Deborah Cao

“Ought to” as a Chinese Legal Performative?

The article discusses the legal performatives as used in Chinese legislative language consisting of bixu (shall), yingdang (should or ought to), keyi (may) and bude (shall not) with the illocutionary force of imposing obligations, conferring rights and permission, and prohibition (bude). It postulates that the use of bixu and yingdang is traceable to the influence of the ancient Chinese cultural and legal philosophy of li and fa. It argues that Chinese language is a carrier of messages with built-in Chinese cultural codes and to be able to understand Chinese law, the wider cultural and linguistic contexts must be considered. It also proposes that speech act theory needs to address the interlingual and intercultural variables in the construction of meaning.

Judicial Interpretation of Bilingual and Multilingual Laws: A European and Hong Kong Comparison

In today’s globalized world, there has been an increase in the use of two or more languages in law and judicial process as in the case of Hong Kong and the European Union and the Court of Justice of the European Union. In such bilingual/multilingual jurisdictions, one basic legal principle of interpretation is that the law in different official languages is equally authentic and is deemed the same, the ‘equal authenticity rule’. Such a principle governs and guides both the legislative drafting process and the judicial interpretation of laws. This chapter describes the legislative drafting process of bilingual and multilingual laws and discusses judicial interpretation of such laws. It outlines the basic legal rule of equal authenticity followed by an examination of the situations in Hong Kong and the EU. It also discusses how the courts approach linguistic disagreements found or allegedly found in bilingual and multilingual laws. Some of the interpretive rules adopted by the courts in the search for meaning and certainty are also highlighted.

On the universality of "rights": Absence and presence of "rights" in the Chinese language

Abstract This paper wishes to challenge the proposition that the word “rights” is a universal and innate concept in human societies. It provides an analysis of the absence and presence of the word “rights” in the Chinese language and culture in traditional and contemporary China. It presents a linguistic and cultural explanation for the fact that classical Chinese language and culture did not have an equivalent word or concept for the English word “rights.” After the word and concept of “rights” were introduced to China from the West in the second half of the nineteenth century, the new word quanli (rights) has since taken on Chinese shades of meaning, not entirely the same as its English counterpart. The paper proposes that the claim of the universal and innate nature of the word “rights” is not tenable.

Teaching and learning legal translation

Abstract Legal translation has been in great demand in the last decade around the world owing to globalization and increased contact and exchange between peoples and states. Naturally, there has been an increased need for legal translators for various purposes, but there has been little research on legal translator training. It is a fact that translating law between any languages is not a straightforward affair. It is commonly acknowledged that legal translation is complex, and it requires special skills, knowledge, and experience on the part of the translator to produce such translation. This essay focuses on legal translation education and the key aspects of the teaching and learning of legal translation. It discusses and defines the key aspects in legal translator training, mapping out the parameters of this new field of translation practice and research. The essay highlights the development of legal translator competence as the core objective of such training programs by identifying and describing the skill base of the legal translator and legal translation competence and proficiency. The author hopes that the discussion will draw more attention to this emerging area of curriculum development and educational research in translation studies.

Fazhi vs/and/or Rule of Law?: A Semiotic Venture into Chinese Law

The paper is an investigation offazhi (rule of law) in China. The studyproposes a tentative semiotic framework for theinterpretation of the rule of law as a legalconcept to be applied to China in the light ofits recent incorporation into the ChineseConstitution. The paper argues that legalconcepts such as the rule of law are triadic innature and their constituents are relative,relational and contextual in the semioticinterpretative process. The study examines howthe concept can be explicated with the thin orformal theory of the rule of law as a frame ofreference, and how the semiotic model maycontribute to the understanding of the Chineserule of law or the lack thereof. This approachalso attempts to account for the gap betweenthe legal ideal and reality in China andcanvasses cross-cultural considerations. In thefirst part of the paper, a semiotic frameworkfor legal concepts is postulated forconstructing the meaning of the rule of law,followed by its application to contemporaryChina.

Wildlife Crimes and Legal Protection of Wildlife in China

The chapter focuses on crimes against wildlife as illustrated by ivory trade in China and its wildlife law in an attempt to identify some of the problems in the current legal protection regime for wildlife. It argues that wildlife crime is a serious crime, and transnational wildlife crime is a growing menace to the animal and human world and requires international actions. Despite the legal framework and laws at the international and domestic levels in many countries including China, African elephants, rhinos and other endangered wildlife are facing extinction due to the growing demand and trade for such animal products in Asia and the ineffective protection system. A fundamental change of attitude and conception in wildlife protection is required, that is, wildlife and animals in general need to be protected irrespective of their species and wildlife must not be seen as resources for human exploitation as illustrated by China’s ivory case. A more practical and immediate urgent measure is a comprehensive ban of all trade of ivory products in China and elsewhere. Wildlife are victims of human crimes and deserve our protection, and the definition of crimes against wildlife needs to be expanded to include harms done to them either legally or illegally in order to safeguard and enhance animal rights and interests in our increasingly globalized world.

Introduction: Animal Protection in an Interconnected World

In our increasingly interconnected and wired world, some of the biggest global stars have been nonhuman animals. On blogs, on Facebook and all around the Internet, claws and clicks go hand in hand or paw in paw, with the furry claiming cyberspace. In 2014, one of the most emailed stories on The New York Times’s website was about the biology of cats. According to media reports, there has been a sharp rise in the proportion of American dog and cat owners with provisions in their wills for their pets, with nearly one in every ten now making such arrangements. One of the most fervently embraced documentaries of 2013 was Blackfish, shown over and over on CNN. And these are not just “feel good” stories about cute and cuddly animals. They are about animal suffering, animal science, animal intelligence and cognition, animal behaviour and social life, animal welfare and law, and above all, animal dignity, rights and justice. For instance, in a New York Times’s op-ed piece, the commentator writes about “according animals dignity”. These topics are not academic jargon but increasingly entering the popular cyber parlance. In the meantime, apart from stories and images of animals going viral in traditional and social media around the world, significant legal battles are being fought on behalf of animals, for instance, in the International Court of Justice in the Hague and in the courtrooms of New York. At the end of 2013, a team of lawyers was filing writs of habeas corpus in New York on behalf of four captive chimpanzees as part of the Nonhuman Rights Project. At the other end of the world, in Australia, a group of animal lawyers, scientists and scholars was gathering to discuss animal law and animal welfare, the result of which is this edited book.

Crimes against animality: animal cruelty and criminal justice in a globalized world

As has been rightly suggested, our treatment of non-human animals is a major unresolved problem of social justice in the world today (Nussbaum 2006).1 Laws now exist in many countries in the world for the protection of animals against acts of cruelty with criminal sanctions. There is an emerging legal order regulating animal related matters in international and regional laws. Nevertheless, animal abuse seems to be on the increase and more widespread. As pointed out, In a strange way, mankind does seem to be growing more sentimental about animals and also more ruthless. No age has ever been more solicitous to animals, more curious and caring. Yet no age has ever inflicted upon animals such massive punishments with such complete disregard.As has been rightly suggested, our treatment of non-human animals is a major unresolved problem of social justice in the world today (Nussbaum 2006).1 Laws now exist in many countries in the world for the protection of animals against acts of cruelty with criminal sanctions. There is an emerging legal order regulating animal related matters in international and regional laws. Nevertheless, animal abuse seems to be on the increase and more widespread. As pointed out, In a strange way, mankind does seem to be growing more sentimental about animals and also more ruthless. No age has ever been more solicitous to animals, more curious and caring. Yet no age has ever inflicted upon animals such massive punishments with such complete disregard.