Abstract

This book stresses on the analysis of areas of Yunnan，Guizhou，Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and northwestern Sichuan where minorities including the Zang，the Yi and the Qiang are relatively concentrated. This research has investigated more than twenty-two villages and towns，fifteen prefectures and cities in Yunnan，Guizhou，Sichuan and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region，which can help to obtain better comparative reference samples since various minorities have concentrated in those towns and villages.

At present，there are two kinds of dispute settlement mechanisms among minority ethnic populations in Southwestern China，namely the national dispute settlement mechanism and non-national dispute settlement mechanism. The national dispute settlement mechanism can be divided into national judiciary dispute settlement mechanism，which is made up of the people’s court and people’s tribunal，and the national mediation dispute settlement mechanism，which includes the people’s mediation organization on three levels，office of legal service，etc. The current dispute settlement mechanisms among minority ethnic populations in Southwestern China feature relatively well-established system at the grassroots level，the strengthening of normalization of the disputes settlement mechanism，the improvement of the office facilities，and the increase of the capital input as well as the improvement of personal status. Traditional dispute settlement mechanisms have gained proper recognition and have been assimilated；the choice of dispute settlement mechanism reflects the differences of ethnic groups，regions，economic levels and dispute types.

The current problems of the disputes settlement mechanisms in Minority Ethnic Area in Southwest China lie in the existence of instrumentalism，utilitarianism and pragmatism，complication and overlapping of dispute settlement mechanisms，dominant control by political opportunism over the operation of dispute settlement mechanisms，increase of suppression and speculative in dispute settlement due to the involvement of administrative power，disorder in work division of the disputes settlement mechanisms resulting from the mediated judgment and judgment mediation，too many dispute settlement mechanisms，unavailable accessibility and even possibilities for clients to speculate，decrease in public recognition due to too much administration in the disputes settlement mechanisms，national minorities’ low recognition of varied dispute settlement mechanisms，indefinite effectiveness of varied disputes settlement mechanisms，conflict between functions of basic-level mediators and system installation and difficulty in personnel allocation and recruitment.

The construction of the dispute settlement mechanisms in Minority Ethnic Area in Southwest China should follow the following principles：autonomy in the folk society should be enhanced；the governing concepts in Minority Ethnic Area in Southwest China should be changed；political factors should be weakened and legal awareness should be improved in settling social disputes；resetting the functions and objectives of disputes settlement machanisms in social governance；repressing the influence of administrative power on the dispute settlement mechanisms；properly adopting ethnic policies in dealing with disputes among ethnic minorities and abiding by corresponding principles when recognizing the dispute settlement mechanisms and conventions of ethnic minorities. As for approaches and measures，attributes and functions of different dispute settlement mechanisms should be reasonably classified in that the judiciary mechanism and administrative mediation should give expression to nationality and legality in dispute settlement；the people’s mediation mechanism should reflect non-nationality，locality and autonomy. The people’s mediation organization must adhere to non-nationality in operation and non-justiciability during the process of dispute settlement，while the judiciary mechanism should give expression to nationality in operation mechanism and stick to serious formalism and legalism in disputes settlement and the mediation mechanism of public security should strictly abide by the “rule of law” etc. It is necessary to set the limitation of dispute settlement mechanisms and understand that in the construction of dispute settlement mechanisms diversified dispute settlement mechanisms do not mean more and more disputes settlement mechanisms，but various types of and complex and diversified dispute settlement mechanisms. Enhancing the fairness is the key to the construction of dispute settlement mechanisms. The establishment of a reasonable staff and recruitment mechanism for the grassroots mediation organization lies in decreasing the number of redundant posts and increase in the number of professional experts. In personnel recruiting，less importance should be attached to educational background and age while experience and moral quality should be stressed. The functions of traditional dispute settlement mechanisms in various ethnic minorities must be recognized on a finite basis. Traditional knowledge can be gained and some forms and ritual of the traditional dispute settlement mechanisms of some ethnic minorities can be recognized on some specific occasions through inviting some designated personnel of the national minorities to participate in dispute settlement. In order to make effective coordination among the disputes settlement mechanisms，the Law of Dispute Settlement Mechanisms of the People’s Republic of China should be made which can specify the effectiveness of and relationship among different dispute settlement mechanisms.

The construction and improvement of diversified dispute settlement mechanisms in Minority Ethnic Area in Southwest China are of great significance to national governance among the southwestern ethnic minorities，which can meet the needs of solving the diversified social disputes with regional and ethnic differences，facilitate the effective solution to disputes，ensure the stability and economic development and achieve effective governance over national minorities in southwestern China.

Key Words：Minority Ethnic Area in Southwest China；Dispute Settlement Mechanisms；Multiple Governance；Social Order