Access to Justice for the Chinese Consumer
Subtitle: Handling Consumer Disputes in Contemporary China
By: Ling Zhou
Edition: 1st ed.
Series: Civil Justice Systems
Publisher: Hart/Beck
Published: 2020
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 176
ISBN-13: 9781509931088
Subjects: Arbitration, mediation & alternative dispute resolution; Consumer protection law; Comparative law; Dispute resolution (Law)
Description: This book offers a socio-legal exploration of localised consumer complaint processing and dispute resolution in the People's Republic of China - now the second largest consumer market in the world - and the experiences of both ordinary and 'professional' consumers.  Drawing on detailed analysis of an impressive body of empirical data, this book highlights local Chinese understandings and practice styles of 'mediation', and identifies in popular consciousness a continuing sense of reliance on the government for securing consumer rights in China. These are not only important features of consumer dispute processing in themselves, but also help to to explain why no ombudsman system has emerged.  This innovative book looks at the nature of China's distinctive dispute resolution and complaints system, issues within that system, and the experiences of consumers within it. The book illustrates the access to justice processes locally available to aggrieved consumers and provides a unique contribution to comparative consumer law studies in Asia and elsewhere.
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Table of contents: title: 1. Introduction I. Introduction  II. The Market, State and Consumer Law  III. Consumers and Access to Justice  IV. Fieldwork and Research Methods  V. Structure of the Book  2. Consumer Protection in China  I. Introduction  II. The Chinese Context  III. The Consumer as Citizen in China  IV. A Brief Introduction to the Field  V. Conclusions  3. Extra-Judicial Processes for Handling Consumer Disputes  I. Introduction  II. Consumer Bodies and the Complaint System in Shenzhen  III. Dispute Processes in the SZCC  IV. Conclusions  4. Consuming the Consumer Council: Complainants' Experience  I. Introduction  II. Case Study of On-site Mediation  III. Different Types of Complainant  IV. Problems Faced by Consumers in the Complaint Process  V. Conclusions  5. The 'Professional' in Consumer Disputes  I. Introduction  II. The 'Professionals' in Consumer Dispute Processes  III. Mixed Motives  IV. Official Attitudes  V. Conclusion: Professional Legal Culture and the Consumer Citizen  6. Consuming Litigation: Going to Court  I. Introduction  II. The People's Courts in China  III. Consumer Disputes in the Shenzhen Court IV. The Professionals and the Court  V. Conclusions  7. Going 'Public': New Approaches in Resolving Consumer Disputes  I. Introduction  II. Consumer Redress and the Media  III. Web-Based Consumer Complaint Platform  IV. Access to Knowledge: Disclosure of Government Information  V. The Emerging Public Interest Litigation in Consumer Disputes  VI. Conclusions  8. Conclusions  I. Dispute Resolution in China  II. Consumers' Access to Justice  III. Delegalisation and Justice  IV. Consumers' Access to Justice in China: Final Reflections