ABSTRACT
The case of China presents an extreme case of integration of the procedures of adjudication and mediation. This chapter discusses problems generated by this fully integrated model of conflict resolution. Drawing from field work and court data, it examines the feedback effects of mediation on adjudication in the Chinese model, using contested divorce cases as a focus of investigation. It argues that as a procedural context, the adversarial trial is an ill-fitting setting for mediation. Not only does the integrative model create constant tension for judges, but there is also evidence implicating that the current setup tends to render adjudication a subordinate status. With the rapid growth of complex commercial cases, some urban courts have begun to try out new measures to make mediation a primarily pre-trial procedure. In comparison with the Anglo-American model of judicial mediation, this case study of China has implications for understanding the essential “alternative” status required of mediation to make it a felicitous option for parties seeking to resolve disputes.
