ABSTRACT
In China, the legal framework providing procedural justice is fragmented and weak, but its importance is increasingly recognized. Procedural justice necessarily encompasses two kinds of demands: that government decisions will be made under certain procedural principles established for the protection of those affected by such decisions; and that resolution of disputes or the administration of justice will be conducted under procedural safeguards against injustice. This chapter overviews the effort in post-Mao China to reintroduce procedural justice into Chinese law. It focuses on the development and reform of the three principal procedural laws: Criminal Procedure Law, Civil Procedure Law and Administrative Litigation Law. Many initial studies of post-Mao legal reform focused on civil and commercial law, which were the most prominent areas of legal development at the time. However, procedural law was in fact also among the first laws enacted in post-Mao China.
