The emergence of guiding cases in China

Abstract

Chinese legal reform is dotted with episodes of progress and stagnation. While significant steps have been taken to professionalize, specialize, and autotomize the judicial apparatus, populist forces have also informed the trajectory of reform. Guiding cases have ignited tremendous scholarly discourses about the importance of the tool, and how it can help ameliorate the legal system. Some scholars “cite their potential to fill statutory lacunae, unify legal standards, improve judicial efficiency, and limit judicial discretion.” Others argue that the Chinese political and legal system are ill-prepared (or incompatible) to adopt the guiding cases paradigm. This article investigates the development of guiding cases and attempts to shed light on their function and potential impact on the political and legal landscapes. We maintain that the current role of guiding cases in the overall system is still ambiguous and that the rise of guiding cases has had marked progress, but its development in the political and legal milieus remain to be discerned.