Comparing China And Russia Legal System Research Assignment (Term Paper Sample)

A Comparative Study of Police Service in China and Russia
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Russia and China have experienced significant transformations in social and political aspects. These have significantly influenced the performance of their police services. In this paper, the police are discussed as an element of law enforcement by comparison and contrast using similarities and differences in these bodies in Russia and China.
China
Background
Police in China have two major roles; law enforcement and maintaining order (Terril, 2013, p456). Occasional times, members of the police service are required to deliver social services to the public. The police are at times required to give immediate aid and care to the society along with compulsory, regulatory, control and defense practices. According to the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, the number of criminal offenses has been on a steady increase with most of them being theft related.
Current Police Structure in China
Police agencies in China are organized in five distinct organizations namely; public security, state security, judicial police for the people for the people’s procurator the criminal investigation police in people’s courts and prison police. According to Tonry, (2016), all these police sections are under the control of the Ministry of Public Security. In other instances, some organs of the Chinese police are administered by more than one authority of Government. For example, some police forces receive instructions from both the central and local governments (Terril, 2013, p457). The scheme below gives a summary of the Chinese police structure.
310515024638000Ministry of Public Security
87503037719000505904537719000
148590327660Administrative Division00Administrative Division4318635127635Other Agencies00Other Agencies2103755102235Operational Division00Operational Division
457200022860Railway PoliceNavigation PoliceCivil Aviation PoliceForestry Police00Railway PoliceNavigation PoliceCivil Aviation PoliceForestry Police1924050108585Uniform PatrolCriminal InvestigationSecurity AdministrationResidence AdministrationRoad Traffic AdministrationFire ControlCounter TerrorismExit and Entry ControlBorder ControlVIP SecurityPre- Trial InterrogationComputer Management00Uniform PatrolCriminal InvestigationSecurity AdministrationResidence AdministrationRoad Traffic AdministrationFire ControlCounter TerrorismExit and Entry ControlBorder ControlVIP SecurityPre- Trial InterrogationComputer Management
2476512065Commission of DisciplinaryInspectionPolitical Department00Commission of DisciplinaryInspectionPolitical Department
The Chinese Government has enacted laws that govern accountability of the police. For instance, the Police Law of 1995 introduced a four-way approach in inhibiting corruption among the police (Terril, 2013, p460). In recruiting its police, China has moved from primarily sourcing in the People’s Liberation Army. It recruits young citizens of age 18 and above. The minimum academic qualification is a high school certificate.
Russia
Background
The police in Russia play a great role despite many challenges. The Russia police suffered a great deal following the country’s post-soviet economic and political crisis of the 1990’s. Since 2000, presidents Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev have been refunding and partially decentralized the Russian police without rectifying either police repression or abuse (Terril, 2013, p356). The system of police administration in Russia revolves around manipulation by political will.
The current Russian police are a replication of the post –Soviet police force. As noted earlier, police in Russia is subject to manipulation by political will. The security system is led by both the presidency and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Terril, 2013, p360). The president controls security agents while the ministry controls the militia. The structure of administration is as represented in the scheme below;
87757019685President of the Russian Federation00President of the Russian Federation375158034925Ministry of Internal Affairs00Ministry of Internal Affairs
49784095885Federal security Service policeCounterintelligence policeBorder policeEconomic Security policeOperative information and internal relations police00Federal security Service policeCounterintelligence policeBorder policeEconomic Security policeOperative information and internal relations police398843583820Militia00Militia
The militia is the central organ for law enforcement with principle responsibilities of enforcing the law and maintaining order. Recruits in this body must be aged between 18 and 35 years and physically fit. The country has 17 militia universities that offer a four-year training program.
Similarities in Police Systems of Russia and China
The communism aspect experienced in the political histories of China and Russia explains many similarities in these governments, particularly in their police services. First, in all instances, institutional police checks are evident (Terril, 2013, p371). These checks are geared towards ensuring that political leadership is not manipulated. In Russia, the president makes frequent reshuffles in this service to maintain his political ...