Review On Yang Zhaolong’s Judicial Thoughts

Yang Zhaolong, one outstanding member of the jurists during the period of Republicof China, had been studying in Yanjing University, Soochow University, HarvardUniversity and Berlin University to receive fine education of the Chinese traditionalculture and modern legal education, and to be specialized in essence of the commonlaw and the civil law. Yang Zhaolong had been as a university professor, a lawyer, ajudge, a sheriff, a prosecutor, etc., and always kept his independent personality as anintellectual because of his upright justice and integrity. He was specialized in legaltheory and had rich legal practice experience from China to foreign countries. Hestudied sociological jurisprudence following Roscoe Pound. Yang Zhaolong workedwith Pound to help him reform Chinese legal system after the Second War whenPound was appointed as the consultant of the Republic of China government. YangZhaolong was deeply influenced by sociological jurisprudence, and he put forwardsome constructive proposals to reform and improve many detailed judicial issues suchas circuit judgment, jury system, civil litigation system for small subject matter, threelevels trial system, imprisonment system reform, reserve or abolish of procuratorialsystem, education of judicial talents etc. on the basic conditions of China at thatmoment. Yang Zhaolong had made great historical contributions and protectedpeople’s rights.Subject to the social conditions and era background, there were some certainhistorical limitations of his judicial thoughts. However, we shall still pay great attention to his methodology on judicial construction and reform and his attitude onacademic research today, and we can also acquire much inspiration from his thoughtsregarding circuit judgment, civil litigation system for small subject matter andeducation of judicial talents for the current judicial reform in China. China is now ina new period of social change and transformation with new emerging problems andnew sharp contradictions. As judicial reform is one significant part of constructionof rule of law in China, we shall take some reasonable references from his thoughts tofurther deepen and improve judicial reform in order to promote the constructionprocess of rule of law in China.This thesis comprise of five parts. In Chapter One, we make a introduction of YangZhaolong. In Chapter Two, we discuss sources of Yang Zhaolong’s judicialthoughts, including effects of Roscoe Pound’s sociological jurisprudence thoughts tothe Chinese modern legal system and Yang Zhaolong. In Chapter Three, wesummarize Yang Zhaolong’s judicial thoughts, including litigation procedure reform,imprisonment system reform, reserve or abolish of procuratorial system and educationof judicial talents. In Chapter Four, we make a judgment of Yang Zhaolong’sjudicial thoughts from two perspectives of historical contribution and historicallimitations. In Chapter Five, we review the function of Yang Zhaolong’s judicialthoughts to reality, including judicial reform based on the conditions of China, viewof comparative laws and inspirations for the current judicial reform.