Straton Papagianneas is a PhD Candidate at the Institute for Area Studies.

More information about Straton Papagianneas

Research Project

Straton is a PhD candidate at the Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS). He is part of the project called “The Smart State: Law, Governance and Technology in China”, under the supervision of Dr. Rogier Creemers. The project aims to identify how Chinese governance practices and techniques evolve through the use of technologies including big data and artificial intelligence, also investigating how these systems require new forms of regulation in turn, most notably in the area of cybersecurity and data protection.

His PhD project will evaluate the role of smart systems in the post-4th Plenum legal reform agenda. This agenda intends to enhance the professionalization of courts and law enforcement bodies, strengthen courts’ autonomy from local governments, broaden access to justice, and give priority to formal litigation. This project will review whether and how smart systems contribute to realizing these objectives, and how different categories of agents (law enforcement officers, judges, lawyers, court users, etc.) influence this process.

Due to the interdisciplinary approach of his project, Straton is also connected to the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society (VVI) and the eLaw – Center for Law and Digital Technologies.

Education

2018-2019: International & Chinese Law at Wuhan University
2017-2018: Postgraduate Economic Diplomacy at the Brussels Diplomatic Academy
2015-2017: MA Chinese Studies with a minor in Development Economics at Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg.
2012-2015: BA in Language & Area Studies: Sinology with a minor in Economic Policy and Management at the Catholic University of Leuven
Summer 2014: Summer Programme in Chinese Law at Shanghai Jiao Tong University

CV

2018 – present: Senior Editor at Mapping China
2018 – present: Team Member at the Stanford Law School China Guiding Cases Project
03. 2019 – 07. 2019: Research Assistant at the International Law Research Institute
04. 2018 – 07. 2018: Legal Intern at Da Wo Law Firm in Shanghai

Publications

• Papagianneas, Straton (2021) Towards Smarter and Fairer Justice? A Review of the Chinese Scholarship on Building Smart Courts and Automating Justice, Journal of Current Chinese Affairs. doi: 10.1177/18681026211021412.

• Papagianneas, Straton, Smart Courts and Governance in the PRC (February 1, 2021). Available at SSRN

• Papagianneas, Straton, Automated Justice and Fairness in the PRC (January 19, 2021). Available at SSRN

• The AIIB: A New Shift to Chinese Multilateralism? Mapping China Working Papers. March 2019.

• Leta-Hong Fincher. Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China. London: Verso, 2019. Mapping China Book Review. October 2018.

Language Skills