Location: WILF Hall, 5th Floor Conference Room Date: Tuesday, October 18th Time: 4:00pm – 5:30pm Next Tuesday, October 18th, USALI Visiting Scholar, Flora Sapio, will be giving a presentation entitled: “Deng Yujiao and Amanda Knox: Law in an age of populism.” After World War II  European and non-European societies alike have witnessed a fast growth [...]

Before his arrest, Ai Weiwei was tireless in condemning the arbitrary nature of China’s government. But his impact as an activist paled in comparison with how his April 3 disappearance into a secret Beijing police “safehouse” exposed the unfairness of the country’s criminal justice system. By detaining him on suspicion of vague “economic crimes,” China’s leaders made him an international cause celebre whose case clearly illustrated the helplessness of any individual when confronted by the untrammeled power of the state.

Interaction among courts, the media and public opinion is complex in every free country. The Internet magnifies the complexity. Even China, despite strict government controls, cannot escape it, as last summer’s famous Deng Yujiao case demonstrated.

Two major criminal cases in one week — one resulting in an execution, the other a lengthy prison sentence — have focused new foreign attention on China’s judiciary. They are vivid reminders of the limits that China’s Communist Party-dominated legal system imposes on the government’s efforts to impress the world by its “soft power”: its political, cultural and economic influence.

By Jerome A. Cohen and Eva Pils
Chen Guangcheng — This blind lay advocate’s only ambition had been to help the weakest and neediest among his fellow rural residents to protect themselves against extortion and cruelty.