Xie Hongfei: Exploring the Chinese Elements of Sociology of Law

  1010

Recently, Professor Xie Hongfei, a research fellow of CASS Law Institute, was interviewed by the journal Chinese Social Sciences Today about the development of sociology of law in China. In the interview, Professor Xie pointed out that law is under the dual influence of humanity and nature, and contains such elements of national characters, social life and cultural ideas. The most important function of sociology of law is to study the actual operation of law. Therefore, one of the important tasks faced by Chinese scholars of sociology of law is to find out legal rules compatible with the national conditions in China. Sociology of law can summarize the application of law in practice and provide basis for legislation. With the transition of Chinese society and deepening of reform in China, Sociology of law should undertake more function of producing specialized knowledge. It should be able to explain the social, economic, political, and cultural backgrounds of law and any changes in these backgrounds, reveal the constraining factors and path dependence of the current laws, help making laws and judgments compatible to social needs and cultural concepts, and provide theoretical support to legal reforms. Recently the Chinese Communist Party has put forward the strategy of ruling the country in accordance with law, thereby providing an unprecedented opportunity for the development of sociology of law in China. Chinese scholars of sociology of law should base themselves on practice, continuously explore the particularities of Chinese society, expand their areas of research, improve their research method, summarize and refine the Chinese experience, and construct and development a theoretical system of sociology of law with Chinese characteristics. Currently the most important task facing Chinese scholars of sociology of law is to explore Chinese issues and Chinese elements in this field.