Comments on: rule of law grown through railroad lawsuits http://www.chinalawandbusiness.com/2008/02/23/rule-of-law-grown-through-railroad-lawsuits/ A China law blog covering issues in Chinese law, business, and society Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:06:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: T Chow http://www.chinalawandbusiness.com/2008/02/23/rule-of-law-grown-through-railroad-lawsuits/#comment-36 T Chow Tue, 26 Feb 2008 23:34:43 +0000 http://www.chinalawandbusiness.com/2008/02/23/rule-of-law-grown-through-railroad-lawsuits/#comment-36 Will: I too am biased toward our system being more Americanized as I am. I also find it to be quite rational as a whole, though not imperfect. While I agree that one decision in China has little meaning, a trickle effect does make a difference over time. (after all, American law is not that different) While I don't think Chinese judges will have the cachet or impact of a Justice Cardozo, the Chinese courts will conform to precedent if enough exists, so it is only a matter of time. The biggest thing that comes to my mind about this article is the rise of activist lawyers who don't irk the government, and thus, are allowed to practice law in a public interest sort of way. I feel that this can make a huge difference in the Chinese legal landscape, particularly because there really isn't a Chinese plaintiff's bar that can cash on in these types of problems. Without these lawyers stirring up trouble, there really isn't anyone who will. Tom Will:

I too am biased toward our system being more Americanized as I am. I also find it to be quite rational as a whole, though not imperfect.

While I agree that one decision in China has little meaning, a trickle effect does make a difference over time. (after all, American law is not that different) While I don’t think Chinese judges will have the cachet or impact of a Justice Cardozo, the Chinese courts will conform to precedent if enough exists, so it is only a matter of time.

The biggest thing that comes to my mind about this article is the rise of activist lawyers who don’t irk the government, and thus, are allowed to practice law in a public interest sort of way. I feel that this can make a huge difference in the Chinese legal landscape, particularly because there really isn’t a Chinese plaintiff’s bar that can cash on in these types of problems. Without these lawyers stirring up trouble, there really isn’t anyone who will.

Tom

]]> By: Will Lewis http://www.chinalawandbusiness.com/2008/02/23/rule-of-law-grown-through-railroad-lawsuits/#comment-32 Will Lewis Sun, 24 Feb 2008 03:22:01 +0000 http://www.chinalawandbusiness.com/2008/02/23/rule-of-law-grown-through-railroad-lawsuits/#comment-32 Just kind of makes one reflect on the power that railroad law suits had in shaping American jurisprudence, with the famous cases of the likes of Learned Hand, Holmes and Cardozo... The major difference though is that unlike in a common law jurisdiction, one decision in China has very little meaning, and the rule of law cannot follow until there is a pattern of decisions that can be woven into the rule of law. Then again, I'm probably just biased towards our system. Just kind of makes one reflect on the power that railroad law suits had in shaping American jurisprudence, with the famous cases of the likes of Learned Hand, Holmes and Cardozo… The major difference though is that unlike in a common law jurisdiction, one decision in China has very little meaning, and the rule of law cannot follow until there is a pattern of decisions that can be woven into the rule of law. Then again, I’m probably just biased towards our system.

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