The reform of the legal system in the late Qing

Abstract

ABSTRACT Facing the invasion of foreign powers and the existence of consular jurisdiction, the Qing government started the legal system reform in the New Policy Reform in the 1900s. Headed by Shen Jiaben, the legal reformers followed the practice of European Continental Law and the Japanese legal system. They revised the traditional Chinese laws to achieve a legal system of lighter punishment, less cruelty and more equality. They also drafted new laws that did not exist before, such as criminal law, civil law, commercial law and procedural law. This reform broke the traditional Chinese system of legal codes in which all kinds of laws were included. The traditional Chinese legal system thus was quickly replaced by a modern legal system that composed of constitution, civil law, criminal law, civil procedure law, criminal procedure law, and administrative law. The legal reform in the late Qing, though profound and influential, reflected the characteristics of a transitional system in which the old and new coexisted and the Chinese and Western legal systems were combined.