Government and Policy

Draft law to stop power abuse under 4th review

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-20 22:41

BEIJING - China's lawmakers considered for the fourth time the draft Law on Administrative Coercion on Wednesday, in a move to effectively restrain administrative power abuse.

If the administrative agencies decided to extend the period of sealing or seizure of the properties, equipments or places for regulation violations, they should give timely notice and explanation to the parties involved, the new draft says.

The previous, or the third draft only stipulated that due notice be given to the parities in extended enforcement actions.

The new draft was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, for its fourth reading.

Previously, the NPC Standing Committee had reviewed the draft law three times in 2005, 2007 and 2009. It had also published the draft in August 2009 to seek public feedback.

According to a statement issued by the NPC Standing Committee Wednesday, it has received over 3,800 public submissions that included opinions and suggestions on the draft, and it has amended the draft according to the submissions and advice from legislators after that.

The new draft stipulates that if the parities involved or the properties sealed off or seized are found irrelevant to the violation, the enforcement action must be removed in a timely manner.

Mandatory measures should also be removed upon their expirations or if they are found to be no longer necessary, it says.

The NPC Standing Committee opened its bimonthly session here Wednesday, where it will be reading over a series of drafts, law amendments and reports.