Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 November 2014
This article begins with an account of the contexts surrounding China’s “Good Samaritan’s Dilemma”—the fear of civil liabilities as a result of a rescue attempt. It highlights how a notorious hit-and-run case in 2011 has prompted several provinces to consider Good Samaritan law—legislation aimed at encouraging altruism. In light of diverse opinions over the pros and cons of Good Samaritan law, it considers whether law should have a role to play in shaping moral behaviours. On the basis that the law has been on the books for as long as over a century in much of the Western world and parts of East Asia, this article explores how overseas experience may provide insights to China in its adaptation of Good Samaritan law. It concludes that, in China’s case, a non-punitive regime that seeks to protect and compensate Good Samaritans may help encourage the proverbial Chinese bystanders to be altruistic neighbours.
Dr Man Yee Karen Lee holds a BA and LLB with the University of Auckland and a PhD in law with the University of Hong Kong. She is an assistant professor at the Department of Social Sciences at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. She is interested in interdisciplinary scholarship, and has been researching the law and its dynamics with culture, politics, religion, and civil society. Her publications cover a broad area of human rights discourse, democratization, and legal developments in China, as well as rule-of-law culture and rule-of-law education in Hong Kong and Greater China.