Law and the Chinese in Canada - A Case Study in Ethnic Perceptions of the Law

• NCJ Number: 87257
• Author(s): J B L Chan; J Hagan
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 110 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: University of Toronto; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
• Corporate Author: University of Toronto
• Sale Source: University of Toronto
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

This study of the Toronto (Canada) Chinese business community provides information on the responding sample's level of support for the legal system and use of the legal system.

Abstract

From 310 eligible respondents, 187 successful interviews were conducted in this 1979-80 survey. The respondents did not seriously challenge the legitimacy and stability of the legal system; however, over 40 percent of the sample generally view discrimination as a problem in Toronto. Those tending to perceive discrimination had relatively low incomes, little education, and were not fluent in English. The members of the Chinese business community in higher structural positions and who understand the system better are generally more critical of the legal system; they are more likely to believe that police abuses occur often and that lawyers are not necessarily pursuing justice and equality. Despite their more cynical attitudes toward the implementation of the legal system, persons in higher structural positions tended to be more committed to formal legal processes than those in lower positions. Those with more interaction with the Chinese community tend to favor informal, nonlegal alternatives in conflict management, even though they are less critical of the legal system than those who prefer to use it. The majority of the sample is beginning to make substantial use of various legal services. Specifically, 80 percent report having called the police, 94 percent having consulted a lawyer and 51 percent having appeared in a court on at least one occasion. Because informal dispute processing procedures can be coercive, unfair, and with little or no recourse to appeal mechanisms, more of the members of the Chinese community should be informed about how to use the legal system. Given their gifts of community organization, the Chinese should form associations geared to improving access to and the potential benefits of legal remedies. Tabular data and 70 references are provided.