The EU-China Jean Monnet Network for Legal and Judicial Cooperation (EUPLANT) studies the interactions between the legal and judicial systems of China and the European Union (EU) and promotes excellence in teaching and research on legal and judicial cooperation between the EU and China. Through a series of research, policy and awareness-raising activities, EUPLANT opens up new avenues to improve academic and political cooperation between the EU and China and creates a better understanding of each other`s legal systems. EUPLANT is generously supported by the Lifelong Learning Programme. DescriptionEU-China Legal and Judicial Cooperation (EUPLANT) is a Jean Monnet network that aims to study the interactions between the Chinese legal system and the legal system of the European Union (EU). Since the establishment of the EU-China Strategic Partnership in 2003, bilateral relations between the EU and China have increasingly expanded, covering a wide range of areas of economic, political and people-to-people cooperation. This Jean Monnet network focuses on an aspect of the relationship that remains very little studied, although it has undoubtedly become an important area of cooperation in the EU-China strategic partnership and has raised concerns about the rule of law. On the occasion of the 17th EU-China Summit, the EU and China decided that “it is necessary to deepen the understanding of their respective legal systems and agreed to establish an EU-China legal dialogue for political exchanges, mutual learning and cooperation in legal matters” (EU-China Summit 2015). EUPLANT aims to serve as a framework for academic support, providing both theoretical and policy information on the interactions between the Chinese and European legal and judicial systems in their broader geopolitical context. In particular, the network will assess the extent to which legal transplants and enhanced judicial cooperation can lead to greater regulatory convergence between the Chinese and European legal frameworks. In the context of what some see as a deterioration of the rule of law and increasing pressure on civil society and the legal profession in China, EUPLANT will assess both the risks and opportunities for wider judicial and judicial cooperation.
EUPLANT will organise a series of research, policy and awareness-raising activities that will open new avenues to improve academic and political cooperation between the EU and China and lead to a better understanding of each other`s legal systems. Over the next three years, EUPLANT will fulfil three research objectives. First, it aims to highlight the historical links between European legal systems and the Chinese legal system, highlighting the strong influence of European legal traditions on the development of the Chinese legal system. Secondly, EUPLANT aims to uncover the successes and failures of the internationalisation of EU norms, standards and procedures, as well as concrete cases of legal transplants in the interactions between the EU and China legal systems. Thirdly, it focuses on the challenges and prospects for judicial cooperation between EU Member States and China in criminal matters, which include mechanisms for mutual legal assistance, mutual recognition and extradition agreements, with a particular focus on the human rights risks associated with cooperation in this field. In the Joint Declaration “The way forward after forty years of EU-China cooperation”, adopted at the EU-China Summit held in Brussels on 29 June 2015, Premier Li Keqiang and Presidents Tusk and Juncker “agreed on the need to deepen the understanding of their respective legal systems: and agreed to establish a legal dialogue between the EU and China for political exchanges. mutual learning and cooperation in legal matters. In cooperation with the National Judicial College of the Supreme People`s Court. He focused on training Chinese judges in judicial ethics and litigation systems in European countries. Judges and professors from the Netherlands, Germany, France and the United Kingdom were invited to participate in the training courses. The project ran from 2002 to 2005. The two sides agreed that the second legal dialogue will take place in Brussels in 2017 on a mutually agreed issue and that the EU-China legal dialogue will then take place alternately in China and Brussels each year. It will consist of a high-level segment followed by workshops on topics related to the overall theme of the dialogue.
The legal dialogue will help to create specialised networks between the EU and China to ensure exchanges. Both sides welcome concrete cooperation projects between the EU and China and will seek to launch or develop such projects within the framework of the legal dialogue. The project was a collaboration with the Case Study Committee of the Chinese Law Society to offer a series of training courses on international human rights law to Chinese lawyers and to create a website on human rights and the rule of law for Chinese lawyers. The project lasted from July 2008 to August 2010. Approximately 180 lawyers participated in the training courses. In cooperation with the Chinese University of Politics and Law, the project ran from May 2005 to February 2009. The project aimed to address the growing deterioration of the situation in China with regard to disadvantaged groups in the labour market such as women, persons with disabilities, HIV/AIDS carriers and migrant workers. Project activities focused on draft laws on equal treatment and promoted judicial review of cases of unequal treatment. A number of books have been published in Chinese, as well as the English book Taking Employment Discrimination Serious: Chinese and European Perspectives, edited by Yuwen Li and Jenny Goldschmidt, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden, 2009, 306 p. 5 Legal dialogue is an important platform for EU-China cooperation and will contribute to further developing their partnership.
The EU and China have a common interest in better understanding each other`s legal systems, mainly due to their important role in trade in many other areas such as trade and investment, technology, agriculture, health and social affairs, urbanization, environmental protection, etc. The new legal exchange mechanism will further strengthen the EU-China partnership by providing a platform for exchanging experiences on the rule of law and enhancing mutual understanding. As a result, on 20 June 2016, the EU-China Legal Dialogue was jointly launched in Beijing by Minister Song Dahan, Minister of the Legislative Office of the State Council and Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Vĕra Jourová. After the opening ceremony, the first dialogue on e-commerce and consumer protection took place. Chinese and European officials, experts and academics had intense and fruitful exchanges and discussions on China`s developments in e-commerce, the initiatives envisaged in the EU`s Digital Single Market Strategy and China and the EU legal framework for consumer protection in e-commerce. The two sides agreed that the dialogue will be based on equality and mutual respect and will promote the exchange of experiences, mutually beneficial cooperation and friendly consultations in order to enhance mutual understanding and trust. In cooperation with the Supreme People`s Procuratorate of China (SPP), the project aimed to improve the knowledge and understanding of Chinese prosecutors on the importance of human rights protection in the judicial process and facilitate the establishment of an independent, fair, transparent and effective criminal justice system. This first two-year project began in 2001 and lasted from November 2004 to June 2008.
About 3,000 prosecutors participated in the trainings organized as part of this project. The project was carried out in cooperation with the China Central Institute of the Penitentiary Police (CICP, affiliated with the Ministry of Justice) and aimed to increase law enforcement officials` awareness and capacity to protect the human rights of offenders during their rehabilitation. The project ran from November 2004 to June 2008. The project trained more than 400 judicial officials working in Chinese prisons and published a handbook on protecting the human rights of offenders (translated and published in China), Making Standards Work and Imprisonment Today and Tomorrow. Coordinator: Queen Mary University Of London (United Kingdom)Partner:. The European Commission`s support for the preparation of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the content, which reflects only the views of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for the use that may be made of the information it contains.
