There is a great story in today’s New York Times (Desperate Search for Justice: One Man vs. China” about a man struggling with the legal system in China. In short, the man is struggling with his son’s conviction by the Chinese courts for a crime he does not believe his son committed.

“His son was charged with a savage knife attack here in rural Anhui Province that left a mother and daughter badly wounded. The police suspected the son because of a property dispute between the families. But Mr. Xie believed the case was deeply flawed: the victims never identified the attacker. The only evidence was a questionable shoeprint. Police misconduct was blatant.”

The article touches on the growing pains China’s relatively new legal system has been experiencing, and points out a number of areas that clearly need further development.

“The stark imbalance in China reflects a fundamental contradiction for China’s top leaders. They want people like Mr. Xie to trust the legal system because public support is essential in ensuring social stability. But they believe the law should enhance, not erode, government power, and have shown little inclination to replace a system that guarantees convictions with one that guarantees the rights of the accused.”

TAGS: China | Court | Legal | Justice

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 12th, 2005 at 2:21 am and is filed under CalPoly MBA, China. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.