Rule of law is an essential task for China (Part I)
- By Dong Yawei
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E-mail China.org.cn, October 21, 2014
China.org.cn:
What issues do you think will be included in the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee rule of law agenda?Dong: First, from the nation management system perspective, the rule of law is the big issue for our Party, country and all levels of society. You can't interpret the "law" using a narrow definition and you should see it as the important measure and strategy of the Party's approaches to its rule. So I think the first major question is how our Party will rule the country according to the law, in democratic and scientific ways.
Second, looking at the law itself, our Party has always said there must be laws to go by, laws must be observed and strictly enforced, and lawbreakers must be prosecuted. So issues related to the Party's legislation, citizens' obedience to the law and the government's enforcement will all be on the agenda.
From the legislation perspective, there are laws to go by; but there will be new laws to fill some blanks, such as the property tax law and the estate tax law.
In terms of enforcement, I think the Fourth Plenary Session will set some new rules to regulate the governing approach in the future and ensure that the government acts according to law. In other words, there must be legislation to define what the government should do and what is not their business.
From the society perspective, citizens should be made to obey the law consciously. The concept and idea of law should be brought into their daily life and activities, to let them know in their hearts that the law is the top priority.
Third, we will have to deal with the relationship between the Party and the justice system. The justice system must be reformed and the people are calling for justice enforcement. The Third Plenary Session has released many measures and designated pilot areas for government behaviors being restricted by the law and citizens. So, at the Fourth Plenary Session, judicial reform is a very important agenda item and a big issue related to the political system and administrative system.
Fourth, I think the Fourth Plenary Session will cover the issue of how to educate people to obey the law. Spreading the rule of law concept and consciousness inside the whole of society is connected to the core values of patriotism, honesty and obeying the law.
Fifth, the Party's self-reform and its adaption to the rule of law. In reality, a lack of order in society, to a certain degree, has resulted from the leadership approach that doesn't fit the rule of law. Therefore I think that at the Fourth Plenary Session, our Party's leaders will discuss how the work mechanism, leadership, and administrative system can meet the demands of the rule of law.
Sixth is the question of how to make the current political system fully function. Since the Constitution was passed in 1954, the People's Congress system is the core political system in China. But the system still doesn't function well. So there must be new decisions, policies and measures to secure the People's Congress as the top power organ in the nation's management system.
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