On The Difficulties And Solutions Of Legal Belief Research

Legal Belief is a concept which stands on the practice of rule-of-law in China. The thesis on Legal Belief is also focused on the same situation as its concept. The realities of legal practice are continuously conducted in a “from top to bottom” structure in China. Both official discourse and academic circle have paid attention on Legal Belief in that structure. The very initial study on Legal Belief in China was enlightened by a sentence in The Interaction of Law and Religion written by an American scholar Harold J. Berman while in which Berman’s sentence could be supported by his specific background. Two opposite positions have been shown in the process of Legal Belief research in China. The Pros were occupying the leading status until the Cons gradually replaced them from the year of 2006. The contentious issues that have the Pros and Cons locking horns over are the understanding of this concept, and the forming condition and the expectation of it. On the issue of concept’s understanding they argue about the meanings of “Law” and of “Belief”. On the issue of forming condition they debate on whether the legal belief could be formed in China. On the issue of its expectation they discuss on what practical effects it would be imposed for building rule-of-law in China. A difficulty in remaining Legal Belief research has been brought up by those three issues and the reality of a growing influence of the Cons. Another difficulty about isolating the “academic wording” and the “usual wording” has also been triggered in the study process. It might be helpful to find the solutions through holding the opinion of “Chineseness”, “Openness”, and “Participation”.