Effects of gender on judicial decision making in China : a qualitative study of divorce cases

Abstract

After more than thirty years of feminism and dramatic changes in the number of women entering the legal profession, legal scholars and researchers continue to debate the impact of women's presence on the administration of justice. Central to this debate is the question of whether gender affects the legal outcome. Many scholars have conducted researches on this topic, but few studies on China situation. This project is an exploration of the gender difference of Chinese judges on divorce cases. It covers a summary of interview findings and a discussion about justice in the Chinese court. The meaning of gender varies with the times, and the scope of its influence is also expanded by the development of society. Gender differences in court have been researched by many scholars. This time I will explore this issue from the perspective of China's divorce court. Through 23 in-depth interviews with judges, I gained a wealth of information to help me understand the issue and develop my statement. I have found that male and female judges have different opinions, working methods and thinking positions when dealing with divorce cases. But these differences do not affect China's judicial justice obviously according to judges’ opinions, which is the ultimate meaning of this research.