An Analysis Of Weihaiwei’s Judicial Administration In The Period Of British Lease

Weihaiwei at the northern end of Shandong Province,opposite Lushun across the Bohai Bay,and jointly guarding the Bohai Bay gateway.Weihaiwei has a non-freezing port,which is a good naval base and a major coastal defense in China.It has been ravaged by the powers since modern times.Since 1898,when the British forced the Qing government to sign the "Special Provisions for Renting Weihaiwei",Weihaiwei was forcibly loaned to the United Kingdom,and in 1930 the Nanjing National Government took it back for 32 years.The leased areas include the island of Liugong Island,the coast of Weihaiwei Bay and ten miles of land.Initially,it was managed by the British Navy Department,and sent to Weihaiwei to delimit the boundary and bury the boundary monument.It was later placed under the jurisdiction of the British Colonial Office.During these thirty-two years,the British Colonial Office sent British officials to Weihaiwei for management.The Chief Executive of Weihaiwei formed a colonial government under the guidance of the Weihaiwei Act of the Privy Council of 1901.Based on Hong Kong’s judicial system,a modern colonial-style capitalist judicial system was established in Weihaiwei.During the British rule,Weihaiwei’s population grew steadily and taxes increased rapidly,ranging from tens of thousands of silver in the early period to hundreds of thousands of tens of thousands in the later period.It was convenient to borrow ports to export a large number of Weihaiwei’s local peanuts,wood,etc.Weihaiwei’s years of drought did not affect trade exports.Since the archives of the Weihai City Archives were copied back from the British to rent the Weihaiwei period in 1998,we have more intuitive and reliable first-hand information to study the state of judicial enforcement at that time.According to the available information,the United Kingdom established a local court and a high court in Weihaiwei in the management of Weihaiwei in accordance with the British judiciary to hear civil and criminal cases in Weihaiwei.The colonial government paid more attention to the settlement of civil disputes.In civil cases,Chinese laws and customs prevail,and traditional Chinese ethics and the words of the emperor were used to educate the people to make peace more valuable and reduce disputes.The people in Weihaiwei area trust the local chief executive and like to find the chief executive to resolve family disputes and neighborhood disputes.A lawsuit was formed.This article is divided into five parts: the first is an introduction,which mainly introduces the origin of the topic,the research progress of other scholars on Weihaiwei judicial system,and the practical significance of studying Weihaiwei judicial system.The second part discusses the legal significance of the lease of Weihaiwei by the United Kingdom in international law and the legal status of Weihaiwei,confirming that Weihaiwei’s legal status provides us with a legitimate legal basis for taking Weihaiwei back;The third and fourth parts mainly introduce the changes brought by Weihaiwei by the advanced legal thoughts and systems of Britain;The fifth part introduces the absorption and reference of the traditional law and customs of our country by the British colonial government in order to better govern Weihaiwei.The last part is a comprehensive analysis of the series of legal measures and achievements of the British colonial government during the rule of Weihaiwei.What can we learn from the absorption of traditional culture by the law today,and the warning to us of the mistakes.