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October 12, 2007

Judicial Independence -- When Local Authorities Pay the Judiciary Scant Attention

Get a judgment somewhere in China. Then try to collect. There is little value in a judgment when the authorities flout its enforcement. Read this Washington Post article. The local government, against whom the judgment was entered, won't pay and can't be forced to.

Yuci township, the subject of the story, is not a rogue element (although it may be run by rogues); in fact, it displays typical administrative behavior. It might possibly disgorge its illegal gain if a superior authority compels it to -- a strategy used by a number of American bankers collecting on bad loans in China ("The governor of the province is a personal friend of mine, and if you don't give me my $23.6 million today I will be having lunch with him tomorrow). But then, the judiciary is once again circumvented by the power structure which would -- or would pretend? -- to espouse judicial independence in the first place

Posted by Richard on October 12, 2007 12:06 PM

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