OTHERWISE: China's CP Releases New Set of NPC-Related Reform Goals in First Five-Year Plan on Building Rule of Law in China

Sunday, January 10, 2021

China's CP Releases New Set of NPC-Related Reform Goals in First Five-Year Plan on Building Rule of Law in China - NPC Observer

As China's legal system developed in the past forty years - a process that had been interrupted by fifty years of war and revolution - little heed was payed to the Constitution. Amendable by a simple vote of the parliament - the National People's Congress, it was an aspirational, and structural document that provided no firm constraints on legislation or legal institutions such as police and prosecutors. This new set of goals suggests that more meaningful use of the Constitution may be in the offing as the Party seeks ways to increase the effectiveness of its rule.

Of course, like other legal systems, norms established may fail in practice. Thus we see in China lawyers and dissenters facing prosecution for "picking quarrels", stretching a law that was plainly designed to deal with picking fights in person to cover statements posted on WeChat or other internet platforms.

But there is no doubt that in ordinary cases the government has sought consistently to enhance the effectiveness of its legal system. - GWC

Communist Party Releases New Set of NPC-Related Reform Goals in First Five-Year Plan on Building Rule of Law in China - NPC Observer

On Sunday, January 10, 2021, the Communist Party releases China’s first Plan on Building the Rule of Law in China [法治中国建设规划], for the years 2020 to 2025. According to an unnamed Party official interviewed by Xinhua, the Plan was approved by two top Party institutions: the Central Commission for Overall Law-Based Governance and the Politburo Standing Committee. The Plan is a comprehensive document addressing all aspects of China’s legal reform. Not only does it restate and refine reform objectives laid down since the 18th Party Congress in 2012, it also includes new reform goals. Below, we will focus on four subsections of the Plan that set forth new reform goals relating to the NPC. We will translate the relevant parts of those subsections and supplement with our comments.