Reading Notes of Thoughts on Rule of Law

The book “Thoughts on Rule of Law” is written by Xiao Junyong and others. The purpose of this book is to help readers understand what is “rule of law thinking”， how to strengthen the training of “rule of law thinking” and how to improve the cognitive level of “rule of law thinking”.

At the beginning of reading this book， I have been searching in my mind for the specific image of the rule of law thinking in reality， so that I fall into the predicament of lifting the rule of law thinking to the metaphysical high altitude. Reading from behind， especially the authors interpretation of Huge case， Li Changkui case， Yao Jiaxin case and the reflection of “rule of law thinking” in stories， movies and literature， it is clear that rule of law thinking is not a rigid theory， but a vivid way to find law， abide by the law and safeguard rights according to law. All of these are practical guidance. It is the practical dimension of the thinking of rule of law and the practical significance of the thinking of rule of law in the country governed by law， government governed by law and society governed by law to “invite the thinking of rule of law into the real life”.

After reading this book， I searched for the current academic status of the study of “rule of law thinking” on the Knowledgenet. In view of the study of “thinking by law”， in 2003， Mr. He Dongping published an article “On the connotation of thinking by law in governing the country by virtue” in the Journal of Zhangzhou Normal University， which pioneered the academic study of “thinking by law”. In the past five years， there have been a hundred schools of thought contending and a hundred flowers blooming in the academic research on “thinking by law”. The background significance of these academic articles lies in the requirements of “comprehensively promoting the rule of law” and “speeding up the construction of a socialist country ruled by law” put forward in the reports of the 18th and 19th National Congresses of the CPC. The research objects of rule of law thinking mainly include university teachers， students of higher education， public prosecution team， government， urban development， enterprises， leading cadres and so on.

Combining the reading of this book， I will talk about my understanding of the rule of law thinking.

First， the core meaning of the thinking of rule of law？ Combining with the conciseness of experts and scholars on the concept of rule of law thinking， the core meaning of rule of law thinking lies in emphasizing the dimension of adding law into the subjective field of consciousness. Then the “law” here includes not only rules and provisions， but also legal principles， legal ideas， legal spirit and legal logic. Thus， the thinking of rule of law mainly includes the thinking of legitimacy， rights and obligations， fairness and justice， responsibility and consequences， and the thinking of governing officials and powers. Ruling the country by law thinking can effectively avoid the harmfulness of peoples thinking， dictatorship thinking and “Cultural Revolution” thinking.

Second， the process of transformation and application of legal thinking？ Firstly， the thinking of rule of law is based on the concept of rule of law， and it is impossible for a public official or leading cadre without the idea of rule of law to suddenly form the thinking of rule of law when they encounter problems. Secondly， the thinking of rule of law refers to the process in which the ruling party uses legal norms， principles and spirit to analyze， synthesize， judge and think about the problems they encounter or deal with. In this process， in order to understand and solve the problems encountered or to deal with， the ruling party first “searches” in his mind to recognize and solve the corresponding legal norms； if “searches” do not reach specific legal norms， then “searches” the corresponding legal principles； if he neither “searches” do not reach specific legal norms， nor “searches” do not reach the corresponding legal principles， He then sought to understand and solve the legal spirit of the corresponding problems. If he “searches” for specific legal norms and corresponding legal principles to recognize and solve the corresponding problems， he should also test the corresponding legal norms and principles with the existing legal spirit and legal concept in his mind， determine whether they are consistent with the legal spirit and legal concept， and then decide whether they should be used as the basis for understanding and solving the corresponding problems. If the legal basis （including legal norms， principles and spirit） is determined， then the conclusion and decision of understanding and solving the corresponding problems can be formed through judgment and reasoning. The thinking of rule of law is the process of thinking and understanding and even solving problems according to such logic.

Third， the ultimate goal of legal thinking？ The ultimate goal of the rule of law thinking is the ultimate goal of the rule of law， and the ultimate goal of the rule of law is to achieve the pursuit of justice. Each country has its own national conditions and special peoples conditions. The difficulties of realizing justice are often reflected in the trial of specific cases. All the trial activities are under the specific social and historical background， and inevitably subject to the restrictions of judicial concepts and technical means at that time. In some cases that cause great social impact， judicial organs and judges also have to face the pressure of public opinion and the voice of public opinion. These often cause “external pressure” to the activities of an independent and professional judicial organ and undue “external guidance” to the judgesjudgments， which causes more practical difficulties for the realization of justice. Hard. The function of the rule of law thinking may be reflected at this time. How to achieve the unity of legal effect and social effect？ What should be done to interact with the people and maintain judicial independence？ We need to be good at using the rule of law thinking to provide some original practices and programs to respond to our countrys judicial practice in order to better achieve justice.

References：

[1]Huang Zhenyun. Local Resources for the Construction of a Rule of Law Society and the Chinese Legal System-Yinzhoujinwens Legal Thought and Contemporary Value[OL].Journal of Wuhan University of Science and Technology（Social Science Edition），2019（01）：102.

[2]Zhanghui.de and Punishment：Chinese Traditional Legal Thought and Its Enlightenment to the Construction of Socialist Rule of Law[J].Chongqing Administration（Public Forum），2018，19（06）：59-61.

【作者簡介】Liuli， Hope College of Southwest Jiaotong University.