The 9th Annual Conference on Sociology of Law in China was successfully held in Beijing
On November 2, 2024, the 9th Annual Conference on Sociology of Law in China was held at Beihang University (BUAA), with the theme of “Inheritance and Innovation: Sociology of Law in the Digital Age”. The conference was jointly organized by the School of Law of Beihang University (BUAA), the Research Center for Legal History of BUAA (and the Research Center for Social Law and Social Theory of BUAA), the Center for German Studies of BUAA, the China Institute for Socia-legal studies of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), the Research Society of Sociology of Law at the Shanghai Law Association (SLAS), the Editorial Department of the Jiao Tong Law Journal, and the Editorial Department of Asian Journal of Law and Society. Society, the editorial board of Jiao Tong University Law and the editorial board of Asian Journal of Law and Society, were jointly organized by more than 80 experts and scholars from universities and research institutes at home and abroad. The opening ceremony was presided over by Pan Weijiang, professor and vice president of BJU.
Cheng Bo, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Beihang University (BUAA), delivered a speech, in which he warmly congratulated the convening of the annual meeting on behalf of the university and expressed his sincere welcome to the participating experts and scholars. He pointed out that the annual meeting of Chinese sociology of law, as an academic feast in the field of sociology of law, has become an important communication platform in the field, which has vigorously promoted the intermingling and coordinated development of basic theoretical research and practical application research in sociology of law. He said that in recent years, Beihang follows the development trend of the times and promotes the school to move forward to the digital era, and the theme of this year's annual meeting is clear and closely combined with the background of the current digital era and the development needs of the school. Looking forward to the experts and scholars in-depth discussions and exchanges, share insights, strengthen interaction and mutual trust, and provide wisdom programs for the development of law and sociology in the era of digitalization in China.
Ji Weidong, senior professor of liberal arts at Shanghai Jiaotong University and director of China Institute for Socia-legal studies, pointed out that in the face of the great changes that the world has not seen in a hundred years, the interaction between law and society constitutes the central issue in the field of jurisprudence, and sociology of law research must realize research innovation under the background of digital transformation. Re-exploring the classical theories of sociology of law and reconstructing the legal paradigm in line with the structure of the digital era will inevitably have a profound impact on the modernization of the rule of law and the digitalization process in China, and it is expected that this annual meeting will carry out useful discussions on this topic.
Zhang Zhiming, Senior Professor of Liberal Arts and Dean of the Law School of East China Normal University, pointed out that digitalization has profoundly affected and even reshaped our lives, and sociology of law should pay attention to the impact of digital technology on the legal society, and that the theme of this year's annual conference, “Inheritance and Innovation: Sociology of Law in the Age of Digitization”, is a “timely, urgent, and substantial” topic. The theme of this year's conference, “Inheritance and Innovation: Sociology of Law in the Digital Age”, is a topic that is “timely, urgent and substantial”.
Zuo Weimin, Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Dean of the Law School of Sichuan University, believes that the theme of the annual meeting captures the basic characteristics of the times, and the research content and research methodology of the sociology of law in the digital era is the theme of the times for sociology of law researchers, and the theme of the current session of the annual meeting deserves affirmation as the core of today's and even the future of the research for a considerable period of time, and we look forward to the discussion of the annual meeting can lead the research of sociology of law in China.
Zhou Youjun, Professor and Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Law of Beihang University (BUAA), delivered a speech on behalf of BUAA School of Law. He said that hosting this annual conference of sociology of law is a good opportunity for Beihang Law School to keep abreast of the propositions of the times and learn from the experience of the times, and he thanked the school and colleagues in the academic community for their attention and support to the development of the school, and believed that this annual conference can expand the vision of sociology of law in China and enhance the level of sociology of law research in China.
Keynote Speech
The first keynote speech, titled “The Roots and Inheritance of Sociology of Law”, was hosted by Cheng Jinhua, Professor and Librarian of Shanghai Jiaotong University. Prof. Lu Jianping of Peking Normal University Law School, Prof. Tian Geng of Peking University Sociology Department, Prof. Li Congjun of Jilin University Law School, and Associate Researcher Chen Tao of Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences delivered the keynote speeches from the perspectives of criminal law, civil law and sociology.
The second module of the keynote speeches was titled “Development and Innovation of Sociology of Law”, which was hosted by Prof. Hou Mang from the Law School of Renmin University of China. Hu Ling, Associate Professor of Law School of Peking University, Wu Dezhi, Associate Professor of Law School of Wuhan University, Yu Xiaohong, Long-term Associate Professor of School of Social Sciences of Tsinghua University, and Zhang Guowang, Associate Professor of School of Sociology of China University of Political Science and Law, delivered keynote speeches.
Conference Sub-forums
Four sub-forums were held simultaneously in Building 8 and Ruxin Conference Center. Participants focused on “Empirical Research (Qualitative) and Theoretical Research of Law”, “Empirical Research (Quantitative) of Law”, “Digital Jurisprudence” and “Systematics in the Digital Era”. The four themes of “Systematic Jurisprudence in the Digital Era” were discussed by the participating experts and scholars, and the atmosphere was warm and active.
Closing Ceremony
The closing ceremony was presided over by Pan Weijiang, professor and vice dean of the Law School of Beihang University . Ji Weidong, Senior Professor of Liberal Arts at Shanghai Jiaotong University and Director of China Institute for Socia-legal studies, Lu Yufeng, Professor at East China University of Political Science and Law and Director of Scientific Research Department, Yang Fan, Professor at Jilin University School of Law, and Liao Yi, Professor at Wuhan University School of Law, summarized the annual conference.
Lu Yufeng pointed out that with the advent of the digital society, the use of social system theory to study digital jurisprudence is highly compatible. The problem of legal subjects of artificial intelligence, the problem of de-functionalization accompanied by technology, and the problem of ungovernability of society need to receive further attention. Yang Fan pointed out that the sociology of law in the digital era should not only expand the plurality of social theories, but also form a richer network of research actors, so as to better promote the theoretical construction and development of Chinese sociology of law.
Liao Yi pointed out that the current trend of Chinese legal research is more refined, and the future sociology of law can reflect and observe itself based on the sociology of knowledge. Wuhan University, as the organizer of the next annual conference of Sociology of Law in China, sincerely welcomes all of you to attend the conference.
Ji Weidong pointed out that this year's conference covers a wide range of topics, the classic propositions of legal realism and legal pluralism have been reinterpreted in the context of digital society, the interpretation of the classics of sociology of law and the cutting-edge empirical research on law are intertwined, the repositioning of the research methodology of sociology of law constitutes an important part, and the social system theory has been inherited and innovatively developed under the digital era, which together constitute the intellectual contribution of this year's conference. All these together constitute the intellectual contribution of this annual conference. This year's conference has promoted the in-depth development of digital jurisprudence, and topics such as the fusion of technical due process and subjective procedural justice, the impact and challenge of blockchain on the modern rule of law, and the co-embedded analysis of self-created systems and artificial intelligence deserve further attention and exploration. However, it should be noted that in the digital age, it is still necessary to think about how legal empirical methods can “push the boundaries” in the digital age, and to explore the paradigm of sociology of law research based on big data.