The Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress has recently established a Legal English Translation Experts Committee for purpose of thoroughly and accurately introducing Chinese legal system and providing quality English translation of Chinese laws to foreign countries to make the achievements of the development of Chinese socialist legal system known to the world. The Committee is composed of 17 Legal English Translation Experts, including the former senior translator of the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau, the directors of the Department of Treaty and Law and the Department of the WTO of the Ministry of Commerce, and 12 scholars from the universities and law schools nationwide. Mr. Fei Li, the Chairman of the Commission of the Constitution and Law of the Standing Committee of the NPC and Mr. Chunyao SHEN, the Vice Chairman of the Commission of the Constitution and Law of the Standing Committee of the NPC and Director of the Legislative Affairs Commission delivered the Letter of Appointment to the Experts. Prof. Lingyun GAO accepted the appointment early this week. 

The establishment of this Committee shows the great efforts that the legislature has placed upon the translation of Chinese legal documents. The appointed Experts will lead the translation of the laws that are high-profile, influential, and urgently needed for publicity in international world, the laws that China is committed to report to the WTO, as well as other laws that need translation.

Prof. Lingyun Gao has been teaching and researching in the areas of common law, trust law, international business law, and legal English in the recent decades, and her English translation of the General Part of the Civil Code of the PRC, the Foreign Investment Law, and the Trust Law have received favorable comments from scholars and lawyers at home and abroad. In recent years, Prof. Gao is also engaged in translating and introducing the latest cases decided by the US Supreme Court, which provides a window for Chinese legal scholars, jurists, and lawyers to better understand foreign judicial system.

Fudan Law School has always attached great importance to the teaching and research of legal English, and Fudan students are expected to be bilingual after graduation.