3rd ASLI Conference Opening Address on the 3rd Asian Law Institute Conference by Cao Jianming Grand Justice of the first rank and Vice President of the Supreme People’s Distinguished Guests,
Today we are gathering here for the grand opening ceremony of the 3rd Asian Law Institute Conference in East China University of Politics and Law, Shanghai China. On behalf of fellows of the Chinese legal community, I wish to extend our warm welcome to our overseas colleagues. Recent years witnesses the fast economic development and an ever strengthening regional economic cooperation in Asian area, which makes Asia experience an upgrade of world status. Economic development brings Asia both opportunities and challenges, promoting legal communication and convergence in the area. The foundation of the Asian Law Institute is a reflection of our common wish as to strengthen legal communication and cooperation among Asian countries and it offers a favorable platform for us to make joint efforts to promote the development of legal education and research in this area. The great success of the 1st and 2nd Asian Law Institute Conferences has far-reaching impact on Asian legal communities. It has not only boosted Asian legal exchanges and mutual progress, but also created a successful model of Asian legal communication and cooperation, accumulating rich experience, which makes ASLI a great event of strengthening communication and cooperation, promoting mutual progress in Asian legal communities. Construction of a socialist market economy and the rule of law system in China have developed fast in recent years. The 3rd Asian Law Institute Conference held by ECUPL, as well as the previous 22nd World Law Conference held in Beijing and Shanghai will surely promote the communications among different legal systems, the development of legal education, and it will give a good opportunity to law professors and experts from the rest of the world to understand China’s construction of rule of law system and legal education. I feel honored to be invited to attend this great conference and get the opportunity to exchange views with jurists from all over the world. I also feel very excited to come back to ECUPL, the school where I studied and worked. I wish this conference a great success and achieve its anticipated goal. We are all pleased to see that Asia is developing with an unprecedented momentum under the joint efforts made by both governments and people in the region. With the world generally enjoying peace and stability, Asia is embracing a time of stable and peaceful development and is now becoming one of the most energetic economic areas in the world. China and its Asian neighbors have share cultural tradition and mentality in a broad sense, and maintained close contacts in history. We have mutual ground of development and the need for a deeper communication and cooperation especially in a globalized world today. Asia is our home, and as scholars, experts and colleagues of legal communities in Asian countries, we have joint responsibility to construct a harmonious world by promoting peace and development in Asia and across the world. During the period of nearly 30 years of reform and opening-up, China has gone through profound and enormous changes. A system of socialistic market economy has been primarily established and we have become a member of the WTO, achieving a transition from the practice of policy-oriented opening up to the systematic opening-up within legal frameworks. The basic strategy of "running the country according to the law" has been established. To build a socialist country under the rule of law has become our fundamental goal to China’s democratic rule of law. With democratic politics further strengthened, to respect and safeguard human rights have become our constitutional principle. We have therefore every reason to believe that this country’s economy, culture and political life have been increasingly integrated into the current globalization drive, which has established an all-round and close relationship with the international community. A mature market economy calls for a set of rules of law. Laws are needed to guide and regulate a healthy and orderly market, ranging from macro-regulation and management of the economy by the state to market activities such as production, exchange, distribution and consumption. International economic communication shall also abide by the international customs and agreements among nations. Rule of law is an important sign of the progress of human civilization. It’s not only the best way to resolve social conflicts in a peaceful and reasonable manner but also the essential request of constructing a modern socialist state. China attaches great importance to the construction of democracy and rule of law. Since the country’s reform and opening to the outside world, the National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee have made the current Constitution and 4 Amendments as well as more than 200 effective laws; the State Council has published more than 650 enforceable regulations; local People’s Congresses and their Standing Committees have published more than 7500 local regulations; the People’s Congresses of Autonomous Regions have also established more than 600 autonomous regulations and specific ordinances. A socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics is taking shape with the Constitution as its core; major aspects of the nation’s economy, political and social life have been basically ensured with related laws and regulations. These laws guarantee that people exercise their rights of democratic elections, democratic decision-making, democratic management and democratic supervision as well; they guarantee that people play a part in public and state affairs as well as in economic and cultural projects. As a result, public awareness of the importance of law and of rule of law has been greatly enhanced and the practice of running the country according to law is taking root. The Chinese people’s freedom and rights are therefore protected and guaranteed. China has also approved and entered into 21 international conventions related to human rights. Meanwhile, in line with the country’s actual conditions and situation, we are working to actively and stably reform our judicial system, maintain judicial justice, strengthen legislation and supervision, improve administration by law and give full to the rule of law in promoting, achieving and ensuring social harmony. Rule of law is the result of a nation’s modernization, which has become an essential approach to management of state and public affairs. Theories and practice of rule of law have had a great impact on the process of modernization of various countries. Rule of law represents the great expectations of human society, it is the fruit of human wisdom and human civilization. As practice indicates, although great differences exist among nations in history, religion, culture and even legal tradition, they have ultimately taken the road to rule of law: they all emphasize the importance of running and managing public affairs with law and asserting the authority of the constitution and law. As far as the development of legal civilization is concerned, law, as a tool to achieve social management and control, reflects our understanding of the objective rules governing all kinds of relations in society, politics, economy and culture. On the other hand, as the development of rule of law of various countries is a historical and dynamic process, there have inevitably been legal conflicts and differences. As Montesquieu put it, law should be in harmony with the common conditions of a nation and “laws made for the people of a nation shall be suitable to them, if a nation’s law happens to fit another nation, it might be an extraordinary coincidence.” That is to say, although there is general objectiveness in the development of rule of law, a nation’s rule of law shall be in accordance with its social system, tradition, economic development level, development pattern and legal culture. And it is in this sense we see the uniqueness of a nation’s rule of law. It is my belief that we should recognize the pluralistic nature of Asia, of the world and of human civilization, and we should recognize the differences in different nations’ effort to develop their legal systems. We should seek common grounds while putting away differences. What I want to emphasize here is that while China pays great attention to and learn from other countries’ achievements in the area of rule of law, it gives equal attention to its own development of rule of law with Chinese characteristics. As a nation trying hard to run the country according to law and to build a socialist style of rule of law, China seeks to advance together with other countries by attaching great importance to learning from their experience, strengthening communication and cooperation, and developing merits while avoiding weaknesses. In the meanwhile, with China’s actual conditions in mind, we are trying to make creative use of the achievements of other countries in the exercise of rule of law. China will continue to carry out legal and judicial reform, to improve its legal and judicial systems, to effectively develop democracy and rule of law and protect rights and freedom of its people. In recent years, China has never stopped conducting significant reforms of its Constitution and fundamental laws, as required by the development of its rule of law. The revised Constitution has established the principle of the respect and protection by the state of human rights and private property; the revised Criminal Law confirms the doctrine of a legally prescribed punishment for a specified crime and principle of suiting punishment to crime; the revised Criminal Procedure Law sets the principle of presumption of innocence while the Civil Procedure Law establishes the doctrine of the equality of litigants. We can say that China’s legislation is becoming more democratic and scientific with its quality increasingly improved, it is more in accordance with the country’s social development; the Chinese governments at all levels are conducting their functions of social management in a more transparent manner, they are paying greater attention to administration according to law and protecting their people’s rights more actively so that the country’s public consciousness of rule of law has been greatly enhanced; there is more democracy, human rights protection and transparency in the country’s judicature, which, as a result, has become more just and effective and has served the public better. In a word, the perfection of rule of law in China is the very process of continuous deepening of China’s reform and opening. A fairly good situation of rule of law not only ensures long time stability of China’s society, but also promotes fast and continuous growth of the country’s domestic economy and creates conditions for attracting foreign investments. China’s being one of the most attractive countries to foreign investment cannot be separated form its long time social stability and a sound legal environment. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Asian Law Institute Conference is an important convention of the Asian legal community. We earnestly hope to strengthen communications and to exchange ideas with other Asian countries to promote understanding among us, to promote development of rule of law and to achieve a harmonious coexistence of people from different nations, countries, with different cultures and religions as well as a harmonious advancement of different civilizations. I heartily hope that through exchanges and discussions of this annual meeting, our friends and colleagues from legal circles of different countries can achieve more understanding, enrich and develop the connotation of rule of law, promote worldwide peace and development and jointly build a harmonious world with long-lasting peace and co-prosperity. F inally, I wish the 3rd ASLI a complete success. I hope you will like this beautiful city, Shanghai. Thank you all.
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