The Similarities:
There are many different similarities between the legal systems of the United States, and China. A large part of these similarities can be attributed to the increased trade activity with China and the United States. American companies doing business in China were looking for the same type of legal protection that they received in the States. The Chinese spent countless hours restructuring their legal system to closer represent those in the Western business. The basic structures of both legal system are extremely similar. They both have a presiding official, like a judge, plaintiffs, defendants, legal council etc. Both countries have a Judicial, Executive, and Legislative branch. I was honest surprised by how similar the two countries were.
The Differences:
There were also some stark differences between the two legal systems. In the United States the way in which they chose judges, and officials is starkly different. In the United States, a higher degree of importance is put upon the schooling, and experiences of the legal professionals. Lawyers in the United States are often in college for roughly seven years, where as in China, they only need three years of training, and one can obtain the legal paperwork necessary to practice law without having ever gone to school. If ample real life experience can be proven, license to practice can be issued. Also, in the United States juries are used to try different cases. I did not find much evidence of councils of people in China hearing cases like they do in the United States. Overall I was in aw of how such complex systems can be set up to be so definitely similar, yet so different.