The Long Arm of Qing Law? Qing Dynasty Homicide Rulings in Republican Courts

Abstract

The legal reform initiated during the Republican period brought sweeping changes to Chinese criminal law. Among those changes were increased discretionary powers afforded to judges when determining sentences. An examination of homicide cases in the Republican courts shows that when new Republican-era laws contradicted notions of justice carried over from late imperial society, jurists were able to use these newly expanded powers at sentencing to re-create Qing rulings and thereby bring Republican-era criminal justice closer to the judicial norms of the late imperial period.