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Laws from Sketches to Details on NPC
(Xinhua) Updated: 2008-03-08 19:10 From Sketches to Details China's legal system was non-existent during the 10-year Cultural Revolution. It was the late leader Deng Xiaoping's call for reform and opening up 30 years ago that ushered in the building of a "socialist legal framework" that is still under construction. "Three decades ago, after the country went through the Cultural Revolution and moved toward reform and opening-up, lawmakers were busy drafting fundamental laws, such as the criminal law and the civil code, as there were huge gaps in the country's legal system, " Cai said. When China set out to streamline the government in the 1980s, lawmakers made corresponding codes to regulate administrative activities; and when building a market economy became a top priority after 1992, the legislature promulgated laws to protect consumers, as well as other civil and commercial laws. "The past five years saw more complicated issues emerging and society became more diverse, with more interest groups. This pushed the legislature to fractionalize the laws and include practical, detailed items," Cai said. He cited as an example the fact that, although there was already a labor law in force, the NPC Standing Committee still went on to make a law on labor contracts. "Just as lawmakers were busy handing down new laws 30 years ago, they are busy revising the existing ones today. The legal framework is basically complete, but there is still much to do to regulate different social interests," said Xu Xianming, president of the China University of Political Science and Law and an NPC deputy. History is already repeating itself, at least numerically. The NPC passed seven pieces of legislation in 1979 at the end of a legislative session; all were new laws, including the criminal code and the criminal procedural law. At the end of last year, an NPC Standing Committee session also adopted seven pieces of legislation, but the difference was that five were amendments to existing laws. "Laws are in place for the big issues of political, economic and social life. Now it is time to move into the era of details," said Xu. |
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