Abstract: There are two models of third-party evaluation of the rule of law in China: evaluation under entrustment and independent evaluation. The two models are quite different from each other in terms of legal nature, governance mechanism and operation process. They represent two different driving forces of the development of the rule of law: one is top-down political impetus, and the other is bottom-up social and competitive impetus. They also represent the functional mechanisms of two different paradigms of the rule of law: independent evaluation is a new technique of data governance embodying in a concentrated way the transformation of the paradigm of the rule of law. Third-party evaluation, as a new thing, is currently faced with such practical problems as lack of norms of conduct, unclear direction of evaluation function, and possible aggravation of the burden of assessment targets. Only by deepening the theoretical understanding of third-party evaluation, can we correctly adjust the direction of future development of this system, advance the construction of relevant institutions, and speed up the process of institutional openness.

Keywords:third-party evaluation, law-based governance, driving forces of the rule of law, data governance, paradigm of the rule of law

The author of this article is a research fellow at and a deputy director of CASS Law Institute. This article is published in 3 (2021) Chinese Journal of Law.