The Will of the Party.docx

The Will of the Party.docx

《The Will of the Party.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《The Will of the Party.docx（4页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

TheWilloftheParty

TheWilloftheParty

　　Followingitshigh-profileFourthPlenumheldinOctober2014，duringwhichthePartyset“rulebylaw”asitspolicypriorityforthecomingyears，theChineseleadershiphasdefined2015asacrucialyear.Theleadershipisexpectedtolaunchawiderangeofpolicyinitiativestomakeprogressonthemorethan180reformtaskshighlightedatthePartysummitlastyear.

　　Therefore，itisunsurprisingthatlegalreformhasdominatedtheagendaofthisyear’sannualTwoSessions，heldbetweenMarch3andMarch15，whentheNationalPeople’sCongress（NPC），China’stoplegislature，andChinesePeople’sPoliticalConsultativeConference（CPPCC），thecountry’shighestpoliticaladvisorybody，convenedinBeijing.

　　Atthisyear’scloselywatchedannualevent，wheretheNPC’s3，000delegatesreviewedandendorsedthegovernment’sworkofthepastyear，passednewlaws，approvedthebudgetandappointpersonnel，whilethe2，200membersoftheCPPCCmadepolicysuggestionstothegovernment，keygovernmentbodiesoutlinedarathercrowdedlegislativeagenda.

　　Pledges

　　InhisannualreportdeliveredtotheNPC，ZhangDejiang，chairmanoftheNPCStandingCommitteeandamemberoftheStandingCommitteeofthePolitburo，reviewedrevisionstoseveralmajorlawsoverthepreviousyear，suchastheadministrativelitigationlaw，whichexpandedcitizens’rightstosuetheState，aswellasenvironmentallawamendments.

　　Zhangalsooutlinedanextensivelegislativeagendaforthenextfewyears，coveringawiderangeoffieldsincludinglawsgoverningprocessestore-addressadministrativedecisions，domesticviolence，philanthropyandfoodsecurity，amongothers.

　　Moreover，ZhangDejiangrestatedtheimportanceoftheconstitution，amajorthemeoflastyear’sFourthPlenum.ZhangpledgedthattheNPCanditsStandingCommitteewillfocusonimprovingenforcementoftheconstitutionandenhancelegalsupervisionoverthecomingyear.AmongspecificmeasuresoutlinedbyZhangincludetheestablishmentoflegalproceduresforinterpretationoftheconstitution，andalegalmechanismtoreviewandrecordgovernmentregulationssothatthosethatcontradictwiththeconstitutioncanberescindedorcorrected，thoughhedidofferaspecifictimetable.

　　BesidesZhang’sspeech，reportsfromChina’sSupremePeople’sProcuratorate（SPP）andfromtheSupremePeople’sCourt（SPC）alsoreceivedwideattention.EarlierinFebruary2015，bothjudicialauthoritieslauncheddirectivestoguidejudicialreform.　　Amajorfocusofthedirectiveswastoincreasetheindependenceoflocalcourtsandprocuratoratesfromlocalgovernments.TheSupremePeople’sCourtevenset2018asthedeadlineforachievingits65reformitems，aimingtoestablishalegalenvironmentinwhichthejusticesystemcanbe“trusted，respectedandsupported”bythegeneralpublic.

　　Inrecentmonths，theSupremePeople’sCourthasalreadysetupseveralcircuitcourts，aswellastwocross-regionalcourtsbasedinBeijingandShanghai，toreducepoliticalinterferencefromlocalgovernments.

　　InhisreporttotheNPC，ZhouQiang，presidentoftheSPC，madeanunprecedentedapologyforpreviousmiscarriagesofjustice，andhighlightedeffortstopreventfutureones.AccordingtoZhou，thecourtin2014overturned1，317wrongfulconvictions，includingseveralhigh-profilecasesthathadledtostrongpublicoutcry.

　　LegislationLaw

　　Amongallthetalkoflawmakingandpledgesofreform，theareathathasreceivedthemostattention，andprovokedthemostdebate，hasbeenarevisiontotheLegislationLaw，whichwasreviewedandpassedbytheNPC.UnderChina’slegalframework，onlylawsthatareconsideredtobeofthehighestimportancecanbesubmittedtoafullNPCsession，asmostlawsaresubmitteddirectlytotheStandingCommitteeoftheNPC.

　　Regulatingtheprocessoflawmakingwithamandatesubordinateonlytotheconstitution，manylegalexpertsarguethattherevisionoftheLegislationLawcanhelpremovebarriersandclearthewayformoreseriousreform，addressingsomemajorlegalissuesembeddedwithinChina’slegalsystem.

　　Oneofthemajorrevisionsinvolvesstreamliningtheboundariesoflawmakingpowerofthecentralandlocalgovernments.

　　Whilethebillexpandedthenumberofcitiesunderthejurisdictionofalocalgovernmentfrom49to284，empoweringtheirlegislaturestomakelocallaws，italsotightlyrestrictedpowerstoissuelocallawsconcerning“ruralandurbandevelopmentandmanagement，environmentalprotection，andpreservationofhistoricalheritageandculturalvalues.”

　　SupportersoftherevisionarguedthatbyexpandingthelawmakingpowersoflocalbranchesoftheNPC，thebillwillallowChinesecitiestobetteraddresstheirownproblemsinthecontextofregionaldifferentiation.Meanwhile，othersareconcernedthatthebillwillleadtomorewidespreadabuseofpower，aslocalgovernmentswillhavethefreedomtobemorearbitraryintheirlawmaking.　　AccordingtoProfessorLiuXinfromtheChinaUniversityofPoliticalScienceandLaw，whoparticipatedindraftingtheamendment，therealsignificanceoftherevisionisthatitformallyputallgovernmentregulations，notjustlaws，underitsjurisdiction.Liuarguedthatthiswillprovidealegalfoundationforfurtherreformtocontrolarbitrarybehaviorbybothlocalandcentralgovernments.

　　Similarly，therevisedLegislationLawalsoextendsitsjurisdictionbeyondcriminallawtoencompass“allforcefulStatemeasuresthatconstrainhumanfreedom，”whichProfessorLiusaidhasalsoclearedthewayfortheabolitionofvariousextra-legaldetentionmechanismssuchasforcedlaborcampsforthosefoundguiltyofdrugoffenses.

　　Anothermajorhighlightoftherevisedlawisthatitformallyestablishestheprincipleofstatutorytaxation.Currently，ofChina’s18existingitemsoftaxation，onlythree?

Cindividualincometax，corporateincometax，andvehicleandvesseltax?

Carebackedbylegislation，whiletheremainderarebasedonformalprovisionalregulationsissuedbytheStateCouncil，China’scabinet.

　　Theresultisthattaxesareoftenleviedandalteredarbitrarilybygovernmentagencies，amajorsourceofpublicdissatisfaction.InJanuary，2015theFinanceMinistry’sdecisiontoincreaseconsumptiontaxongasolinethreetimeswithin45daysledtopublicoutcry.

　　FuYing，spokeswomanfortheNPC，toldapressconferencethatChinaaimstorealizefullstatutorytaxationby2020?

CamovethatmanyinterpretedasasignthattherevisionoftheLegislationLawwillbefollowedbyconcretemeasurestoreiningovernmentpowers.

　　Law-abidingParty

　　Formanyobservers，thegeneraltrendofChina’slegalreformappearstobeastrengtheningoflawmakingpowerandNPCsupervisionwithinChina’slegalsystem.Butthingsmaynotbeexactlyastheyseem.

　　Inhisspeech，ZhangDejiangalsosaidthattheNPCwillestablishlegalmechanismsto“seekinstructionfrom”and“reportto”theParty，adetailthathasbaffledmanyChinawatchers.

　　Foralongtime，advocatesoflegalreformhavearguedforamoreindependentNPC，whiletheideaofaguidance-seekingprocedureappearstobeastepintheoppositedirection.

　　AccordingtoHanZhu，apoliticalscientistfromtheChunqiuDevelopmentStrategyResearchInstitute，aShanghai-basedthinktank，theconceptreflectsamoreactiveapproachbythePartytoincorporateitsleadershipintoChina’sexistinglegalframework，simultaneouslyassertingitsrulingstatus.　　“AlthoughChina’sconstitutionendorsestheParty’srulingstatus，itdoesnotofferaclearlegalintegrationoftherelationshipbe-tweentheParty’sleadershipandtheauthorityoflaw，”HantoldNewsChina.TheresultiswhilesomeviewtherelationshipbetweenthePartyandthelawastwoforcesrunningparalleltooneanother，othersadoptaverticalinterpretationthatputsthePartyabovethelaw，Hansaid.

　　“Drawingpainfullessonsfromitsexperiencesoverthelastthreedecades，thePartyhasfinallyrealizedthatitcanneitherplaceitselfabovethelegalsystem，noractasanexternalforcethatrunsparallelwiththelaw，asthiswillnotonlyunderminetheauthorityoflaw，butalsothelegitimacyoftheParty，”saidHan.

　　Han’sargumentwasechoedbySunXiaoxia，deanoftheLawSchooloftheShanghai-basedFudanUniversity.“Forseveraldecades，thePartyhaschosentogoaroundthetheoreticalquestionoftherelationshipbetweenitsleadershipandtheauthorityofthelaw，”LiutoldNewsChina，“buttheXiJinpingadministrationhaschosentoconfrontthischallengedirectly.”

　　ThesuggestiontoestablishalegalprocedurewithintheNPCtomakeitdirectlyanswerabletothePartyindicatesthattheCPChasbegunanattempttolegalizeitsleadershipthroughestablishedjudicialprocedure.Bydoingso，thePartycanarguethatdefendingtheauthorityofthelawanddefendingtheParty’srulearetwosidesofthesamecoin.

　　“TheParty，withitsrulingstatus，willserveasanintegralcomponentandleadingpowerintheprocessofestablishingrulebylaw，ratherthanaforcethatunderminesthelaw’sauthority，”saidHan.

　　WhenaskedabouttheroleoftheParty’sleadershipinthereformoftheNPCatapressconferenceonMarch9，KanKe，deputydirectoroftheNPC’sLegislativeAffairsCommissionrepeatedlyemphasizedtheimportanceof“legalprocedures.”

　　“TheParty’sleadershipwillbeachievedthroughturningtheParty’swillintogovernmentpolicythroughlegalprocedures，”saidKan.

　　AccordingtoProfessorSun，theParty’s“socialistruleoflaw”approach，whichfocusesonestablishingtheauthorityofthelaw，mayprovideanempiricalsolutiontotheheatedideologicaldebatesofthepastfe