China’s Communist Party weighs boosting rule of law

USA TODAY: …China’s notion of rule of law differs from that in the West. The meeting comes as China’s rulers seek a legal basis for government action and to enhance regime legitimacy, without permitting challenges to its authority. Yet there is also pressure to improve the court system because citizens, including Xie, sense they have no real recourse in a growing range of conflicts…

Announcements expected Thursday at the end of the closed-door session that began Monday should reveal how much legal reform is acceptable to the party leadership under President Xi Jinping. Sensitive issues include moves toward judicial independence and the constitution’s civil and political rights that citizens are frequently denied…

Foreign companies watch for signs that the party will curb the influence of local officials on court cases. “Foreign investors have an apparent lack of trust in the Chinese judicial system,” Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, told the Global Times newspaper… (more)

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