China seeks to establish a comprehensive legal system by 2010,
Xiao
Yang, president of the Supreme People's Court, said
yesterday.
"The system will feature seven major categories," he said when
delivering a speech at the ongoing 22nd Congress on the Law of the
World in Shanghai.
The first involves the Constitution and relevant laws, which are
the foundation for the protection of civil rights and regulating
state powers. After several amendments in the past, China's
Constitution has integrated more modern rule-of-law practices, Xiao
said.
The second are civil and commercial laws, which are considered
the legal form of a market economy. He said China's top
legislature is accelerating the enactment of a unified Civil
Code.
The third is administrative laws, an important basis for
administration according to the rule of law. "China is currently in
the process of drafting a batch of administrative laws, including
one for administrative enforcement," said Xiao, praising China's
transformation from "administration according to policies" to
"administration according to laws."
The fourth is economic laws, which will serve to maintain and
guarantee the order of the market economy through appropriate
government intervention.
According to Xiao, China is actively drafting anti-monopoly,
anti-dumping and subsidy laws so as to further improve the legal
system of state control of market operations.
The fifth is social laws, according to Xiao, which are
designed to protect the interests of laborers and disadvantaged
groups such as the unemployed and the disabled.
The sixth is criminal laws.
The last ones, said Xiao, are litigation and non-litigation
procedure laws, which are of great significance in maintaining
social fairness and justice.
"To date, China's criminal, civil and administrative procedure
laws combine to form a relatively comprehensive system," said Xiao.
He said that after more than 20 years of development, China's legal
system framework has begun to take shape.
World
Law Conference Program
(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2005)