Seth Gurgel is China Director for PILnet, the Global Network for Public Interest Law, and responsible for managing PILnet’s programs in China. A graduate of New York University Law School, Seth was both a Root-Tilden-Kern Scholar and an Institute for International Law and Justice Fellow. His subsequent work in China has centered on Chinese rule of law development and Chinese jurisprudence, with a specific emphasis on rule of law development in the labor law and criminal justice contexts. He also has a Master’s of Education from the University of Notre Dame, and considerable experience in both Chinese and American community organizing and education. He served as an AmeriCorps volunteer in Jacksonville, Florida, for two years and also as an instructor, organizer and translator for various legal education initiatives in China, both at Chinese law schools and in the Anhui countryside.
Rule of Law in China: A Socialist Legal System with Confucian Characteristics
Like many other aspects of its society and economy, China’s current legal system represents a rich tapestry (or tangled web) of institutions and concepts, claiming complex origins both in China’s own cultural past and its more ecumenical present, defying curt generalization and standard nomenclature. Recently, calls for law and policy with a Confucian bent have begun to appear alongside more “traditional” rule of law debates. What are possible ways to interpret this new development, and what does this portend for the future of China’s legal system?
The event was held together with the Hopkins China Forum, an alumni-affiliate of the Johns Hopkins University, SAIS Policy School.
