Editors’Foreword

　　Since its establishment in 1904，Peking University Law School has remained as the leading institution of legal education and research in China，engaging in a broad range of academic discourse and collaboration at home and abroad．China has become the focus of the whole world，and this extends far beyond it hosting the Olympics．While China’s great achievements are widely recognized，concerns remain regarding sustainable sound development and structural problems．As scholars committed to the betterment of China，we feel obligated to explore and discuss reasons and possible solutions to issues the country is facing today．Through these articles，the Peking University Journal of Legal Studies is proud to contribute a little piece to this endeavor of advancing global understanding of legal issues in China．

　　In this inaugural issue，we have assembled a fascinating collection of eight works．On the basis of contextualized reading，Suli’s An Economic Analysis of Hai Rui’s Judicial Theorems abstracts two judicial laws from Hai Rui’s statements：that of equity and that of discrimination．By revealing and elaborating on the rationale behind these laws from a theoretical and socio—historical perspective，the article seeks to demonstrate an implicit yet convincing economic logic based on subjective marginal utility．It further extends the more controversial law of discrimination to two areas：the domain of criminal justice to support the doctrine of the presumption of innocence：and the domain of civil justice to propose the concept of the “personified object，”so as to demonstrate its theoretical strengths．

　　Wang Xixin’s The Public，Expert，and Government in the Public Decision—-Making Process discusses the structural problems of public decision—making in China through the study of the system of price decision making hearings．By examining different roles in the hearing system，the author finds that process of decision—making hearings are always monopolized by the government and lack substantial public participation．This is partly because of the unilateral emphasis on the government authority—a kind of blind faith in technical methods and positivism and the monopolistic “knowledge—power” structure in the public decision system．All this has led to a crisis of public confidence in the system of public decision—making．In order to break this monopolistic “knowledge—power” structure，the author proposes to stress the public’s dual role as citizen and “knowledge carrier”．By participating in the making of public policy，the public can be empowered through communication and learning，which justifies and rationalizes the public decision—making．This way of decision—making also indicates the perspective of “deliberative democracy” in public policy．

　　Fu Yulin’ s A View of Rural Grass—roots Legal Services Offices in China focuses on the Chinese grass—roots legal services office，which mainly provides legal services to citizens，legal persons，and other organizations in the county and rural society．After a series of serious research work，such as a literature survey at the national level and empirical investigations at the local level，the author analyzes the theoretical background and the historical process of the Chinese grass—roots legal services office，makes a comprehensive view about the status quo，and describes its development．Finally，the author emphasizes that when the decision—makers reform the legal services offices，they should lessen the regulations in order to promote this kind of organization，but not underestimate or even dismiss them．

　　Zhao Guoling’ s An Investigative Analysis of Homicide Victims in China points out that as homicide crimes involve the deprivation of human life，they have been universally recognized as the most violent of all crimes．Research on homicide victimization is crucial in acknowledging homicide crimes，but it is severely lacking in China．Relying on 1，707 homicide cases in Shenzhen city and Inner Mongolia as samples，this article provides a comprehensive and descriptive analysis of victimization in these respective regions．These two regions differ in their level of economic development and geography．One is economically developed and is situated on the Southern coast，whereas the other is developing and located inland to the West．Given the representative nature of these two regions，the data and analysis thereof，may be applied to the homicide victimization throughout China．

　　Wang Shizhou’s Report on Copyright Criminal Law in the World is of great value for the government and legislators to improve Chinese copyright criminal law．Firstly，the author demonstrates the requirement of TRIPS by anatomizing Article 61 of the agreement．He then coducts some comparative research by summarizing many states ’or regions’ copyright criminal laws，typically in the main legal systems．At last，after analyzing the current Chinese copyright criminal law，the author describes the gap between Chinese legislation and the international standard，and gives his suggestion to help the government construct a powerful legal system to protect Intellectual Property Right．

　　Zhang Ping’s An Analysis on Antitrust Regulation of Patent Pools points out that a patent pool is regarded as a solution to the quandary created by the “patent thicket，”a phenomenon that increasingly subjects the development of industries to the mercy of many independent patent holders’ exclusive rights．As a way out，a patent pool can integrate complementary technologies，reduce transaction costs，clear blocking positions，and avoid costly infringement litigation．However，a patent pool also has negative aspects．Because the patent pools are also a form of agreement between companies with inherent anticompetitive potential，they are often controlled by multinationals housing swarms of patents worldwide．This is especially true for patent pools built alongside Information and Communication Technology standards，and there is now a visible trend that such patent pools are becoming a tool for abusing market power，as well as a means to stifle innovation．Therefore，a patent pool was and is susceptible to antitrust review．

　　The importance of a deposit insurance system to countries like China cannot be exaggerated．Lou Jianbo’s Introducing a Deposit Insurance System into China focuses on designing a deposit insurance program to fit China’s needs，with references to international experiences and lessons．It starts with a brief survey on deposit insurance programs worldwide，followed by literature reviews on pros and cons of deposit insurance and a careful evaluation of China’s existing implied Government guarantee．Following a preliminary finding on the necessity of replacing China’s existing implied Government guarantee with implicit deposit insurance，the author gives a list of various issues and principles to be considered in designing China’s deposit insurance system．Answers to questions raised are also provided．The author’s proposals are given on the organizational structure，coverage，funding of China’s deposit insurance system，how deposit insurance premiums shall be collected，membership of the deposit insurance system，etc．Then，instead of giving a timetable of introducing deposit insurance in China，he points out that once an explicit deposit insurance system is there，it shall replace the implied government guarantee completely．

　　Guo Li’s Financial Conglomerates in China：Legality，Model and Concerns tells US that through recent amendments of its Commercial Bank Law and Securities Law，China has gradually softned its previous position mandating the segregation of financial business and supervision，as well as explored the financial conglomerate operation．Two models are considered in particular，namely the “universal bank” model，prevailing in Europe，and the “financial holding company”(FHC)model in the US．However，neither the universal bank nor the FHC model should be embraced hastily in China without a critical eye．While the FHC is a likely choice，it contains drawbacks and unsuitable aspects that merit discussion．Transforming State Owned Commercial Banks to public—held and independent entities must be a prerequisite and propellant to any meaningful structural reform，including the financial conglomerate issue．