Institute of Law

 

 

The Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a national-level institution for the research of law. It is located to the northeast of the Forbidden City and to the east of Jinshan Park. Its main build is a part of the formal site of Peking University - the birth place of the May 4th New Culture Movement in 1919. The first director of the Institute was Professor Zhang Youyu, the successive former directors were Professor Wang Zhongfang, Professor Sun Yaming, Professor Wang Shuwen, Professor Wang Jiafu, Professor Liu Hainian, Professor Xia Yong, and Professor Li Lin. Currently Professor Chen Su is the director of the Institute, Professor Chen Guoping is the Secretary of the Joint Party Committee of CASS Institute of Law and CASS Institute of International Law, and Professor Zhou Hanhua is the deputy director of the Institute.

  

The main missions of the Law Institute are: first, to engage in professional legal academic research; second, to participate in the relevant policy studies of the Party and state; third, to provide advanced legal education, to offer LLM, JM, Ph.D., and post-doctoral programs, and to accept Chinese and foreign scholars and experts for advanced study and research at the Institute; and fourth, to promote international academic exchange and cooperation in the field of law. The three main roles played by the Institute are: a stronghold of Marxist law science and theory of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics; the highest academic institution in China for the research of basic legal theories and major practical issues of the rule of law; and a high-end think tank of the Party and the state in the field of democracy, the rule of law and human rights.

Professor Chen Su, Director of the Institute

 

The Institute was established under the proposal and personal care of Mr. Dong Biwu, a predecessor of proletarian revolution in China. The preparatory work for the establishment of the Institute was initiated in 1956. The Institute was formally established in 1958 under the Division of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. It became part of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 1978. The first director of the Institute was Zhang Youyu, a prominent jurist, political scientist, and scholar of journalism (He was the Deputy Director of the Division of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences at that time). Currently the Institute consists of 13 research departments, 11 non-entity research centers, two editorial offices (the Editorial Office of Chinese Journal of Law and the Editorial Office of Global Law Review); one library (CASS Law Library), one first-level discipline of law science approved by the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council with ten second-level discipline doctoral programs; eleven LLM programs, and one JM program under it, and two national-level law journals. By December 2017, the Institute had a total of 105 staff members, among them, three CASS members, six honorary CASS members, 31 research fellows, 30 associate research fellows, 28 supervisors of doctoral candidates, and 47 supervisors of graduate students.

Professor Chen Guoping, Deputy Director of the Institute and Secretary of the Joint Party Committee of the Institute of Law and Institute of International Law

Professor Zhou Hanhua, Deputy Director of the Institute

 

 

The Law Institute not only has many world-famous scholars who have published a large number of top-quality academic works, but also plays an important role in the political and social life of the country. Since 1995, five senior researchers of the Institute have been keynote speakers at the Lectures on the Legal System given to members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in Zhongnanhai; four have been keynote speakers at the collective studies of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee; one has been the keynote speaker at a collective study session of Standing Committee of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The Institute has been awarded the title of "National-Level Advanced Unit in the Dissemination of Legal Knowledge"; many experts of the Institute have been awarded the title of "National-Level Advanced Individual in the Dissemination of Legal Knowledge"; and six scholars of the Institute have been awarded the title of "Ten Outstanding Young Jurists in China". Scholars and experts from the Institute have also been entrusted or invited by the relevant state organs to participate in legislative and judicial work and in international human rights dialogues and exchanges with foreign countries. During the past years, the Law Institute has been developing good relationship of exchange and cooperation with academic institutions, international organizations and scholars in many different countries and made friends all around the world.

Professor Li Honglei, Deputy Director of the Institute

 

 

Contact Information: 

Address: 15 Shatan Beijie, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China 

Postal Code: 100720 

Telephone/fax: 010-64014045