The Function of Mediation in China: Examining the Impact of Regulations Governing the People's Mediation Committees

Abstract

THE FUNCTION OF MEDIATION IN CHINA: EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE PEOPLE'S MEDIATION COMMITTEES Eric J. Glassmant Ye Chengmei ... was beaten by her husband Pan Chenggong over a trifling matter. Ye's brother brought 14 young men with wooden sticks and spades to teach his brother-in-law a lesson. Hearing the news, Pan Chenggong organized more than 20 young men to fight back. At this critical moment, 59-year-old Ye Bingyan, a mediator, appeared and persuaded them to stop the fight and sit down to talk. Under the persuasion and educa- tion on related legal regulations by the mediator, Pan admitted his wrongdoings and went to the home of his wife's parents to make an apology.' Ye Bingyan is one of the more than six million civil dispute mediators in the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.). 2 A member of his village's People's Mediation Committee, Ye is credited by China's official press with having resolved 154 civil disputes over the last seven years. 3 His accomplishments include the prevention of fifteen gang fights, fourteen homicides or suicides, and five divorces. With more than 950,000 committees spread throughout the na- tion, China's civil mediation system is the largest dispute resolu- tion program in the world. Over seven million disputes are resolved through the use of mediation each year in China, 6 far surpassing the t M.Ed., University of California, Los Angeles; J.D., Georgetown University (1992). I thank James Feinerman for his support and insights. 1. Mediators Help Ensure Social Stability, Xinhua News Agency, Oct. 31, 1989, available in LEXIS, Nexis Library, Xinhua File. 2. Ren Jianxin, Mediation, Conciliation, Arbitration and Litigation in the People's Republic of China, 15 INT'L Bus. LAW. 395, 395 (1987). 3. Mediators Help Ensure Social Stability, supra note 1. 4. Id. 5. Ren, supra note 2, at 395. The cited statistics are available only in the official Chinese press. Due to their uncertain reliability, these figures are best viewed as general guideposts rather than as definitive indicators. 6. Id.