Grievances And Litigation

The Appeals, as a critical legal term, had a strong influence in Qing dynasty.The Qing dynasty, deemed as the dynasty with the most perfect and mature legal system in ancient China, formed its unique procedures based on the achievements of the former dynasties. Among these procedures, the Appeals occupied an important place. From the local to the central level, the Appeals could be categorized into three forms, which were Local Appeals, Capital Appeals and Kouhun. In addition, Local Appeals could be subdivided into Fukong, Daokong, Sikong and Yuankong. According to the related provisions in the statutes of Qing dynasty, if the litigants or their relatives considered the first trial on the county level inappropriate, they may appeal to the governments of a higher level grade by grade. This enabled cases to be reheard and therefore offered an opportunity for the change of original sentences or the rectification of erroneous judgments.In litigations of any form of society, the fundamental interests of the ruling class are unlikely to be well safeguarded unless the judicial trials are fair and just. As a result, it is of necessity to establish relevant litigation procedure and institution. This essay, concentrating on China's inherent litigation procedure and practice, discusses the historical characteristics, generating causes, operating mechanisms and social functions of the Appeals in Qing dynasty, as well as its articulation and practice in detail. Confirming that the legal system in Qing dynasty had a great regard for the pursuit of substantive justice, the paper provides an objective analysis of the reasonable construction of its litigation procedure. In the meantime, much emphasis is placed on the study of such expression as“grievance”common in Chinese traditional justice. The essay also points out that legal means led by litigation had become the fundamental approach to address grievances in Qing society, and the Appeals had played a key role in it.First of all, the essay makes a horizontal comparison among a variety of methods of addressing grievances during the same period. Then, historical development of the Appeals is sought after. Concerned about how the grievances shall be addressed after its occurrence, the essay probes into different types of remedies respectively and makes a comparison. These remedies are: private remedy such as revenge and fight with weapons, consensual remedy such as judgment in the hell, ordeal, suicide and mediation, and public remedy. Through the analysis and comparison, we draw the conclusion that litigation was the fundamental way to address grievances among all the methods in Qing dynasty. It had the highest level of authority and standardization. What's more, the Appeals was the most effective one.Secondly, the thesis adopts the conception“actor”to specify the social subject located on each node in the litigation network of Qing dynasty. In Qing society, the dramatic increase in the amount of lawsuit and the enhancement of ordinary people's legal consciousness indicated a remarkable shift in the attitude towards litigation. In this vast litigation network built in Qing society, all the actors interacted with each other in pursuit of their own interest, including the emperor, officials, clerks and runners, legal advisors, litigants and ordinary people. This interaction consequently led to the establishment of the Appeals.Thirdly, the discussion of relevant legislation on the Appeals and its implementation in Qing dynasty mainly focuses on the elaboration of how the Appeals case shall be filed, accepted, adjudicated and decided. And this also serves as bases for an objective analysis of the construction of Appeals. With respect to Appeals cases, the judicial organs may hear them in person, or assign someone to hear them, or transfer them to the authorities at a lower level. Capital Appeals and Kouhun as two special procedures were important components of the Appeals in Qing dynasty. Both two were acts of appeal brought by ordinary people against the miscarriage of justice existing in trials conducted by local officials. Nonetheless, these acts gradually evolved into two different forms of litigation due to their discrepancy in the venue where to file an appeal or the subject before whom an appeal could be brought.Last but not the least, the essay takes the position that the Appeals served as a safety valve in Qing society. It had played a major part in the maintenance of feudal ruling order, attributed to its positive functions. To be more specific, the Appeals supplied a relief channel for the grievances to be redressed; it enabled erroneous judgments rendered in the original trials to be rectified; it imposed a strong supervision over the officials to prevent their illegal activities; at the same time, it had a positive effect on the prevention of miscarriage of justice as to cases not on appeal and disputes likely to arise. These positive effects were more evident when the government was relatively incorruptible and clean. Nevertheless, the establishment of the Appeals was subject to such limitations as lack of Res Judicata, the quagmire of“the bureaucrats protecting bureaucrats”, an upsurge in vexatious suits and false charges, and enormous increases of judicial cost.The Appeals was the most significant judicial remedy to address grievances in Qing dynasty, and an integral part of the internal supervisory system of Qing's judiciary. Its implementation had played an essential role in the stabilization of social order and the moderation of social contradictions. However, in Qing society, deficient in the competition of pluralistic power, consolidation of feudal rule was undoubtedly the prime objective of the establishment of the Appeals. Yet, resulting from the adoption of the centralized system with a high level of autocratic, there's a large amount of institutional malaise unable to be eliminated in Qing society, which undermined the effectiveness of the Appeals in judicial practice to some extent.