Law has been traditionally regarded as applying solely to those rules which have the power of the state or government to enforce them. Legal theory calls this "hard" law, however this definition of law excludes many "rules" or norms which have great impact and are enforced in other ways. According to research conducted by leading scholars Prof. Luo Haocai and Prof. Song Gongde of Peking University and the Soft Law Research Center, these areas of "soft law" include:

1. Legal norms embodied within those laws, regulations and rules that describe legal facts, or which are demonstrative, hortative, enticing, promotional, consultative or guiding in nature.

2. Documents incorporating normative standards such as those legitimately created by national agencies as guidelines, instructions, standards, plans and measures.

3. Self regulatory norms devised by various political organizations seeking, for example, to determine issues such as the scope and terms of the exercise of power and rules for participatory government and public practical discourse.

4. Norms created by societal communities. Type of self regulation is an important component of democratic politics and creates norms of civic engagement.

In China today, soft laws far outnumber hard laws. With regard to their functions, according to Professors Haocai and Song, soft law remedies the structural deficiencies of hard law governance; it enhances the effectiveness of the rule of law, reduces the costs of the rule of law and social progress, creates a more responsive public governance and promotes the rule of law.

In terms of their impact, without soft law to fill in the gaps and spaces, and enable flexibility and detail in the legal system, hard law could not function. Indeed, given the growth in size and complexity of Chinese society today, hard law is becoming "softer" because of its need to adjust to changing circumstances; and soft law is becoming even more prevalent. Notwithstanding the great importance of soft law, it has until very recently been both under-theorised and under-researched. This is why the work of Professors Luo and Song and their colleagues is so important. Indeed, given the growth in and influence of soft law in countries around the world and in international law, their latest work will have a major impact in supporting the development of a rule of law in China, including the effective battle against corruption.

On a related point the release of this important work comes within weeks of the launch at the Second International Conference on Comparative Law and Global Common Law: Asian Law in the 21st Century, of the recently established Asia Academy of Comparative Law at the China University of Political Science and Law. As the Australian Government's White Paper, "Australia in the Asian Century" notes: "Asia's rise is changing the world. This is the defining feature of the 21st century."

There is much the world can learn from Asia, especially China; and this new and important work on the growing role and importance of soft law is an outstanding example.

Finally, this work, which seeks to take an integrated approach to the development of soft law, represents the basis for a legal design which is well suited to a legal system which must work for a large number of stakeholders working together in a cooperative network of relationships. As China and other countries move from an industrial age to an information age, this is the type of revised legal system infrastructure that will be required for the 21st century.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/eugeneclark.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

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