The Mutual-Responsibility System

Chapters 3, 4 and 5 argue that the emergence of convict politics in the early Chinese empires was a direct result of the legal system producing a significant number of innocent convicts, thereby undermining the understanding of crime and criminality. Chapter 3 delves into the mutual-responsibility system – a major principle of legal practice from the Qin and Han dynasties through to the twentieth century. This system, aimed at deterring crime through the imposition of severe punishments to instill fear, inadvertently compromised justice. It led to openly punishing the lawful, including the families, neighbors, and friends of offenders. While effective in enforcing surveillance and procuring convict labor, the mutual-responsibility system underscored the absolute power of the throne, yet it distorted the relationship between crime and punishment and conflated moral standards. This systemic injustice sparked ongoing and fervent debates among scholars, officials, and even emperors. However, the bureaucratization of legal processes prevented any meaningful reform from happening.