In the three decades from 1949, when the PRC was founded, to 1978, the NPC
formulated 134 laws, 16 of which are still in force today. When the reform and
opening-up policies were initiated in the late 1970s, China's socialist
democratic legal construction entered a new era. In 1982, the NPC revised the
Constitution, and adopted four amendments to it in the ensuing years. So far,
the NPC and its Standing Committee have enacted more than 200 laws that are
still in effect and over 200 decisions on legal issues. The local people's
congresses and their standing committees have enacted more than 7,500 local
regulations that are still in effect, and the people's congresses of ethnic
autonomous areas have enacted more than 600 regulations on the exercise of
autonomy and other regulations.
In recent years, democracy has been promoted continuously in China's
legislation. Experts are invited to give their opinions at symposia organized on
the draft of almost every bill. In some cases, the legislative organ even
entrusts specialized research institutions to draft the bills. For bills aiming
at adjusting important social relations, the standing committees of local
people's congresses often hold hearings to let parties with different interests
voice their opinions. The Legislation Law of China has included provisions on
legislative hearings. Since 1982, the NPC and its Standing Committee have
published the drafts of a dozen important bills that are closely related to the
immediate interests of the people, including the amendments to the Constitution,
the draft for revision of the Marriage Law, the draft of the Contract Law, and
the draft of the Property Law, to solicit public opinion during the process of
formulation. The direct participation of the people in the formulation of laws
has not only improved the quality of legislation and ensured that the laws fully
represent the will and demands of the people, but has also enhanced the whole
society's sense of law, so that the laws can be enforced in a smooth way after
adoption.
- Power of supervision. To supervise the enforcement of the Constitution and
the law is a major content of the supervisory power exercised by the NPC and its
Standing Committee. The basic way such supervision is carried out is by
examination of the enforcement of laws and by checking the reporting of
regulations for the record. Regarding the examination of law enforcement, the
Standing Committee of the Ninth NPC conducted 22 examinations of the enforcement
of 21 laws, and the Standing Committee of the Tenth NPC examined the enforcement
of 10 laws in the period 2003-2004. The standing committees of the local
people's congresses have also examined the enforcement of laws and relevant
regulations within their respective administrative areas. Through the
examination of law enforcement, the standing committees of the people's
congresses have obtained detailed information about the true situation and
existing problems in the enforcement of laws and regulations, and urged the
governments, the courts and the procuratorates at the same level to improve
their law-enforcement work, and thus ensured that the organs in charge of law
enforcement act in accordance with the law and exercise judicial power justly.
Regarding checking on the reporting of regulations for the record, more than
7,500 local regulations, 600 regulations on the exercise of autonomy and
separate regulations, and nearly 300 regulations applied to the special economic
zones have so far been filed to the NPC Standing Committee for the record. The
Standing Committee of the Tenth NPC has set up a special examining organ to
further standardize this work. The standing committees of the people's
congresses at the provincial level and of big cities have also examined, in
accordance with the law, the reporting of rules and regulations for the record
by the local governments. Through these efforts, rules and regulations that
contravene the Constitution and the law are annulled, and organs that have
formulated regulations that include inappropriate articles and clauses are urged
to correct them. This is of great significance for keeping the legal system of
the state in unison. In recent years, the NPC Standing Committee has started to
examine the reporting for the record of judicial interpretations by the Supreme
People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
To supervise the work of the governments, the courts and the procuratorates
are another important part of the supervisory power of the people's congresses
and their standing committees at the corresponding level. To hear and review the
work reports of the State Council, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme
People's Procuratorate are a basic means by which the NPC and its Standing
Committee exercise their power of supervision. When the people's congresses are
in session, the people's governments, people's courts and people's
procuratorates at the same level shall report their work to the session, and the
people's governments shall submit their draft budgets and draft plans for
national economic and social development, and the draft budgets shall be
reviewed for approval by the session. When the standing committees of the
people's congresses are in session, they hear work reports and reports on issues
that are significant to the reform, development and stability, as well as urgent
topics or difficulties that are related to the immediate interests of the
people. The Standing Committee of the Ninth NPC heard and reviewed 40 special
reports during its five-year tenure, and the Standing Committee of the Tenth NPC
has heard and reviewed 22 special reports in the first two years of its tenure.
- Power of personnel appointment and removal. The people's congresses and
their standing committees have the power to elect, decide on, appoint or remove,
replace or recall members of relevant organs of state power. The NPC elects the
president and the vice-president of the PRC, and the chairperson of the Central
Military Commission of the state; decides on the choice of the premier of the
State Council upon nomination by the president; decides on the choice of the
vice-premiers, state councilors, ministers in charge of various ministries or
commissions, the auditor-general and the secretary-general of the State Council
upon nomination by the premier; upon nomination by the chairman of the Central
Military Commission of the state, decides on the choice of all other members of
the Central Military Commission; and elects the president of the Supreme
People's Court and the procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
The local people's congresses at all levels exercise their power to elect,
decide on, appoint or remove, replace or recall members of local organs of state
power in accordance with the law.
