ANTAGONISTIC CONTRADICTIONS - CRIMINAL-LAW AND HUMAN-RIGHTS IN CHINA

The institutions of criminal law and their relation to human rights in the People's Republic of China are worth studying for a number of rea sons. First, it is in the realm of criminal law and human rights disco urse that much of the Chinese conception of law itself is worked out. Secondly, criminal law in China, like criminal law anywhere, carries w ith it a theory of social order and disorder that is worth looking at for its own sake. One of the challenges facing Chinese criminal law to day is that of rejustifying itself in the face of the enormous social changes that have taken place since the beginning of economic reform a nd China's opening to the outside world in the late 1970s. Thirdly, as long as human rights remain a matter of international concern, one ca nnot ignore the institutions of punishment that govern one-fifth of th e world's population. This article gives an overview of issues of crim inal law and human rights as they affect Chinese society today.