The Chinese Communist Party and "Judicial Independence": 1949-1959

Westerners frequently assume that the Communist Chinese judiciary has always been completely subservient to the political organs of government and to the wishes of the Communist Party. However, the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, adopted in 1954, provides that "[p]eople's courts shall conduct adjudication independently and shall be subject only to the law." Professor Cohen examines the circumstances surrounding the adoption of this essentially bourgeois ideal, and he traces its gradual abandonment over the next five years. He concludes with observations on the relevance of judicial independence as a goal for countries undergoing radical modernization.