Tian Chengyou: A High Court Judge from the Countryside*

• Author: China Law Digest compiled news

Tian Chengyou, ages 46, received his bachelor in laws degree from the Law Department of the Yunnan University in 1986, his master in laws degree from the Southwest University of Political Science and Law in 1989, and his doctorate in laws degree from the China University of Political Science and Law in 2005. He is currently a professor at the Yunnan University and the vice president of the High People’s Court of Yunnan Province.

In his academic legal researches, Tian Chengyou specializes in customary law of Chinese ethnic minority populations, native law and Sino-Western comparative law, all of which are related to his unique personal background, having come from a farming village in Yunnan Province. His writings include “The Theoretical Meaning and Value of Minority Law”, “Folk Customs in Rural Society” and “Traditional Legal Culture and the Development of the Rule of Law”, all of which have been acclaimed for their “distinctive research perspectives.” According to one reviewer, Tian’s legal essays are “permeated by a deep understanding of the lower classes of the Chinese society and by a deep love of the rural countryside and its inhabitants.” This affection is something rarely found in the writings of professional academicians.

After making a name for himself in the academic legal community, Tian became involved in politics by joining one of China’s officially-sanctioned democratic parties. In 1999, he joined the China Zhi Gong Party and in 2005 he became the vice president of the High People’s Court of Yunnan Province, thus finally completing his “metamorphosis from pure academician to high-court judge.” In his capacity as vice-president of the Court, he focused his attention on improving the quality of judges in the western region of the province and the construction of court’s culture. In order to achieve these goals, he initiated a system of touring instruction for local judges, thus transforming the traditional model of judicial training of bringing newly appointed judges together in the capital city of the province for group instruction, to a decentralized model in which teams of lecturers would periodically tour the countryside and provide instruction to new judges. He was also active in promoting the establishment in 2007 of an official website of the Yunnan judiciary http://www.gy.yn.gov.cn/ and in advocating that all legal judgments of the courts of Yunnan Province be made publicly available online. There is no doubt that...