Preservation of rule of law and public confidence in the judiciary is a central object of the Rules of Professional Responsibility, and of course canons of judicial conduct. These are also concerns of China’s Supreme People’s Court which oversees a vast system and exercises rule-making power that we would see as legislative territory.
Most of the attention given by us in the west focuses on violations of civil rights of dissenters to the Communist Party’s monopoly of political power. Yet “Rule by law” is a major focus of the ruling party. It should not be understood as embrace of principles such as an independent judiciary. But the prompt translation and circulation in China of Chief Justice John Roberts annual report is evidence of the normalization of China’s judicial system. – gwc
by Susan Finder
Chief Justice John Roberts of the United States Supreme Court may be surprised to learn that a translated version of his 2017 year-end report on the federal courts was recently published by the People’s Court Daily, as it has been for the past twelve years. It was republished by Wechat and Weibo sites affiliated with the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) and other prominent legal websites. What significance does the report have?
Professional Responsibility: A Contemporary Approach 