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How Confucianism Asserts Itself in Modern ADR Development in East Asia: A Revisit

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Legal Thoughts between the East and the West in the Multilevel Legal Order

Part of the book series: Economics, Law, and Institutions in Asia Pacific ((ELIAP))

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Abstract

Arbitration, as well as mediation, is one of the conventional yet modern means for resolving civil and commercial disputes in Asia, where Confucianism has held sway for thousands of years. Confucianism has exerted a pervasive influence over the Chinese traditions of informal settlement of private disputes by establishing norms of conduct through Guanxi (關係 relationships or personal connections) and social hierarchies. Zhongcai (仲裁) has been adopted as arbitration’s modern name in Chinese, and the more conventional term is Gongduan (剬斷). Gongduan (剬斷) and arbitration are alike mostly because they are both means to resolve civil disputes, while fundamental distinctions still exist such as the requirement of consent of the parties and the scope of the subject matter to be resolved. Although the Western idea of international arbitration has taken root in Chinese societies, modern arbitration is still influenced by the tradition, making arbitrators act as mediators and Guanxi (關係) important in appointment of arbitrators.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See, e.g., Lin (1994), pp. 209–214; Ocko (1990), pp. 212–230; Allee (1994), pp. 138–141, showing the preference for out-of-court settlement of Qing judges in 222 civil litigation case files in the Taiwan Dan-Xin archives.

  2. 2.

    Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York, 1958) (the “New York Convention”) provided by The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL ), http://www.uncitral.org/pdf/chinese/texts/arbitration/NY-conv/1958_NYC_CTC-c.pdf. Accessed 7 April 2016.

  3. 3.

    See Li et al. (2008), TAI 4–5.

  4. 4.

    See Ch’ü (1994), pp. 414–415.

  5. 5.

    See, e.g., Ma (1999), pp. 20–42; Scogin (1997), pp. 27–28; Stafford (2000), pp. 37–44.

  6. 6.

    See Chan (1963), pp. 69–70, 105, 277; de Bary (1998), pp. 17–22.

  7. 7.

    See de Bary (1998), pp. 18.

  8. 8.

    See, e.g., Zelin (1994), pp. 251–252.

  9. 9.

    See Ch’ü (1994), pp. 15.

  10. 10.

    See id. at pp. 22–23.

  11. 11.

    The Chinese character Di (敵enemy or rivalry) is frequently used to compose terms or phrases that denote equal status, such as 敵體, 勢均力敵, 匹敵.

  12. 12.

    See Li (2005), pp. 45, 57–74.

  13. 13.

    See Ch’ü (1994), pp. 22.

  14. 14.

    See id. at pp. 22–24.

  15. 15.

    See, e.g., Furth (1990), pp. 187–207.

  16. 16.

    See Ch’ü (1994), p. 23. For settlement of disputes by private sanctions, see, e.g., Tien and Lee (2007), pp. 181–186.

  17. 17.

    In this paper, mediation and conciliation are used interchangeably, while they may not in other contexts. For discussion of their differences, see Redfern and Hunter (1991), pp. 26–27.

  18. 18.

    See id. at p. 27.

  19. 19.

    Under CIETAC Arbitration Rules, Hong Kong’s Arbitration Ordinance and the Mediation Rules of Chinese Arbitration Association, Taipei, someone who has acted as a mediator may then act as an arbitrator in the same dispute (Section 47 of CIETAC Arbitration Rules, Section 32(3)(a) of Hong Kong’s Arbitration Ordinance and Article 27 of the Mediation Rules of Chinese Arbitration Association, Taipei).

  20. 20.

    In 2014, the Singapore International Mediation Institute (“SIMI”) and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC ”) jointly launched an arbitration-mediation-arbitration (“Arb-Med-Arb ”) protocol (“AMA Protocol”). A party may commence arbitration under the auspices of the SIAC and then proceed to mediation under the SIMI (http://www.siac.org.sg/model-clauses/the-singapore-arb-med-arb-clause; last visit on April 3, 2016).

  21. 21.

    See generally Wang (2001); a recent dissent, Yang (2008).

  22. 22.

    See Cohen (1970), pp. 296–297.

  23. 23.

    See Gao Haiyan and Anor. v. Keeneye Holdings Ltd and Anor. [2012] 1 HKC 335. For discussion, see, e.g., Gu and Zhang (2012).

  24. 24.

    See Spence (1978), pp. 133–139, that has made this point vividly.

  25. 25.

    Arts. 18 and 19 of Shang Shi Gong Duan Chu Zhang Cheng (商事剬斷處章程).

  26. 26.

    Art. 18 of Shang Shi Gong Duan Chu Zhang Cheng (商事剬斷處章程).

  27. 27.

    Art. 2 of Min Shi Gong Duan Zhan Xing Tiao Li (民事剬斷暫行條例).

  28. 28.

    Omission of this distinction led to judicial denial of recognition and enforcement of foreign-made arbitral awards , with some awards made in the USA as exceptions. See, e.g., Ming-Shi-Pain-Jyue, (70) Su-Tze-2359, Taipei District Court (May 31, 1981), Ming-Shi-Tsai-Ding, (62) Chung-tze-3, Taipei District Court (September 1973); Hsu (1969), p. 53.

  29. 29.

    See Moser (2008), TAI 7.

  30. 30.

    See id.

  31. 31.

    See Moser (2007), pp. 63–76.

  32. 32.

    See Ch’ü (1994), p. 22.

  33. 33.

    See supra note 3.

  34. 34.

    See Huang (1994), pp. 173–174.

  35. 35.

    See id. at pp. 171–172.

  36. 36.

    See generally Wang (2001).

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  1. Lee and Li, Attorneys-at-Law, 7F, 201 Tun Hua N. Road, Taipei, 10508, Taiwan

    Nigel N. T. Li & Angela Y. Lin

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  1. Constitutional Court, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chang-fa Lo

  2. Lee and Li, Attorneys at Law, Taipei, Taiwan

    Nigel N.T. Li

  3. College of Law, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Tsai-yu Lin

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Li, N.N.T., Lin, A.Y. (2016). How Confucianism Asserts Itself in Modern ADR Development in East Asia: A Revisit. In: Lo, Cf., Li, N., Lin, Ty. (eds) Legal Thoughts between the East and the West in the Multilevel Legal Order. Economics, Law, and Institutions in Asia Pacific. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1995-1_29

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