Collection of Papers from the International Symposium on the Civil Procedure Law

Author: Jiang Wei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-03-01
Features: At the International Conference Hall of Renmin University of China during the height of summer, a high-level international symposium on comparative civil procedural law came to a close with warm applause from all attendees. The knowledge and wisdom of top scholars in the field of civil procedural law from both China and abroad, along with the four years of dedication and hard work of the project team that meticulously planned and organized the event, were all compiled into this collection of essays. The international symposium was held from August 8 to 10, 2002, at Renmin University of China. International -level experts in civil procedural law were invited to attend, including Professor Stephenubrin (Prof. Stephenubrin) and Professor Margaret Y. K. Woo from Northeastern University in the United States, Professor Peter Gottwald (Prof. Peter Gottwald) and Professor Burkhard Hess from the University of Regensburg in Germany, Professor Yasuhira Tanimoto from the Tokyo University of Economics and Professor Takeshi Kojima from Central University in Japan, as well as Professor Neil Andrews (Prof. Neil Andrews) from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Additionally, Professor Sun Hanqi from Yonsei University in South Korea, along with more than 60 representatives from China's civil procedural law community and judicial system, gathered together. The papers they submitted during the three days of the conference were all revised and included in this book after the event. The discussions and comments recorded during the conference were also compiled into the book, forming an important and engaging part of it. The subsequent project expanded the scope of the comparative civil procedural law conference from three countries—China, the United States, and Germany—to six countries—China, the United States, Germany, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The conference's themes also needed to be redefined. After discussions with the three foreign professors from the earlier project and final approval by the research team, we selected six urgent topics for research in China, namely, China's civil procedural system and model, the evidence system, simplified procedures and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, the appellate system and retrial procedures, the jury system and pre-trial preparation procedures, and the role of the procuratorate in civil litigation. Each of these themes was presented by one or two Chinese scholars as keynote reports, followed by a discussion between one Chinese scholar and one foreign scholar, and then open discussion among all attendees. The conference schedule and the structure of this book were largely organized around these six major themes.