Chinese Law Prof Blog

Seminar on Chinese Guiding Cases, Feb. 22, Washington DC

Kudos to the China Guiding Cases Project at Stanford and to American University's Washington College of Law for putting on what looks to be a very interesting seminar on Chinese guiding cases. It's on February 22nd. Information and sign-up here: https://cgc.law.stanford.edu/event/guiding-cases-seminar-20170222/

Elder law conference at John Marshall Law School with China-related content

I've been asked to post a note about this upcoming conference and am pleased to do so. It's July 10-11. Click here for more information.

Talk at GWU Law School by Prof. SHEN Wei on local government debt

Prof. SHEN Wei of Shanghai Jiaotong University Law School will give a talk at GW Law School this Thursday evening. The topic is "Understanding China's Local Government Debt Crisis: Causes and Solutions (or No Way Out?)". Click here for a flyer and a bio of Prof. Shen. The talk will be recorded and webcast live; here's the link for the webcast.

Date: April 3

Time: 6 p.m.

Place: Room 402, Lerner Hall, 2000 H St. NW, Washington, DC (Lerner Hall is where you are when you enter the law school at the 2000 H St. entrance).

Zhang Qianfan to speak at George Washington University Law School on Feb. 12th

Professor Zhang Qianfan of Peking University Faculty of Law will speak at George Washington University Faculty of Law on Feb. 12th. His subject will be "A Constitution Without Constitutionalism? Paths of Constitutional Development in China." Details here.The talk will be webcast live; please check back to this blog for the URL, which I will post before the talk.

For those who don't know him, Prof. Zhang is an impressive guy. In addition to a Ph.D. in government from the University of Texas at Austin, he also has a Ph.D. in physics/biophysics from Carnegie-Mellon. He recently published a book in English on the Chinese constitution.

Teng Biao talk at GWU Law School - update and streaming information

I blogged the other day about Teng Biao's talk at GW Law School today (Feb. 5th). Two updates:

1. Location has been changed to Burns 505 (Faculty Conference Center).

2. The talk will be live streamed on the web. Here's the URL: 

http://video.law.gwu.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/73a078a4-a1bf-4bd2-8f9c-3114ba6491fa

 

US-China Legal Exchange in Washington DC, Boston, and Irvine

Here’s an announcement I’ve received that may be of interest to people in DC, Boston, and Irvine:

In early December, the Department of Commerce’s Acting General Counsel will lead the 18th U.S.-China Legal Exchange with his counterpart from China’s Ministry of Commerce.  The Legal Exchange will take place in Washington, DC on Dec. 4, Boston on Dec. 6, and Irvine on Dec. 9. This event presents a unique forum allowing the U.S. business, legal, and academic communities across the country to hear directly from Chinese officials about new and important developments in China’s commercial legal and regulatory landscape.  This year, high-level government officials from China, led by Assistant Minister of Commerce Zhang Xiangchen, will present to public audiences in Washington, Boston, and Irvine for a full day on two areas of China’s commercial law regime: 

• Chinese Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Law; and
• Legal Aspects of Entrepreneurship in China, including Private Equity and Venture Capital. 

Commerce invites U.S. company representatives, lawyers, academics, local and state government officials, students, and other interested persons to attend the Legal Exchange and participate in discussions on these topics with Chinese government officials and experts from the United States. More information about this event and registration details are available at (http://export.gov/china/uschinalegalexchange/).  In addition, sponsorship opportunities are available. Brett Gerson at [email protected] or (202) 482-5595 has more information.

International Environmental Moot Court Competition - East Asia Regional Round

I've been asked to post the following announcement:

The Int'l Environmental Moot Court Competition has long welcomed teams from China and East Asia, but in previous years, teams from East Asia had no local regional rounds to practice their skills prior to flying to Florida. In a partnership between Stetson University's and Soongsil University's Colleges of Law, there will be an East Asia Regional Round (EARR) held in Seoul, South Korea this year. 

The EARR will be an all-English language moot contest held on November 19 - 23, 2013. The most successful teams at the EARR will be promoted to the International Finals at Stetson University to be held in April 2014. The EARR is designed to support teams from China, including Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, as well as teams from Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, and other countries nearby who would like to participate in English-language moot competition. 

The full set of competition materials are posted on Stetson's IEMCC website: http://www.law.stetson.edu/international/iemcc/

Any teams wishing to compete may should contact Roy Andrew Partain with their registration questions: [email protected]

USCC Hearing on Corporate Accountability, Access to Credit, and Access to Markets in China’s Financial System

The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) is holding a hearing this Thursday in Washington, DC on the above subject. Among those testifying will be Prof. Paul Gillis, the author of the excellent China Accounting Blog. His testimony is a good summary and review of the current problems faced by the SEC and the PCAOB in their efforts to get information about audit procedures from Big Four-affiliated Chinese accounting firms. (I say "affiliated" because the Chinese firms are separately owned and I don't know what kind of contractual arrangements actually bind them to the foreign firms whose name they share.)

Because I have provided expert testimony on this issue, it's probably important to add that I don't necessarily agree with everything Prof. Gillis says in his testimony. In particular, I have expressed here my own views on the issues of how far China's laws on state secrets and archives actually constrain the auditing firms.

Third International Conference of the Chinese and American Forum on Legal Information and Law Libraries (CAFLL) Shanghai, China, June 10 – 12, 2013

I have received the following announcement. For more information, click here.

Registration is now open for the Third International Conference of the Chinese and American Forum on Legal Information and Law Libraries (CAFLL) Shanghai, China, June 10 – 12, 2013

This third international conference will be held in one of the world’s most dynamic, cosmopolitan and global cities - Shanghai, China.  The East China University of Political Science and Law (ECUPL) will be our hosts for the conference.  The venue for the meeting will be the beautiful Renaissance Shanghai Zhongshan Park Hotel: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/shabz-renaissance-shanghai-zhongshan-park-hotel/.

With the conference theme of Collaboration: Information, Access, and Partnership, law librarians and legal information professionals will have the opportunity to share experiences and exchange views about legal information access, development, and management in both the United States and China.

Conference topics:

•     Application of New Technology in Legal Information Services

•     New Trends and Concepts in Law Library Services

•     International Legal Information Resources Sharing and Cooperation in China and the US

•     Subject-oriented Legal Information Services

•     Public Access to Legal Information in China and the US

•     Requirements for Librarians in Legal Information Services

Conference Dates:

•     Monday, June 10, 2013: Registration for American participants

•     Tuesday, June 11, 2013 - Wednesday, June 12, 2013: Conference

Meeting Registration Rate:

•     $450: Non-members

•     $300: Individual members

•     $300: Institutional members (this rate applies to registrations for up to two individuals from member institutions; e.g., $300 X 2 individuals = $600)

Deadlines:

Conference registration: April 1, 2013

Hotel accommodations (to assure room availability): February 28, 2013 http://cafllnet.org/annual-conference/

Sponsored by:

•     Chinese and American Forum on Legal Information and Law Libraries (CAFLL)

•     American Association of Law Libraries (AALL)

•     International Association of Law Libraries (IALL)

•     China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL)

•     East China University of Political Science and Law (ECUPL)

•     Tongji University School of Law

•     Other prominent law schools in China

Previous conferences were held in Beijing (2009) and Philadelphia (2011):

http://cafllnet.org/annual-conference/.  For a CAFLL membership, see: http://cafllnet.org/membership/.  More information on CAFLL is available at: http://cafllnet.org/.

Great Chinese law panels at upcoming International Law Weekend in New York

I just received the following announcement. Looks like a terrific program - it's a very knowledgeable group and includes Chen Guangcheng.

* * * * *

This year's International Law Weekend features two stellar China-law panels. The American Branch of the International Law Association and the International Law Students Association are sponsoring this October 25-27 conference in cooperation with the Leitner Center for Law and Justice at Fordham Law School.  

• ILW opens on Thursday evening, October 25 at the home of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (42 West 44th St.) with a plenary panel discussion on The Rise of China and the Rule of (International) Law, featuring Amb. Winston Lord, Jerome Cohen (NYU), Elizabeth Economy (Council on Foreign Relations) and John Crowley (Davis Polk).  Benjamin Liebman (Columbia) will chair and moderate.  

• The following afternoon, Friday, October 26 at 3, Chen Guangcheng and Ira Belkin (both of NYU) will discuss Lawyers and China's Future.  This panel -- and the rest of the Friday and Saturday programs -- will be held at Fordham Law School.  

Program details and registration information are available here.  

 

Chinese media law conference at Oxford

I have received the following announcement:

Chinese Media Legislation and Regulation: Trends, Issues and Questions.  

The Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP) at the University of Oxford is organizing a conference on Chinese media legislation and regulation, in Oxford, on 15 and 16 June 2012, on emerging issues in Chinese media legislation and regulation. China’s media landscape has undergone tremendous change over the last few years. Technological innovation and the explosion of Internet use have changed the landscape for the dissemination of entertainment and information. Provincial television channels have boomed. Privatization and foreign investment and influence have become important questions for consideration. The cultural industries have become a priority area for further economic development. At the international level, media trade is one of the most prominent issues between China and the United States. Electronic media have also become a channel for bottom-up political activity: increasingly microblogs are used to bring specific incidents into the public sphere, or for satirical expressions.  

Programme 

Friday 15 June 

Session 1: The structure of Chinese media governance

This session will provide a general overview of the way in which the Chinese media are organized. Topics to be addressed include the development of content regulation in China, the structure of the media control regime and the theoretical background of media governance.  

Session 2: The market and the mediaChinese media have become increasingly marketized, as they have become an increasingly important locus of economic activity, as well as fulfilling a political role. However, commercial interests often clash with political and social objectives. This session will look at the regulation of advertising as an example of this, as well as the burgeoning animation sector. 

Session 3: The development of defamation in ChinaThe expansion of China’s online population has fundamentally changed the public communication sphere. For perhaps the first time in history, Chinese individuals have easy access to tools of public communication. One of the consequences of this, is that the number of disputes between private parties concerning expressions on social media has risen sharply. This session will provide more insight into the different aspects of defamation cases, and will aim to theorize the emerging legal doctrines in this field.  

Saturday 16 June 

Session 4: Press regulationThe traditional press remains an important channel for public communication. Traditionally, it was considered to be the mouthpiece of the Party, but as China’s society and political structure has grown more complex, fragmentation has rendered this characterization obsolete. Nonetheless, the Party-State aims to adapt its control over journalism to better suit changed circumstances. This session will address which measures are being taken, for which purposes and what their effect is.  

Session 5: Copyright, telecom and economic regulationFollowing technological development, media require an increasingly complex technological support structure. Questions of network access, telecommunications and network integration are crucial as a framework for the content industries to develop. Similarly, the role of intellectual property rights as a governing mechanism is important in explaining the particular setup of the information order. This session will address a number of these questions, in particular in relation to industrial policy, innovation and their effect on media markets. 

Venue: Manor Road Building, Seminar Room A. 

Participation in this conference is free of charge, but participants are kindly requested to register with Rogier Creemers ([email protected]). Sandwich lunch will be provided on both days. 

For further information about PCMLP, please see: http://pcmlp.socleg.ox.ac.uk

Conference on "China and the Human", April 19, CUNY

I've been asked to announce an upcoming symposium on "China and the Human" on April 19th at City University of New York. It's being held in conjunction with the publication of a double issue of Social Text on the same theme. As the symposium is sponsored in part by Emory Law School and the double issue is co-edited by law professor and Chinese law scholar Teemu Ruskola, I'm sure there will be something of interest there for law types.

Here's the full announcement.

Symposium on Chinese intellectual property law, John Marshall Law School, Chicago, April 19

Here's the announcement. Free to students with a current student ID; $50 to practitioners.

Fordham conference on intellectual property in China

Fordham Law School in New York City will be hosting a conference on April 11th entitled "Understanding China's New Environment for Intellectual Property." Registration is free for academics and students. More details here.

China: A Decade in the WTO - conference papers

Here's a link to the papers from a conference on "A Decade in the WTO: Implications for China and Global Trade Governance".

\
 

George Washington/Fordham program on Chinese IP issues

George Washington University Law and Fordham Law School will be jointly sponsoring a full-day program, called “Patents, Trade and Innovation in China: A Public Discussion on Practical Strategies for Engaging China.”   The program is scheduled for December 13, at GW Law School.  David Kappos, Director of the USPTO, will be the keynote speaker, and Chief Judge Rader of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will also be presenting.  The program is divided into four sessions:  the overall economic and rule-of-law challenges to China becoming an innovation society; assessing China’s efforts at patent catch-up with the West; how China has implemented its WTO and other IPR commitments; and how to collaborate and engage with China on innovation and IP issues.  The program is intended as a series of roundtable discussions, with interaction from attendees.   In addition to IP and trade lawyers, government officials, political scientists, and company executives, China lawyers who are scheduled to discuss include myself, Carl Minzner (Fordham) and Mark Cohen (Fordham).  The program follows up on a highly successful smaller meeting sponsored by Chief Judge Rader and will also likely involve distribution of research and other reports and coordination on technical assistance. There is no charge for the event and no CLE will be offered.  Those interested in participating should RSVP to [email protected] with the subject line: “China Conf.”

US-China Legal Exchange (commercial law)

I've been asked to post the following announcement. Here's a more specific agenda for the event.

============================================

The United States Department of Commerce

in partnership with

China’s Ministry of Commerce

present

The 2011 U.S.-China Legal Exchange

Changes in China’s Commercial Law and Implications on

Doing Business in China

During the week of October 17, 2011, the U.S. Department of Commerce, along with China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), will co-host the 16th U.S.-China Legal Exchange, a unique forum that provides an opportunity for the business, legal, and academic communities in the United States to hear directly from Chinese officials about the new and important developments in China’s commercial legal and regulatory landscape.  High-level government officials from MOFCOM, the State Council’s Legislative Affairs Office, and the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress will present to a public audiences in San Francisco, CA (Oct. 17), Denver, CO (Oct. 19), and Atlanta, GA (Oct. 21) on two areas of China’s commercial law regime that impact the U.S. business and legal community, providing an unique opportunity for U.S. companies, lawyers, local and state government officials, and other interested persons to discuss with Chinese Government officials the impact of those changes on U.S. business opportunities.  During the one-day event, Chinese officials will present on:

(i)                 China’s review of mergers and acquisitions under its Anti-Monopoly Law; and

(ii)               New developments in consumer product safety and tort liability in China. 

Department of Commerce General Counsel Cameron Kerry will lead the event from the U.S. side, and MOFCOM Vice Minister Chong Quan will lead the Chinese delegation.

San Francisco, CA
October 17, 2011
Location: TBD
Website and Registration: https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=4817bd

Denver, CO
October 19, 2011
Location: Denver University, Sturm College of Law
Website and Registration: https://emenuapps.ita.doc.gov/ePublic/newWebinarRegistration.jsp?SmartCode=2Q0Z

Atlanta, GA
October 21, 2011
Location: Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce
Website and Registration: http://metroatlantachamber.com/content/Event.aspx?Code=54a6a540-2e75-413c-9165-5e84319a212f

Registration

To register for the Legal Exchange, please visit this website.  Please note that Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits have been applied for and are currently pending with the State Bars of California, Colorado, and Georgia. 

Sponsorship opportunities will be available. Should you or your organization be interested in sponsoring the Legal Exchange, or for additional questions about the Legal Exchange, please contact Brett Gerson, Attorney-Advisor in the Department of Commerce, Office of General Counsel, Office of the Chief Counsel for International Commerce, at [email protected] or (202) 482-5595. 

Property rights conference in Beijing in October

I've been asked to publicize the following conference. Here's the material they sent:

Beijing Conference Explores the Importance of Property Rights on a Global Scale

As China continues to emerge as an economic superpower, one of the challenges it faces is deciding how to further enhance its market economy through its private property laws. It is against this backdrop that, on October 14-15, William & Mary Law School's Property Rights Project will host the law school's first international conference at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. The eighth annual Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference will bring together esteemed scholars, jurists, and practitioners from the United States and China to discuss the evolution of property rights on a global scale.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will receive the 2011 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize at the conference and will be a featured speaker. O'Connor served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court from 1981 to 2006. She made history in 1981 as the first woman nominated to serve on the high court. Her widely cited dissenting opinion in Kelo v. City of New London (2005) has been hailed as a pivotal opinion in property law jurisprudence. She became Chancellor of the College of William & Mary following her retirement from the judiciary. A formal reception will be held on October 13 at the United States Embassy in Beijing to honor Justice O’Connor and the conference’s Chinese host, Tsinghua University School of Law.

The conference is being held at and in cooperation with Tsinghua University School of Law, one of China’s top universities and law schools. The conference will be a featured event during Tsinghua University's celebration of the 100th anniversary of its founding.

Holding the conference in China "will foster a comparative framework for the discussion of property rights that is long overdue given the strong ties between the United States and China and China's dynamic role in the world economy," explained Chancellor Professor of Law Lynda Butler, the Project's director.

William & Mary Law School Dean Davison M. Douglas said the slate of participants comprised many scholars "whose work forms the foundation of contemporary American property law jurisprudence." He added that while plans are still preliminary, he looked forward to having a number of China's pre-eminent scholars also participate.

The annual Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference is named in recognition of Toby Prince Brigham and Gideon Kanner for their lifetime contributions to private property rights. Now in its eighth year, the conference is designed to bring together members of the bench, bar and academia to explore recent developments in takings law and other areas of the law affecting property rights. During the conference, the Project presents the Brigham-Kanner Prize to an outstanding figure in the field.

All previous prize recipients will participate in the conference. They include: Richard A. Epstein, formerly of the University of Chicago Law School and now at New York University School of Law, Robert C. Ellickson of Yale Law School, James W. Ely, Jr., professor emeritus of Vanderbilt Law School, Frank I. Michelman of Harvard Law School, Richard E. Pipes, professor emeritus of Harvard University, Margaret Jane Radin of the University of Michigan Law School, and Carol M. Rose of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law and professor emerita of Yale Law School.

The Conference program will explore the following panel topics:

** Legal Protection of Property Rights: A Comparative Look
** Reflections on Important Property Rights Decisions
** Property as an Instrument of Social Policy
** How Practitioners Shape the Law
** Culture and Property
** Property as an Economic Institution
** Property Rights and the Environment
** The Future of Property Rights

An optional post-conference tour of China and Hong Kong has been arranged.  The tour will run from October 16 through 23.  Prior to the conference, on October 13, day trips will be available to the Forbidden City and Great Wall.

For information about the conference, CLE credit, and the optional trips and tour, please visit the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference website at www.bkconference.com or contact Kathy Pond at [email protected].

Dean Douglas’s video message:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f64MYI3bs9A&feature=player_embedded

 

Conference Poster:

http://law.wm.edu/academics/intellectuallife/conferencesandlectures/propertyrights/beijing-poster.pdf

Conference in Chicago: "Chinese Legal Reform at Crossroads"

I've been asked to post the following announcement. Actually, I was asked in February, but I'm behind on my e-mail. Blame me, not the organizers, for the fact that the deadline for submitting abstracts has already passed. Sorry about that.

The OYCF-University of Chicago Conference on

“China’s Legal Reform at Crossroads”

--- The 12^th OYCF Annual Meeting

 

A conference on the theme “China’s Legal Reform at Crossroads” will take place on May 29-30, 2010 at the University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.  The conference is being planned by the Overseas Young Chinese Forum, with co-sponsorship from the Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) at the University of Chicago.

The thematic choice of this year’s conference is in accordance with OYCF’s commitment to China’s development and advancement.  In the past eleven years OYCF annual meetings have covered a variety of topics related to the development of China, including sustainable development, civil society, women, rural problems, social classes, cultural production, globalization and nationalism, and the financial crisis.  We believe the reform of China’s legal system from 1979 to the present is a topic of equal importance and deserves our attention.

We call for paper submissions from all disciplines working in the China field.  Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Legislative changes and debates in different areas of Chinese law;
• Reform of the Chinese judicial system;
• Development of the Chinese legal profession;
• Reform of the Chinese criminal justice system;
• Impact of the Communist Party and the government on the legal system;
• Mediation, letters and petition, and other alternative channels of dispute resolution;
• Legal consciousness and mobilization of Chinese citizens.

The conference is bi-lingual so the papers can be written and delivered in either English or Chinese.  Deadline for submitting an abstract (1-2 pages) is April 2, 2010 (Friday), along with a brief C.V. that lists your credentials (e.g., professional experience and/or publications).  Please send your materials or inquiry via email to [email protected].  A notification of acceptance will be sent by April 16, 2010 (Friday).

The OYCF will publish a summary of the conference panels and selected papers on its electronic journal “Perspectives: China and the World.”  For more details about the OYCF annual meetings, please visit: http://www.oycf.org/oycfold/httpdocs/Retreats/retreat.htm.

The Overseas Young Chinese Forum (OYCF)  OYCF is a self-governing non-profit organization established in 1999 to provide a forum to discuss issues related to China’s development and to explore solutions.  Among other activities, OYCF sponsors teaching and research in China, publishes an on-line journal (Perspectives: China and the World), organizes local discussion groups, publishes book series, and holds a conference each year.  OYCF’s annual conference is increasingly becoming a major forum for China-related studies.  For more information about OYCF, please visit the organization’s website: www.oycf.org.

The Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) at the University of Chicago works to enhance opportunities available to scholars both in the United States and abroad, and to foster communication and inter-disciplinary collaboration among the community of professors and students at the University of Chicago and throughout the wider East Asian Studies community.  To these ends CEAS and its Committees sponsor a variety of activities including colloquia, workshops, conferences, public lectures, film series, cultural events, and other programs that promote understanding of the cultures and societies of China, Japan, and Korea.  University of Chicago faculty and programs in East Asian studies regularly achieve the highest rankings among peer institutions in the United States, making East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago an invaluable national resource and a focal point for East Asian Studies in the Midwest.  For more information about the CEAS at the University of Chicago, please visit http://ceas.uchicago.edu/. 

Latest round in the Cohen birthday events: Hawaii, March 16

Earlier this month the University of Hawaii Law School put on a program in honor of Jerome Cohen's upcoming 80th birthday. Here are links to a video recording and a program description.