|• the laws and regulations governing trade are publicly available;|
|• there is procedural fairness, that is, that the process of administrative decision making is principled, comparatively stable, and the basis for making a decision can be known;|
|• there is an independent and impartial system for review of administrative decision making.|
This chapter considers these three aspects of transparency. It examines the ways in which and the extent to which they are reflected in the Chinese legal system. It also evaluates the features of the Chinese legal system that impinge upon China's capacity to meet her WTO commitment of transparency in the legal system.
This chapter is concerned with both the regulatory framework currently in place and issues about law enforcement that significantly affect individual experience of the regulatory regime. In terms of the regulatory structures, this chapter focuses in particular on reforms to the framework for administrative decision making that have taken place primarily since the early 1990s. It argues that these reforms have gone very far towards instituting a structure that embodies the principles of transparency required under the Draft Protocol, though a number of significant barriers remain to the establishment of a system which is transparent.