Institution Building: Constructing the Rule of LAW

　　Fulbright?Professor?of?Law?1999?-?2000
    Peking?University?Law?School?1999.11.18
    I?would?like?to?express?my?appreciation?to?my?good?friends?here?at?the?Beijing?Foreign?Affairs?College,?and?to?the?Fulbright?Foundation,?for?inviting?me?to?participate?in?this?Conference?on?Asia-Pacific,?and?especially?to?my?friend?and?colleague,?Dr.?Gaia?Christoffersen,?for?organizing?the?conference?and?inviting?me?to?join.In?mybest?lawyerly?fashion,?I?want?to?begin?with?not?one,?but?several?confessions.?First,?I?don't?know?very?much?about?the?Chinese?legal?system,?I?am?one?of?China's?newest?friends,?having?only?been?here?since?March.Talking?with?a?group?of?people?so?expert?in?Asia?Pacific?matters?on?the?development?of?the?Chinese?legal?system?is?more?than?a?little?intimidating.Second,I?am?not?an?Asia-Pacific?expert.My?understanding?of?the?development?of?legal?systems?in?the?region?is?quite?primitive,?and?I?hope?to?receive?many?interesting?comments?and?information?from?the?experts?here,?each?one?of?whom?I?think?knows?a?great?deal?more?about?legal?developments?in?Asia?Pacific?than?do?I.?
    Nevertheless?I?hope?not?to?waste?your?time?too?much.?What?I?may?be?able?to?contribute?is?twenty?five?years?of?experience?as?an?American?law?professor,specializing?in?constitutional?law,?and?more?recently?specializing?in?women's?international?issues.With?that?background,?I?hope?to?provide?an?outsider's?perspective?on?the?very?interesting?and?innovative?developments?currently?taking?place?in?China's?legal?system.?
    I?arrived?in?China?on?February?28,?1999.?Only?eleven?days?later,?I?picked?up?my?copy?of?the?China?Daily?only?to?read?the?headline:?【写作年份】2002【学科类别】未分类