These essays focus on the changing Chinese conceptions of the role of law in shaping family relationships; the effectiveness of the courts in civil litigation; the operation of the criminal process; judicial decision-making; the evolution of a legislative process; the growth of a legal profession; the legal framework of foreign direct investment in China; and China's record as a member of the international community. An overview by the editor identifies the emerging functions performed in Chinese society by the new legal institutions and tries to analyse likely major influences on them in the near future, including, among other contradictory forces, increased consciousness of individual rights and a tenacious insistence by the Chinese Communist Party on maintaining its power.