Black Holes and sunshine laws
- By Eric Daly
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E-mail Beijing review, April 22, 2015
Plot devices
In the 1990s, the majority of Chinese crime fiction had a police detective as protagonist. Budding author He wanted to do something different and considered a private eye as his central character. Unfortunately, in 1993 the Ministry of Public Security had rescinded private detective licenses and he worried that this may interfere with suspension of disbelief and reflect poorly on his current affairs knowledge.
"They would say, you're a law professor, how could you not know such things?" He jokes at the talk.
The next logical choice was a defense lawyer, a heroic figure in American representation. This too was problematic. In the U.S. criminal justice system, He explains, there are three stages: investigation, prosecution and trial. America's system can be termed adversarial while that of China has traditionally been inquisitorial. While the United States leans on the trial, China focuses on the investigative stage. Back in the 1990s, this meant that a defense lawyer back would come into play much later in China than in the United States: only seven days before trial.
This would drastically compress the timeline of even a fast-paced thriller narrative. The author then thought of a conceit buying him (and his narrative's hero) some time, reasoning his character could investigate fictional wrongful convictions and that the pre-trial investigative period could be extended if new evidence came to light. Since the mid-90s, thanks to He and others, this aspect of proceedings has been redressed and as of 2012, a defendant can access a lawyer from the moment a charge is brought against them.
The conceit would also allow He to tackle another issue. Given the thankless nature of the role, up until recently, few Chinese lawyers were drawn to defense work. The writer wished to create a character that would inspire future generations of defense lawyers in his native country. An avid badminton player, He noticed that he did not improve until he played players better than himself. The same, he believes, is true for lawyers. Honing defense lawyers' skills, according to the author, would lead to corresponding improvement in prosecutors, resulting in a more equitable and balanced legal system. Hong Jun, "the gentleman lawyer," was born.
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