BLOOD MONEY AND NEGOTIATED JUSTICE IN CHINA Legal commensuration is a complex mechanism of valuation. Its complexity has much to do with the relational nature of the monetary exchange involved between parties in the litigational context. This lecture offers a framework to understand its process and outcome by focusing on the institutional and cultural logics of the practice. The criminal reconciliation process in China is used as a real-world empirical illustration. Drawing mainly on data collected from fieldwork investigation of two basic-level courts, this lecture identifies two factors that affect the process and outcome of legal commensuration: institutional interests favoring reconciliation and cultural meaning of money. Political considerations play a decisive role in incentivizing judges to facilitate a settlement. The cultural meanings of money serve as another factor shaping the outcome of reconciliation. In particular, blood money is valued both for its practical certainty and its symbolic value as a token of apology. Through a brief comparison of the Chinese and US systems, the lecture shows that this framework represents a step toward a more systematic and theoretical conception of legal commensuration. This lecture qualifies for 1 CPD credit. XIN HE JSD Professor. School of Law, City University of Hong Kong. Xin He is a professor at the School of Law, City University of Hong Kong. He has published widely in the leading journals in the fields of law and society, and the Chinese legal system. His recent articles are “Black Hole of Responsibility: The Role of Adjudication Committee in a Chinese Court” (2012), in Law & Society Review, and “Do the Haves Come out Ahead in Shanghai Courts”(with Yang Su 2013), in Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. He has been appointed twice as the Global Professor at NYU Law School. APRIL 01 WEDNESDAY 12:30PM FASKEN MARTINEAU CLASSROOM (ROOM 122)