Door about to close on forced home demolitions
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Property owners in China may soon see the end of forced demolitions, which have triggered conflicts and even seen people set themselves on fire in their desperation to hang onto their homes.
A draft law being discussed by the nation's top legislature calls for an end to the use of violence, intimidation and other illegal means by both local administrations looking to take possession of people's homes and third-parties acting on their behalf.
It also rules out such property seizures taking place on holidays or at night, unless there is an emergency that justifies it.
The draft law on administrative coercion was submitted for its fourth review on Wednesday, two years after it was last reviewed.
According to the Legislation Law, draft laws can be abolished if they are not reviewed within two years of their previous reading by the legislature.
Qiao Xiaoyang, deputy director of the National People's Congress (NPC) Law Committee, told members of the NPC Standing Committee that the fourth draft, which is designed to regularize administrative coercive power, also seeks to "protect people's legal rights and supervise administrations in the performance of their duties in accordance with the law".
Qiao, who made the remarks during a three-day bimonthly session of the top legislature, said the draft law has gradually been refined during the past six years and noted that the committee has solicited more than 3,800 suggestions from the public since its third review in 2009.
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