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Controlling the Law: Legal Pluralism in China's South-West Minority Regions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2018

Katherine P. Kaup
Katherine P. Kaup*
Affiliation:
Furman University, South Carolina, USA. Email address: Kate.kaup@furman.edu.
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Abstract

Millions of China's ethnic minority citizens remain subject to competing legal standards, even as state officials strive to strengthen a unified notion of state law. Minority customary law continues to bind many minority citizens in both civil and criminal arenas and often conflicts directly with state law. What happens when these laws conflict? Based on fieldwork in Yunnan, this article shows how local officials and communities navigate legal pluralism and what legal and policy provisions guide them. Granting local judges discretionary authority to set aside state law in favour of customary law, although seemingly undermining law enforcement, may in the long run be the best path to strengthening rule of law in China's minority regions.

摘要

近年来，虽然中国政府致力于树立统一法制观念，但众多少数民族群众仍受限于多重法律标准。在刑事和民事领域，少数民族习惯法对少数民族具有法定约束力，且不少条例直接和国家规定的法律法规相互冲突。通过实地考察云南地区的相关情况，本文解答了少数民族习惯法和国家法相互冲突时产生的一系列问题，介绍了当地政府官员和社会群体是如何对待法律多元主义，以及改善这一现状的政治条例和法律方针。从长期角度考虑，笔者认为虽然赋予地方法官更多的自由裁决权，允许其采用习惯法而非国家法可能削弱法律执行力，但从长远看来却是加强少数民族地区法治稳定的最佳方案。

Keywords

rule of lawethnic minoritiescustomary lawlegal pluralismsouth-west ChinaYunnanlaw and society法治少数民族习惯法法律多元主义中国西南地区法与社会
Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 236 , December 2018 , pp. 1154 - 1174
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS University of London 2018 

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