Xin He has given us a splendid analysis of the processes of judicial divorce in China, and in so doing provides an insightful analysis of the operations of the civil chambers of the people's courts in mainland China's authoritarian political-legal system. As in other parts of the world, around 70 per cent of petitioners are women, and imperfections in the contested divorce system result in sustained gender injustice. Divorce lawsuits, annually leading to more than 1.5 million divorces, make up almost one-fifth of all civil cases. Divorce, especially contested divorce, is seen officially as a major social problem, and one linked to the grave issue of domestic violence. Problems in the division of the matrimonial estate, and custody of children, can give rise to serious difficulties. Judges may be skilled and professional in their approach, but they are faced with case load pressures and policy imperatives of social harmony, and they have little time for moral reflection, detailed investigation and individualized justice. Outside the large urban areas, parties are invariably legally unrepresented. The persuasive and pervasive role of mediation, applied with pressure especially in more fiercely contested matrimonial disputes, also contributes to the system of gendered injustice that has come to prevail. It might be added here that these troubled circumstances also help to explain why it is that most Chinese couples who seek divorce today choose consensual divorce secured though administrative processes, rather than seek matrimonial justice in the courts.

The basic cause of this seemingly self-perpetuating system is, as Xin He cogently argues, to be found in the institutional constraints within which judges have to determine outcomes. In particular, gender injustice in court processes reflect such institutional factors as bureaucratic incentives within the court system and socio-political policy concerns for stability and harmony. These pressures encourage judges to manage divorce cases expeditiously, and people's judges therefore have come to manage contested matrimonial cases primary in a spirit of efficiency and with party-state policy imperatives in mind. In so doing, they tolerate the impact of power imbalances between the parties seeking divorce, thereby allowing social, economic, cultural and political pressures to shape (often unfairly) outcomes. Issues of trial delay, domestic abuse, matrimonial property division and child custody are often areas in which gender injustice is manifested. As a result, “[t] he institutional failure to enforce the laws has become a major obstacle to gender justice” (p. 13).

The book offers a clear and cogent structure. Chapter one looks at issues in the development of mainland Chinese divorce law and the institutional constraints that affect the way judges apply relevant law in matrimonial cases. Chapter two looks more explicitly at how the institutional constraints impact on the conduct and decision-making of the judges handling matrimonial disputes. It argues that the fundamental rule governing grounds for divorce, namely the “breakdown of mutual affection between the parties,” has been replaced by more routinized approaches of case handling. Chapter three provides analysis of dialogues in actual trials. The analysis reveals a “pragmatic” approach that is often taken by judges, in which women become “passive recipients in their marital fates” (p. 25). It reveals a “pragmatic” orientation in the way judges handle divorce cases, with judges looking to find the middle-ground on the cases before them. Although official policies promoting women's welfare and gender equality form part of this approach, their uncertain and ambiguous application in specific cases leads to outcomes that reinforce and perpetuate patriarchal norms and values. Chapter four tells us that the use of mediation and trial decision delay mean that domestic abuse issues are often sidelined. In chapter five we see an exploration of issues of child custody, concluding that the interests of women and children guaranteed in law are also often sidelined, even in hostile family circumstances. In the following chapter, analysis of the division of matrimonial property reveals how judges tend to help the “haves,” usually men, come out ahead. Chapter seven focuses on how courts perpetuate cultural biases against women – they fail to address firmly enough traditional prejudices against women, thereby facilitating unfair treatment of, and outcomes for, women in divorce litigation. This is followed by an Epilogue which is a reflective look at the issues considered in the book. A small point: it might have been helpful to the reader to have used Chinese terminology more fully, and to have provided a glossary of Chinese terms in the book.

This study by Xin He on contested divorce in China is a rare empirical and socio-legal study of the issues involved. It is solidly based on extended fieldwork, observation and qualitative interviews, particularly including research conducted inside Chinese courtrooms. It offers a robust and coherent analysis of important issues, should be of major interest to many scholars of contemporary China, and comparative legal studies, and is an important complement to more mainstream studies of the Chinese legal system. In Divorce in China, we learn about unhappy Chinese marriages, how legal forms of gender equality are not matched in judicial practice, and the processes followed by Chinese courts in an authoritarian regime. This is an in-depth study of issues of both gender justice and, more generally, civil justice. It offers readers a critical and refreshing view of the limitations in China's legal development