The current issue of China Rights Forum, "Rule of Law?," can be read in its entirety through the links below. For subscription information and access to back issues, please refer to the main China Rights Forum page.

This Issue's Contributors

Message from the Executive Director

"Asking the Tiger for Its Skin"? (与虎谋皮?)

• The Struggle for Autonomy of Beijing's Public Interest Lawyers
  Jerome A. Cohen tells the story of a group of Beijing lawyers’ call for direct election for the Beijing Lawyers Association.
• Beijing Public Interest Lawyers: A Chronology of Recent Events
• "Keep Pace with History: Implement Lawyers Association Direct Elections"
  The appeal for direct election for the Beijing Lawyers Association, issued by 35 Beijing lawyers on August 26, 2008. English translation.
• "Stern Statement"
  The Beijing Lawyers Association’s official reaction to the appeal for direct election. English translation.
• "Killing One to Warn 100" (杀一儆百): The Shutdown of Yitong Law Firm
  A Beijing law firm known for taking controversial cases is shut down for six months by the Haidian District Judicial Bureau.
• Standardize Lawyers Association Elections: One Step Toward Democratic Rule of Law
  Li Fangping, a rights defense lawyer, urges members of the legal profession to formulate rules for elections of representatives of lawyers associations.
• Development of the Legal Profession in Post-Mao China: A Brief Timeline
• Growth in Numbers of Lawyers, Law Offices, and Cases in China: 1986-2006
• I Cannot Give Up: Record of a "Kidnapping"
  Teng Biao’s personal account of his 2008 kidnapping.
• Rights Defense and "Non-Violent Non-Cooperation"
  Veteran journalist Zan Aizong interviews rights defense lawyer Tang Jingling.

Criminal and Administrative (In)justice (刑事正义与行政正义？)

• Dissolving Laojiao
  Fu Hualing discusses the implications of abolishing Reeducation-Through-Labor.
• Yang Jia and China’s Unpopular Criminal Justice System
  Eva Pils tells the story of "justice" for Yang Jia, murderer turned folk hero.
• May Be a Plea, But Is It a Bargain?
  Elizabeth M. Lynch analyzes the use of "Simplified Procedure" in five Chinese courts.

Human Rights and Government Accountability (人权与政府责任)

• The Relationship between Chinese Peasants’ Right to Subsistence and China’s Social Stability
  He Qinglian reveals the magnitude of the land problem facing China.
• China’s Low Human Rights Advantage
  Qin Hui discusses China’s unbeatable competitive advantage.
• Corruption: Spurring China to Engage in International Law
  Margaret K. Lewis looks at the positive effects of China’s international engagement on a most vexing domestic problem.

Open Government Information: Double-edged Sword? (政府信息公开：一把双刃剑？)

• Can OGI Take Off in China?
  Fu Hualing examines an initiative that requires the government to share what it considers to be its privileged information with its people.
• OGI Request for Financial Details of Four-Trillion Yuan Stimulus Package
  A Shanghai lawyer’s request may be too sensitive for the government to handle.
• OGI FAQs
• OGI Resource List

Regular Features

• Timeline: Human Rights Defenders
• Culture Matters
  
  China: A Plaything of the Western Mind?
  Roger Garside reviews George Walden’s China: A Wolf in the World?
  
  China’s Other Global Moment
  Ivy Wang reviews Frank Dikötter’s The Age of Openness: China before Mao
  
  How Was China’s "Brave New World" Created?
  Hu Ping reviews Jeffrey Wasserstrom’s China’s Brave New World – And Other Tales for Global Times
• HRIC in Action