Many principles controlling the modern western civil law, such as consideration, prescription and capacity, have taken shape in history. This paper, from a historical perspective, explores the logic and rationale behi...Many principles controlling the modern western civil law, such as consideration, prescription and capacity, have taken shape in history. This paper, from a historical perspective, explores the logic and rationale behind Chinese common law by focusing on the formation of contract in the Qing Dynasty. The first section shows that in the Qing Dynasty, the delivering of the subject matter was a basic requirement to form a loan contract between two parties. However, an agreement for transferring the item in advance worked as a consensual and bilateral contract, and the aggrieved party could ask for compensation or contractual fine or retain the deposit when the other party broke the contract. The second section argues that in the Qing Dynasty, the writing of a loan contract （Shuqi） is not a contract in and of itself, but is only one of the forms of contracts. The writing worked as the primary evidence of the existence of a contract. In the third section, the requirements of consideration and prescription are used to understand the practice of civil trials in the Qing Dynasty. Back then, when the loan contracts provided by two parties entailed some defects, the judges would adjudicate a loan dispute on the basis of consideration, with an assumption that people acted in their own interest and only in this sense were their acts rational. The judges could also identify the right（s） of parties due to the lapse of time. The fourth section argues against the view that equality was not used as a principle to form civil contracts in Chinese history. In Ancient China, there was indeed inequality between officials and laymen and within family or clan. However, in the Qing Dynasty, the different social status of the parties had little to do with the formation of contract. The restrictions for junior individuals （e,g, beiyou） to dispose his family property were actually restrictions on their capability instead of limitations on his capacity to enjoy private right or to have private obligation.展开更多
Equal rights to work between men and women are recognized as fundamental human rights by many international conventions including the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against...Equal rights to work between men and women are recognized as fundamental human rights by many international conventions including the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Also, constitutions of many countries recognize equal rights to work as basic constitutional rights. But women all over the world still face numerous kinds of sex discrimination, including direct sex discrimination and indirect sex discrimination, especially in working life. Indirect sex discrimination against women in working life undermines women＇s equal rights to work in a covert way, which is just as harmful as direct sex discrimination and should be prohibited by law.展开更多
This paper discusses the concept of burden of proof and prima facie case, respectively, in WTO dispute settlement based on the legal doctrine on burden of proof in Chinese law. From the perspective of Chinese law, the...This paper discusses the concept of burden of proof and prima facie case, respectively, in WTO dispute settlement based on the legal doctrine on burden of proof in Chinese law. From the perspective of Chinese law, the burden of proof has three implications on two levels, namely the behavior burden of production and the behavior burden of persuasion in the procedural sense, and the result burden of bearing unfavorable consequence in its substantive sense. A prima facie case also includes the weaker account and the stricter account. They do not mean the same in different contexts, but what is the exact meaning thereof in a given context is clear. The real confusion of the burden of proof in WTO dispute settlement is prima facie standard which, in practice, to some extent, relies on the determination by the panel on case-to-case basis.展开更多
The Qing Dynasty is the last dynasty of all the twelve dynasties in Chinese history. Its family law embodied the Confucian conception of the integration of family, country and the world under heaven. The rule of tradi...The Qing Dynasty is the last dynasty of all the twelve dynasties in Chinese history. Its family law embodied the Confucian conception of the integration of family, country and the world under heaven. The rule of traditional Chinese society was depicted as ＂the Rule of Propriety and Music＂ which had been established by Duke Zhou as an instrumentalist mechanism and refined by the Confucian humanistic value orientation. This rule exhibited the intricate fabric of both family and country in five-types in dressing-service, making the laws and legalities in the Qing Codes and Cases peculiar in marriage, divorce, property inheritance and heir adoption and confirmation with obvious female and juvenile discriminations. Since Confucian ethics was introduced as a remedy to the deficiency in regulation and the stereotypes of mentality in the late Zhou Dynasty, their suggestions on equal and universal moral rights have become apparent in the relative enactments and cases ever since. As a system of social regulation, the Qing Codes and Cases demonstrated validity and stability in all areas of family law as well as in their compromise with Confucian ethics in the solidarity of family, clan, country and worm where the right to live and the balance between right and duty had been always prioritized.展开更多
Chemicals, due to their combustible, explosive, toxic characteristics and aptness to jeopardize the environment, human health and public safety, have long been on the top agenda of the governments throughout the world...Chemicals, due to their combustible, explosive, toxic characteristics and aptness to jeopardize the environment, human health and public safety, have long been on the top agenda of the governments throughout the world. At present China is a large country in the production, consumption and trading of chemicals with 45, 000 kinds already manufactured and in use and some 100 new kinds per year awaiting being registered to enter into the markets.1 Generally, the chemicals management in China has undergone through labor protection between 1950s and 1960s, pollution control and public safety during 1970s and 1980s, and ozone protection, climate change, recycling economy and anti-terrorism in recent decades. The focus of the legislation on chemicals has shifted from separate and scattered regulations in the form of departmental rules to national regulations which give special attention to the coordination of concerned departments and to the linkup and compatibility with relevant international treaties. In a word, chemicals management has become one of the sectors in China＇s environmental management domains where there are a large number of stringent regulations.展开更多
文摘Many principles controlling the modern western civil law, such as consideration, prescription and capacity, have taken shape in history. This paper, from a historical perspective, explores the logic and rationale behind Chinese common law by focusing on the formation of contract in the Qing Dynasty. The first section shows that in the Qing Dynasty, the delivering of the subject matter was a basic requirement to form a loan contract between two parties. However, an agreement for transferring the item in advance worked as a consensual and bilateral contract, and the aggrieved party could ask for compensation or contractual fine or retain the deposit when the other party broke the contract. The second section argues that in the Qing Dynasty, the writing of a loan contract （Shuqi） is not a contract in and of itself, but is only one of the forms of contracts. The writing worked as the primary evidence of the existence of a contract. In the third section, the requirements of consideration and prescription are used to understand the practice of civil trials in the Qing Dynasty. Back then, when the loan contracts provided by two parties entailed some defects, the judges would adjudicate a loan dispute on the basis of consideration, with an assumption that people acted in their own interest and only in this sense were their acts rational. The judges could also identify the right（s） of parties due to the lapse of time. The fourth section argues against the view that equality was not used as a principle to form civil contracts in Chinese history. In Ancient China, there was indeed inequality between officials and laymen and within family or clan. However, in the Qing Dynasty, the different social status of the parties had little to do with the formation of contract. The restrictions for junior individuals （e,g, beiyou） to dispose his family property were actually restrictions on their capability instead of limitations on his capacity to enjoy private right or to have private obligation.
文摘Equal rights to work between men and women are recognized as fundamental human rights by many international conventions including the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Also, constitutions of many countries recognize equal rights to work as basic constitutional rights. But women all over the world still face numerous kinds of sex discrimination, including direct sex discrimination and indirect sex discrimination, especially in working life. Indirect sex discrimination against women in working life undermines women＇s equal rights to work in a covert way, which is just as harmful as direct sex discrimination and should be prohibited by law.
文摘This paper discusses the concept of burden of proof and prima facie case, respectively, in WTO dispute settlement based on the legal doctrine on burden of proof in Chinese law. From the perspective of Chinese law, the burden of proof has three implications on two levels, namely the behavior burden of production and the behavior burden of persuasion in the procedural sense, and the result burden of bearing unfavorable consequence in its substantive sense. A prima facie case also includes the weaker account and the stricter account. They do not mean the same in different contexts, but what is the exact meaning thereof in a given context is clear. The real confusion of the burden of proof in WTO dispute settlement is prima facie standard which, in practice, to some extent, relies on the determination by the panel on case-to-case basis.
文摘The Qing Dynasty is the last dynasty of all the twelve dynasties in Chinese history. Its family law embodied the Confucian conception of the integration of family, country and the world under heaven. The rule of traditional Chinese society was depicted as ＂the Rule of Propriety and Music＂ which had been established by Duke Zhou as an instrumentalist mechanism and refined by the Confucian humanistic value orientation. This rule exhibited the intricate fabric of both family and country in five-types in dressing-service, making the laws and legalities in the Qing Codes and Cases peculiar in marriage, divorce, property inheritance and heir adoption and confirmation with obvious female and juvenile discriminations. Since Confucian ethics was introduced as a remedy to the deficiency in regulation and the stereotypes of mentality in the late Zhou Dynasty, their suggestions on equal and universal moral rights have become apparent in the relative enactments and cases ever since. As a system of social regulation, the Qing Codes and Cases demonstrated validity and stability in all areas of family law as well as in their compromise with Confucian ethics in the solidarity of family, clan, country and worm where the right to live and the balance between right and duty had been always prioritized.
文摘Chemicals, due to their combustible, explosive, toxic characteristics and aptness to jeopardize the environment, human health and public safety, have long been on the top agenda of the governments throughout the world. At present China is a large country in the production, consumption and trading of chemicals with 45, 000 kinds already manufactured and in use and some 100 new kinds per year awaiting being registered to enter into the markets.1 Generally, the chemicals management in China has undergone through labor protection between 1950s and 1960s, pollution control and public safety during 1970s and 1980s, and ozone protection, climate change, recycling economy and anti-terrorism in recent decades. The focus of the legislation on chemicals has shifted from separate and scattered regulations in the form of departmental rules to national regulations which give special attention to the coordination of concerned departments and to the linkup and compatibility with relevant international treaties. In a word, chemicals management has become one of the sectors in China＇s environmental management domains where there are a large number of stringent regulations.
