A New Journey for China-ASEAN Relations

On December 31, 2015, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations officially completed the building of the ASEAN Political-Security Community （APSC）, the ASEAN Economic Community （AEC）and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community （ASCC）. These represent new milestones in the development of ASEAN and a new chapter in China- ASEAN relations. Standing at a new historical starting point, China and ASEAN should seize the opportunities, meet challenges and comprehensively deepen their practical cooperation for mutual benefit and to forge an even closer ＂China-ASEAN Community of common destiny.＂

MARINE ENVIRONMENT AND THE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE LAW OF THE SEA:TWENTY YEARS'PRACTICES AND PROSPECTS

The marine environment is severely threatened by human activities. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 established the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea （1TLOS） to adjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the Convention. Marine environment is an essential part of the Convention. This paper aims at discussing the role of the 1TLOS in protecting the world＇s oceans through analyzing environmental aspects of the 1TLOS＂ jurisprudence. The second chapter discusses environmental concerns in the mandate of the ITLOS. Chapter three explores environmental concerns in the adjudication of lTLOS through reviewing the 25 cases submitted to the ITLOS in the past 20 years. Chapter four discusses the contributions and challenges of the 1TLOS in marine environmental protection through assessing its environmental jurisprudence from practical and theoretical perspectives. It then comes to a conclusion that the ITLOS has adopted a proactive stance towards the protection of marine environment, and that a big progress has been made in protecting marine environment by the ITLOS.

THE GUIDING CASE SYSTEM IN CHINA

In an effort to improve the quality and consistency of trials in China′s court system, the Supreme People′s Court made a significant change in the Chinese legal system by creating the Guiding Cases System. Different from binding precedents in the common law system, China′s GCS requires judges in the people′s courts at all levels to refer to guiding cases when adjudicating similar cases. Although the GCS is expected to improve China′s judicial system, making the GCS a reality is a challenge because the GCS is a relatively new concept to judicial organs in China, and requires a broad understanding of the legal rationale of guiding cases and their interaction with the domestic legal system. As a result, implementing the GCS in China has been challenging. It has been suggested that these challenges be addressed through the defining of the criteria for guiding case selection, by unifying the release method of guiding cases, regulating the application of guiding cases, by clarifying the relevant provisions on 'refer to', 'should refer to' and 'similar cases', and finally by setting up incentive and supervision mechanisms and promoting judicial reform in China.