).
Furthermore, the key legal institutions in China have become increasingly accessible and transparent (Horsley 2006). Draft legislation is now made available on the Internet for public comment, and public hearings are increasingly being held on proposed legislation believed to be of public concern (Horsley 2006).  Additionally, as of 2006, Chinese citizens were permitted to “audit” all legislative proceedings; rendering them open to the public (Horsley 2006: 96). In June 2004, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress established a special office under its Legislative Affairs Commission, which was made responsible for reviewing all central and local government regulations and legal interpretations in an effort to harmonize legal process throughout the country (Wang 2007). In January 2007, the government was set to approve China’s first-ever national, administrative “freedom of information” ordinance, a measure believed to be a precondition for the creation of an information access law (Horsley 2006: 101).
            As noted, membership in the WTO has also subjected China to a binding system of dispute resolution. Scholars have pointed out that China was initially reluctant to make use of the WTO’s dispute settlement system upon its joining. As a result, in the first four cases in which China was either sued or was threatened to be sued, China chose to “keep a low profile” and settle its disputes outside of the WTO framework (H. Gao 2007: 369). As of 2007, China was brought into the dispute settlement process as a respondent five times (H. Gao 2007: 372). Each of these cases demonstrates the erosion of the power of the Communist Party and the strengthening of the rule of law through the actions of the international community.
One such case involved a 2004 dispute brought by the United States in which it was alleged that China was levying its domestic exporters of integrated circuits with lower value-added tax rates than those imposed upon importers, which if shown to be true, would constitute a violation of WTO substantive rules (H. Gao 2007: 374). In the end, the Chinese decided to settle the matter without resort to formal dispute settlement procedures. As part of this settlement, the Chinese government agreed to immediately issue a “notice to revoke” the measure complained of. In October 2005, the United States announced that the terms of the agreement had been successfully implemented by China, and the dispute was rendered closed (WTO Dispute DS309).
Another claim against China was brought in 2006 by the European Union, the United States and Canada alleging that China was unjustly discriminating against imports of automobile parts (Bown 2008: 36). Upon review by a panel of the Dispute Settlement Body, it was determined that China’s measures constituted violations of its WTO obligations, and recommended that China bring the measures in question into conformity with its obligations within a reasonable period of time (WTO Dispute DS339). The Chinese government subsequently sought to appeal a portion of the adverse findings through WTO procedures, but in December 2008, the Appellate Body largely upheld the findings of the dispute panel, and once again urged China to bring its measures into compliance (WTO Dispute DS339). Faced with the threat of retaliatory trade sanctions, representatives of the Chinese government notified the WTO Dispute Settlement Body of its intention to put an end to its discriminatory measures concerning automobile parts, and China’s General Administration on Customs issued a “joint decree” with other relevant agencies putting an end to the discriminatory practices (WTO Dispute DS339). The Chinese government ultimately declared itself to be in compliance with the Dispute Settlement Body’s recommendations as of September 2009 (WTO Dispute DS339).
More recently, a number of disputes have been filed against China by the U.S. and other WTO members, among which was a 2007 case brought by the U.S. alleging that China was unjustly invoking measures restricting the importation of audiovisual entertainment products, including films, videocassettes, DVDs, sound recordings and other written materials. (WTO Dispute DS363) In August 2009, a panel of the Dispute Settlement Body completed its review, and found China to be in violation of several of its WTO obligations for its failure to protect the rights of foreign businesses seeking to operate in China, including most significantly the prohibition on import quotas under Article XI of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs, and provisions under the General Agreement on Trade in Services mandating that treatment of imported distribution services be no less favorable than the treatment of domestic distribution services (WTO Dispute DS363). China subsequently appealed the findings of the panel to the WTO’s Appellate Body, which in December 2009 circulated its report which substantially upheld the panel’s original findings (WTO Dispute DS363). In February 2010, China announced that it would bring its policy into compliance with the Appellate Body’s report, and both the United States and China have agreed on a reasonable timeline for it to do so, and the deadline for compliance has been set for March 2011 (WTO Dispute DS363).
The resolution of each of these representative disputes indicates the extent to which China, and by extension, its Communist Party leadership no longer exercises absolute sovereignty with respect to trade policy. Despite the fact that the measures called into question by other WTO members in the sampling of disputes cited above were those which, if permitted to continue, would support Chinese domestic industries and thus, Chinese Communist Party interests, the actions of the international community and the threat of WTO sanctions ultimately persuaded the Chinese government to agree to withdraw the measures in question in the face of the possibility of retaliatory trade sanctions.

III. Chinese Criminal Law and the Continuance of Communist Party Controls

            Despite the reforms achieved in the area of trade law, some have noted that China still has a long way to go before it can claim to have a society built on the rule of law. (McGregor 2010) One area of the law which demonstrates the extent to which the Communist Party maintains a grip on power is criminal law. With respect to criminal law, China does not belong to any international organization such as the World Trade Organization which would act to place limitations on the Communist Party’s ability to exercise power. In fact, China has actively shunned any efforts on the part of the international community to gain its willingness to consent to it becoming a state party to the International Criminal Court, or ICC. When the Rome Statute authorizing the creation of the ICC was ratified in 1998, China was one of only seven countries in the world that refrained from joining. (Findlay 2010: 3) In refusing to ratify the ICC Statute, China has focused on the centrality of criminal justice to its sovereignty (Gao 2007). Among the reasons given for its refusal to become party to the statute were concerns that the ICC would have supranational authority to determine whether individual states are “willing and able to conduct proper trials of its own nations;” the criminalization of “crimes against humanity,” the definition of which was not limited to those crimes committed during wartime, and the inclusion of the “crime of aggression” in the ICC statute, which it was believed might have the potential to be used against Chinese authorities for political ends (Findlay 2010: 3). It should also be noted that China has signed but has refused to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, or ICCPR (Human Rights Watch 2009: 34). The ICCPR, to which China is not bound, sets forth a number of principles which afford protections of due process under international law to those that are accused of crimes, including that “[n]o one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention” and that “[n]o one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law” (ICCPR Article 9). Given the absence of an effective mechanism by which the international community can exert supranational authority over China’s criminal law, the Chinese Community Party maintains a stronghold on criminal justice processes.
            The Chinese criminal justice system operates with little regard to due process, and its design effectively permits the Communist Party to intervene as it pleases. Criminal law in China is said to be “marked by long periods of investigatory detention, a high rate of confessions and administrative penalties that are tantamount to incarceration without trial” (Belkin 2000:  61). To that end, criminal defendants lack the “right to refuse interrogation, enjoy no presumption of innocence, and have no right to confront their accusers or compel the presence of witnesses to testify in their defense” (Belkin 2000: 61). In certain circumstances, the police have chosen to hold individuals in custody without charging them with crimes solely in an effort to “avoid protests and other instances of social unrest” (CECC 2007: 37).
Access to counsel is said to be “extremely limited” during the pre-trial phases of criminal cases, and the rights of the accused to proffer a defense is limited by the absence of procedures which would provide for discovery. (Belkin 2000: 61) In fact, as of 2004, only one in every three criminal defendants had access to representation by counsel. (CECC 2007: 47) Contributing to the inability of the accused to receive adequate representation by counsel is the fact that defense attorneys are often intimidated by threats of prosecution under statutes that provide for criminal liability for “evidence fabrication” (CECC 2007: 48). In certain circumstances where the “vague and elastic” concept of “state secrets” is implicated, the accused may find that they must attain prior approval from those investigating him or her before he or she can hire an attorney (Belkin 2000: 78). Cases which proceed under the “state secrets” doctrine are conducted in secret, and are therefore immune from public scrutiny and inspection (CECC 2007: 83). Once a case proceeds to trial, prosecutors must meet a low burden of proof by showing only that “the facts and circumstances of the crime are clear,” that “the evidence is reliable and sufficient,” and that “the charge and the nature of the crime is correctly determined” (Berkin 2000: 79). As of 2007, it was widely reported that many continue to be “arbitrarily detained and convicted, and torture remains widespread” (CECC 2007: 34).
In addition the limited nature of due process protections afforded to the accused, the substantive penalties issued in China are said to be “extremely harsh” (Belkin 2000: 83). In fact, Chinese law authorizes the death penalty as a permissible sentence for sixty-five crimes, which not only include murder and rape, but also include narcotics trafficking, financial fraud, and embezzlement (Lu 2008: 4). According to the Dui Hua Foundation, almost 100,000 individuals were executed by the Chinese government between 1997 and 2007, which accounts for over ninety-five percent of all executions carried out worldwide (CECC 2007: 53). Although in recent years, the Chinese government has taken measures to curtail the imposition of the death penalty by implementing measures which have sought to reserve the death penalty for an "extremely small number of extremely serious and extremely vile criminals posing a grievous threat to society” (Scott 2009: 5), as of 2009, Amnesty International has confirmed that China executes “more people than the rest of the world put together” (Amnesty International 2010). Through the operation of the criminal law and the existence of the death penalty as a permissible sentence coupled with the ability of the Communist Party to intervene in cases as it pleases renders the Party capable of compelling the Chinese people to succumb to its demands.
The Chinese criminal justice system is said to have its roots in “Confucian communitarian ideology and communist philosophy,” which has traditionally emphasized the usage of non-legal mechanisms for preventing crime (Findlay 2010: 4). Although China introduced criminal codes under the Tang and Qing Dynasties, and has since gradually adopted more modern criminal laws culminating with the 1979 Criminal Law and Criminal Procedural Law, aspects of its traditional focus on conflict resolution methods outside of the legal system still persist (Findlay 2010: 5). In fact, police have the authority to call upon administrative procedures and send an individual to a laojiao (), or labor camp, for up to three years even before the commencement of any judicial proceeding through a process known as “reeducation through labor” (Belkin 2000: 68). As of 2005, it was estimated that as many as five hundred thousand individuals are held in such administrative labor camps throughout China (CECC 2007: 40). Similarly, public and state security officials are said to “regularly authorize mass security sweeps” which involve the utilization of various forms of administrative detention, house arrest, and surveillance in an effort to “harass and control” the Chinese citizenry (CECC 2007: 37). Ultimately, the criminal justice system in China is designed to first “protect…the socialist order,” and only secondarily to protect “people’s rights” (Findlay 2010: 5).
            Outside of the limitations placed on the rights of the accused and the sentences imposed upon them, the criminal justice system is constructed within a hierarchy which places the Communist Party at its helm. The Communist Party is said to exercise influence over criminal justice mechanisms through its influence on a variety of matters, including “ideology, policy and personnel matters,” and even in some circumstances, its direct involvement in “deciding the outcome of particular cases” (Peerenboom 2008: 13). It is said that so-called “party committees of political and legal affairs exist at all levels of government,” and that such committees are dominated by leaders of the Public Security Bureau, which is tasked with investigating crimes, as well as chief judges and chief prosecutors (Belkin 2000: 67).  The role of the Communist Party at the top of the judicial hierarchy is further demonstrated by a 2003 resolution issued by the Communist Party’s Central Committee, which noted that “public security work must proceed under the Party’s absolute leadership” (CECC 2007: 46). Furthermore, a 2006 communiqué issued at the sixth plenum of the Central Committee outlined the introduction of a policy which would seek to enhance public and state security by sending police forces into local communities in an effort to “safeguard stability” and build a “harmonious society” (CECC 2007: 46).
Crimes in China are prosecuted by the so-called “People’s Procuratorate,” which operates under the direct authority of the National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee (Belkin 2000: 65). Based on the fact that such limited procedural protections are afforded to criminal defendants, the People’s Procuratorate maintains a conviction rate which exceeds ninety-nine percent. (CECC 2007: 51) Yet the role of the People’s Procuratorate is not limited to the mere prosecution of crimes. Instead, its leadership is vested with the authority to issue technically non-binding interpretations of the law, which in actuality have tremendous impact upon the interpretation of Chinese criminal law, as the language embodied has a tendency to be “vague” and open to interpretation (Belkin 2000: 66). These vague provisions include such crimes as “disturbance of public order” and “endangering state security” (CECC 2007: 3). The reach of the leadership of the Communist Party is strengthened by the fact that China operates a uniform system of criminal justice through its maintaining of a single criminal code and criminal procedure law applicable throughout the country (Belkin 2000: 64). The extensive grip on power possessed by the Communist Party over Chinese criminal justice is further evidenced by the fact that as of 2006, the sentences of imprisonment for at least five hundred individuals accused of the crime of being a “counterrevolutionary” were still serving sentences of imprisonment, despite the fact that the crime was technically eliminated from China’s law books in 1997 (CECC 2007: 5), and by the fact that it is Communist Party leaders who remain responsible for determining the sanctions of police officers accused of having abused their powers (CECC 2007: 43).
            Cases which clearly demonstrate the extent to which the Communist Party exercises its power through the criminal justice system are those brought against human rights defenders. One widely-publicized case was that brought against Liu Xiaobo (晓波). In December 2009, Liu was convicted of the charge “inciting subversion of state power” for his having published articles that expressed his “dissatisfaction with the political and socialist system of [China’s] people’s democratic dictatorship” (HRIC 2009). Additionally, Liu was alleged to have played a leading role in drafting “Charter 08,” an essay calling for the abolishment of the “one-party monopolization of ruling privileges” and for the establishment of a constitutional democracy in China (HRIC 2009). Ultimately, an eleven-year sentence of imprisonment was levied against Liu (HRIC 2009). Given the fact that a penal statute is in effect in China which permits courts to hold individuals accountable for merely publishing material which the Communist Party finds threatening indicates the extensive grip on power the Communist Party retains over the legal system in China, and its ability to manipulate the law through the operation of the criminal justice system.

IV. Conclusion

            The forgoing analysis suggests that Chinese domestic law is not above politics, and that the Communist Party maintains a powerful force in the Chinese legal system despite efforts taken to modernize that system. As pointed out by Larry Catá Backer in “The Party as Polity, The Communist Party, and the Chinese Constitutional State: A Theory of State Party Constitutionalism,” China has indeed established a unique form of “authoritarian constitutionalism” which places the Chinese Communist Party at the helm of its legal system. Yet at the same time, it should be noted that the development of international law has served to quell the extent to which the Chinese Communist Party can exercise an exclusive right to shape and mold Chinese law. China’s membership in the World Trade Organization has demonstrated that the Communist Party has found itself incapable of instituting trade-related policies which would embolden its economic position if doing so would violate its WTO obligations. Yet, in the case of criminal law, the Communist Party maintains a stronghold on power. Marked by the non-existence of an international body such as the ICC or a treaty such as the ICCPR which would place limits on China’s justice system, its lack of due process protections for the accused, the levying of harsh penalties, and the existence a hierarchical structure of policymaking and adjudication of individual cases which places the Communist Party at its peak, the criminal justice system in China maintains within the control of the Party. Giving this analysis, it appears that only with the establishment of supranational bodies capable of enforcing international law, such as the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization, will the Chinese Communist Party find the scope of its powers limited.

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