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　5. Mediation
　The concept of mediation is deep rooted in Chinese culture, philosophy, and history. Since the ancient time, the Chinese focal philosophy has been “the mean”
　　　　 and the teaching of “harmony is the most valuable”
　　　　 is embedded in every Chinese mind. Therefore, in the past, it was very common for Chinese people to settle their civil disputes by seeking mediation from their local elders. Even today, many Chinese would choose mediation rather than courtroom litigation. Today’s Chinese mediation can be categorized into two major systems of mediation. One is the people’s mediation
　　　　 system and the other is the mediation system conducted by the people’s courts.
　In 1954, the State Council promulgated the Provisional Organic Regulation on the People’s Conciliation Committee
　　　　 to establish the civilian mediation system.This provisional regulation was replaced by Organic Regulation on the People’s Conciliation Committee also promulgated by the State Council in May 1989. Under the system, a People’s Conciliation Committee should be established for every village in countryside and neighborhood in city. Each committee consists of three to nine mediators whom are elected by local citizens every three years. In 1989, there were 1,006,040 People’s Conciliation Committees and 5,937,110 people’s mediators in China. Under the leadership and direction of the basic level governments (township) and the basic level people’s courts, the People’s Conciliation Committees mediate local civilian disputes presented by individual parties according to Chinese laws, administrative regulations, government policies, and the moral standards of the society.However, the legal binding effect of the mediation agreements is limited because any party dissatisfies with a mediation result, even after a mediation agreement has been reached, he still can file a lawsuit to a people’s court for adjudicating the dispute.
　In 2002, 4,636,139 civilian disputes were settled through the mediation of the People’s Conciliation Committees in China while 4,393,306 civil and commercial lawsuits combined were adjudicated by the people’s courts.It can be seen that the people’s mediation system plays a very important role in the Chinese legal system. However, from the following statistical comparison table, it can be seen that gradually, more and more Chinese have chosen courts to settle their civil disputes.
　
　Table 1. The Statistical Comparison of the Civil Cases Mediated by the People’s Conciliation Committees Versus the Civil, Commercial, and Economic Cases Adjudicated by the People’s Courts
　
　Year Cases Mediated by the People’s Med. Committees Cases Adjudicated by the People’s Courts Med. : Adj. Ratio
　1986 7,307,049 1,311,562 7:1
　1992 6,173,209 2,596,804 6.2:2.6
　1997 5,543,166 4,720,341 5.5:4.7
　2002 4,636,139 4,393,306 4.6:4.4
　
　The decline of the civilian disputes presented to the People’s Conciliation Committees for settlement is probably due to three major reasons. The first reason should be the establishment of the people’s courts and the qualification improvement of judges. Between 1949 and 1983, there was no law to specifically describe qualifications for judges in China.During this time, most Chinese judges were selected by the central and local party organizations based on their loyalties to the party and how closely they were associated with the party. As a result,the retired officials of the People’s Liberation Army became the major source for the judges and prosecutors.In 1983 when the 1979 Organic Law of People’s Courts was amended, the words “the adjudicators of people’s courts shall have legal knowledge” were added into Article 34. Because of this provision, some of the judges who did not have a law degree tried to obtain a formal legal training. Since 1995 when the Judges Law of the PRC were first promulgated, all the judges who did not have a law degree had to go through a certain legal training program accredited by the government to be able to stay in the position of judges. In 2001 when the Judges Law was amended, the legal education standards to qualify as a judge or a prosecutor were raised. Since then, the minimum educational requirement for a new judge or prosecutor is a bachelor degree. Since 2001, besides having legal education requirements, to be qualified as a candidate for a judge or prosecutor, one also needs to obtain the Legal Professional Qualification Certificate
　　　　 after passing the National Judicial Exam.
　The second reason should be that the urbanization of the rural population and the free floating of working population have changed the people’s traditional bondage to their local village or neighborhood committees. And the People’s Conciliation Committees are created under these local village and neighborhood committees. The third reason should be that the civil disputes have grown more sophisticated in China. Many Chinese do not feel confident to submit their disputes to the People’s Conciliation Committees for settlement.
　As mentioned above, between 1937 and 1949, the principle of “mediation first and trial second”
　　　　 for the civil litigation was established in the areas under the communist army’s control. This principle had been practiced by Chinese courts until April 1, 1991. Before April 1, 1991, Chinese courts needed to focus their efforts on mediation in civil litigation.The Civil Procedure Law of 1991 changed this practice into the new practice of mediating civil disputes based on the principle of voluntariness of the parties.Since then, the courts would offer mediation options to civil litigation parties and would not mediate civil disputes against any parties’ wishes. The following statistical comparion table shows that the percentage of civil and commercial disputing cases mediated by the Chinese courts of first instance has been steadily declining since 1992 after the CPL of 1991 became effective.