Four Irish High Court judges returned to Dublin yesterday after a 12-day visit to China as part of a European Union-China dialogue on human rights.
The senior judge in the group, Mr Justice Robert Barr, said before leaving Beijing that the visit had been successful and that he had no doubt they were involved in a real dialogue. They invited the Chinese judiciary to send a delegation to Ireland next year.
"The impression I have is that the Chinese judiciary will tend to become more collegiate and more independent in their attitude to the development of law and justice," said Mr Justice Barr. He said he was impressed by their calibre.
Until the end of the Cultural Revolution in the 1970s, Communist China was subject to arbitrary party rule, and the present legal system was only 20 years old. It was seeking to establish a lawbased society and to modernise the legal system.
Human rights critics maintain that the application of the law in China is still subject to Communist Party interests.
This year the EU ended its practice of condemning China's human rights record at the UN Commission on Human Rights, opting instead for dialogue and information exchanges. One of the first events was the visit by the Irish delegation. It included Mr Justice Barr, Mr Justice Philip O'Sullivan, Mr Justice Brian McCracken and Mr Justice Dermot Kinlen.
Mr Justice Barr said they had visited one of the dozens of new private law firms which have been established in Beijing in the last few years and found them little different in atmosphere from typical law firms in Dublin.