ABSTRACT
China’s legal system remains an enigma to many observers. On one hand, we see what appear to be rather conventional legal texts of legislation and administrative regulations, and familiar legal institutions such as courts, lawyers and so on. The familiarity of these manifestations of Chinese law derives from the fact that they have largely been borrowed from the European and North American experience. Yet the performance of the legal regime often belies appearances, and indeed many of the essential components of the rule of law seem to be fading from view, as if perhaps they were never there at all.
