ABSTRACT
The potential future role of China's courts has received wide attention. In China, officials speak of the importance of court reform for ensuring China's goals of legal construction and modernization. Efforts by the courts to restrict media coverage highlight the fact that courts are not passive in the face of external pressure. The reliability of court statistics is questionable, and thus it would be a mistake to read too much into apparent increases or decreases in caseloads. The chapter examines topdown reforms in China's courts, highlighting what some advocates of a stronger judiciary consider signs of progress. It argues that the most significant changes in China's courts are coming from the ground up, in particular from growing horizontal interactions among judges. The chapter focuses on civil and administrative litigation, where reforms have been more significant than in the criminal justice system. Recognizing the limitations of court reform in China is not meant to trivialize the changes thus far.
