The Will of the Party.docx

1、The Will of the PartyThe Will of the Party Following its high-profile Fourth Plenum held in October 2014， during which the Party set “rule by law” as its policy priority for the coming years， the Chinese leadership has defined 2015 as a crucial year. The leadership is expected to launch a wide range

2、 of policy initiatives to make progress on the more than 180 reform tasks highlighted at the Party summit last year. Therefore， it is unsurprising that legal reform has dominated the agenda of this years annual Two Sessions， held between March 3 and March 15， when the National Peoples Congress （NPC）

3、， Chinas top legislature， and Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference （CPPCC）， the countrys highest political advisory body， convened in Beijing. At this years closely watched annual event， where the NPCs 3，000 delegates reviewed and endorsed the governments work of the past year， passed n

4、ew laws， approved the budget and appoint personnel， while the 2，200 members of the CPPCC made policy suggestions to the government， key government bodies outlined a rather crowded legislative agenda. Pledges In his annual report delivered to the NPC， Zhang Dejiang， chairman of the NPC Standing Commi

5、ttee and a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo， reviewed revisions to several major laws over the previous year， such as the administrative litigation law， which expanded citizens rights to sue the State， as well as environmental law amendments. Zhang also outlined an extensive legisla

6、tive agenda for the next few years， covering a wide range of fields including laws governing processes to re-address administrative decisions， domestic violence， philanthropy and food security， among others. Moreover， Zhang Dejiang restated the importance of the constitution， a major theme of last y

7、ears Fourth Plenum. Zhang pledged that the NPC and its Standing Committee will focus on improving enforcement of the constitution and enhance legal supervision over the coming year. Among specific measures outlined by Zhang include the establishment of legal procedures for interpretation of the cons

8、titution， and a legal mechanism to review and record government regulations so that those that contradict with the constitution can be rescinded or corrected， though he did offer a specific timetable. Besides Zhangs speech， reports from Chinas Supreme Peoples Procuratorate （SPP） and from the Supreme

9、 Peoples Court （SPC） also received wide attention. Earlier in February 2015， both judicial authorities launched directives to guide judicial reform. A major focus of the directives was to increase the independence of local courts and procuratorates from local governments. The Supreme Peoples Court e

10、ven set 2018 as the deadline for achieving its 65 reform items， aiming to establish a legal environment in which the justice system can be “trusted， respected and supported” by the general public. In recent months， the Supreme Peoples Court has already set up several circuit courts， as well as two c

11、ross-regional courts based in Beijing and Shanghai， to reduce political interference from local governments. In his report to the NPC， Zhou Qiang， president of the SPC， made an unprecedented apology for previous miscarriages of justice， and highlighted efforts to prevent future ones. According to Zh

12、ou， the court in 2014 overturned 1，317 wrongful convictions， including several high-profile cases that had led to strong public outcry. Legislation Law Among all the talk of lawmaking and pledges of reform， the area that has received the most attention， and provoked the most debate， has been a revis

13、ion to the Legislation Law， which was reviewed and passed by the NPC. Under Chinas legal framework， only laws that are considered to be of the highest importance can be submitted to a full NPC session， as most laws are submitted directly to the Standing Committee of the NPC. Regulating the process o

14、f lawmaking with a mandate subordinate only to the constitution， many legal experts argue that the revision of the Legislation Law can help remove barriers and clear the way for more serious reform， addressing some major legal issues embedded within Chinas legal system. One of the major revisions in

15、volves streamlining the boundaries of lawmaking power of the central and local governments. While the bill expanded the number of cities under the jurisdiction of a local government from 49 to 284， empowering their legislatures to make local laws， it also tightly restricted powers to issue local law

16、s concerning “rural and urban development and management， environmental protection， and preservation of historical heritage and cultural values.” Supporters of the revision argued that by expanding the lawmaking powers of local branches of the NPC， the bill will allow Chinese cities to better addres

17、s their own problems in the context of regional differentiation. Meanwhile， others are concerned that the bill will lead to more widespread abuse of power， as local governments will have the freedom to be more arbitrary in their lawmaking. According to Professor Liu Xin from the China University of

18、Political Science and Law， who participated in drafting the amendment， the real significance of the revision is that it formally put all government regulations， not just laws， under its jurisdiction. Liu argued that this will provide a legal foundation for further reform to control arbitrary behavio

19、r by both local and central governments. Similarly， the revised Legislation Law also extends its jurisdiction beyond criminal law to encompass “all forceful State measures that constrain human freedom，” which Professor Liu said has also cleared the way for the abolition of various extra-legal detent

20、ion mechanisms such as forced labor camps for those found guilty of drug offenses. Another major highlight of the revised law is that it formally establishes the principle of statutory taxation. Currently， of Chinas 18 existing items of taxation， only three ?C individual income tax， corporate income

21、 tax， and vehicle and vessel tax ?C are backed by legislation， while the remainder are based on formal provisional regulations issued by the State Council， Chinas cabinet. The result is that taxes are often levied and altered arbitrarily by government agencies， a major source of public dissatisfacti

22、on. In January， 2015 the Finance Ministrys decision to increase consumption tax on gasoline three times within 45 days led to public outcry. Fu Ying， spokeswoman for the NPC， told a press conference that China aims to realize full statutory taxation by 2020 ?C a move that many interpreted as a sign

23、that the revision of the Legislation Law will be followed by concrete measures to rein in government powers. Law-abiding Party For many observers， the general trend of Chinas legal reform appears to be a strengthening of lawmaking power and NPC supervision within Chinas legal system. But things may

24、not be exactly as they seem. In his speech， Zhang Dejiang also said that the NPC will establish legal mechanisms to“seek instruction from” and “report to” the Party， a detail that has baffled many China watchers. For a long time， advocates of legal reform have argued for a more independent NPC， whil

25、e the idea of a guidance-seeking procedure appears to be a step in the opposite direction. According to Han Zhu， a political scientist from the Chunqiu Development Strategy Research Institute， a Shanghai-based think tank， the concept reflects a more active approach by the Party to incorporate its le

26、adership into Chinas existing legal framework， simultaneously asserting its ruling status. “Although Chinas constitution endorses the Partys ruling status， it does not offer a clear legal integration of the relationship be- tween the Partys leadership and the authority of law，” Han told NewsChina. T

27、he result is while some view the relationship between the Party and the law as two forces running parallel to one another， others adopt a vertical interpretation that puts the Party above the law， Han said. “Drawing painful lessons from its experiences over the last three decades， the Party has fina

28、lly realized that it can neither place itself above the legal system， nor act as an external force that runs parallel with the law， as this will not only undermine the authority of law， but also the legitimacy of the Party，”said Han. Hans argument was echoed by Sun Xiaoxia， dean of the Law School of

29、 the Shanghai-based Fudan University. “For several decades， the Party has chosen to go around the theoretical question of the relationship between its leadership and the authority of the law，” Liu told NewsChina，“but the Xi Jinping administration has chosen to confront this challenge directly.” The

30、suggestion to establish a legal procedure within the NPC to make it directly answerable to the Party indicates that the CPC has begun an attempt to legalize its leadership through established judicial procedure. By doing so， the Party can argue that defending the authority of the law and defending t

31、he Partys rule are two sides of the same coin. “The Party， with its ruling status， will serve as an integral component and leading power in the process of establishing rule by law， rather than a force that undermines the laws authority，” said Han. When asked about the role of the Partys leadership i

32、n the reform of the NPC at a press conference on March 9， Kan Ke， deputy director of the NPCs Legislative Affairs Commission repeatedly emphasized the importance of “legal procedures.” “The Partys leadership will be achieved through turning the Partys will into government policy through legal procedures，” said Kan. According to Professor Sun， the Partys“socialist rule of law”approach， which focuses on establishing the authority of the law， may provide an empirical solution to the heated ideological debates of the past fe