The draft of the Shenzhen Special Zone Civilized Behavior Promotion Regulation marks the first time in China that local authorities can legislate citizens' civilized behaviors, says an article in Beijing Times. Excerpts:

A sound legal system and effective law enforcement can help people behave better in public places, which is the positive result Shenzhen's civilized behavior draft may bring.

But punishment is crucial to legislation. A low fine can hardly stop violators and may even encourage them to break the law. But a heavy fine goes against the purpose of promoting civilized behavior, and may lead to arbitrary fines. It's important to make the law reasonable and practicable.

Another problem is how to guarantee civilized law enforcement. It's difficult for police to supervise people's behaviors considering the huge population in urban areas. If there are specific law enforcement to do this job, they should strictly behave themselves and enforce the law in a civilized way. Effective and civilized law enforcement is as important as making a good law.