12 - The Private Law Influence of the Great Qing Code

Summary

The chapter focuses on the debate over the aims of tort law, both in China and in the West. It starts by reviewing the intellectual history of discussions over tort law aims. It then demonstrates that these debates are often unaware of both the empirics of tort law and the cultural frameworks that sustain the adjudication processes of tort law disputes, inside and outside courtrooms. This is a major gap, insofar as both the empirical and cultural dimension are crucial in order to put any vision of the aims of tort law within its own proper context. In this perspective, the paper tries to shed light on the variety of factors that should be considered in framing whichever theory on the aims of tort law.