Author Information

Deng Jinting, Professor, Renmin University of China

Abstract

Unlike the case law countries, the criteria for determining the like cases in China can be further simplified and computerized based on the existing consensus of two-stage judgments. The first stage is to determine the key facts and do comparison to locate similarities and differences. There is no need to repeatedly consider the applicable legal provisions and the focus of the disputes like the precedent rules. There is no need to repeatedly filter the similarities that are relevant with the focus of disputes, as these have already been considered in the process of determining key facts. The key facts are obtained by constructing the broadest system of elements for each cause of action. The broadest system of elements is based on the cause of action system according to all relevant central level laws and regulations. In the second stage, based on the existing consensus, the standards for substantive evaluation can be further improved into computable rules to meet the needs of intelligent jus tice. Based on clarifying that similar cases in China have reference value rather than binding force in precedent rules, the purpose of obtaining substantive evaluation at this stage is to determine the degree of similarity, and then complete the ranking of reference value of similar cases by calculating the degree of similarity. Based on this, we can draw a path diagram of legal application of the cases based on the elements system, reflecting the weight and impact of different key facts according to the bifurcation on the diagram, and substantially evaluating the degree of similarity.

Keywords: Treating Like Cases Alike; Case Guiding; Similar Cases; Precedent Rules; Key Facts