Wedding and funeral banquets must be reported in writing to the neighborhood committee? Administrative law expert: There is no need and no basis for the official to stop

CCTV News (Reporter/Kan Chunyu Li Dongxu): Recently, it was reported on the Internet that the Residents Committee of the Northern Suburbs Community of Dongcheng Street, Nanchuan District, Chongqing Municipality issued a "Notice" on prohibiting indiscriminate banquets. According to the notice, the wedding wine must be declared in writing to the neighborhood committee of the northern suburbs community 10 days in advance, and the funeral can be reported within 5 working days during or after the event; the restaurant should check the declaration form of the person who collects the banquet when receiving the reservation, and report to the district market supervision bureau and the township (street) where the banquet venue is located within the day of accepting the reservation.

The "Notice" aroused the attention and discussion of netizens. Some netizens questioned, "Does the neighborhood committee have this power?" and "Why do you have to approve everything", and some netizens who claimed to be local residents expressed their support for the rectification, "The atmosphere of holding banquets is very serious, and this is done as a business", "The atmosphere is extremely unright, and everyone is forced to keep drinking and collecting money".

On the morning of April 9, a staff member of the Civilization Office of Nanchuan District, Chongqing Municipality confirmed to a reporter from CCTV's "News +" that wedding and funeral banquets in the district need to fill in the application form, such as the college banquet, housewarming banquet and other banquets are nothing to do, "the current policy is that they are not allowed."

In December 2023, Nanchuan District released the "Questionnaire on Abuse of Banquets" through local media. The staff of the Nanchuan District Civilization Office mentioned that many complaints were received from citizens in this questionnaire survey, "everyone feels that the burden of human favor is too heavy to support."

According to the official WeChat public account of Nanchuan Rong Media Center, on March 26, Nanchuan District, Chongqing Municipality held a leading group meeting and work promotion meeting for the special governance of urban and rural residents' abuse of banquets in the district. At the meeting, it was proposed that it is necessary to do a solid and effective job in the management of indiscriminate banquets, consolidate work responsibilities, strengthen departmental linkage, strengthen publicity and education, strictly supervise and accountability, create a strong civilized atmosphere, and resolutely and effectively curb the unhealthy trend of indiscriminate banquets.

In addition, according to the WeChat public account of Wenming Nanchuan, Muliang Town and Lengshuiguan Town, Nanchuan District, Chongqing City, have recently carried out the "Special Governance of Abuse of Banquets" work promotion meeting.

According to media reports, since April this year, a number of communities in Nanchuan District, Chongqing Municipality have issued notices to rectify indiscriminate banquets, and community staff on Nanyuan Road, Nancheng Street, Nanchuan District, also said that wedding drinks should be reported in advance.

Xie Zhiyong, a professor at the School of Comparative Law at China University of Political Science and Law, has been concerned about the field of administrative law for many years and is the author of the book "Administrative Rule of Law and Its Tasks". In an interview with CCTV's "News +" reporter, he said that it is necessary to change customs, but it must be done within the framework of the law. "The residents' committee does not have the power to set administrative permits and arbitrarily interfere with the actions of individual residents, which is beyond the boundaries of its authority granted to it by law. ”

On the evening of April 9, the Nanchuan District Civilization Office issued a notice on this matter, saying that after investigation, there were deviations in the understanding of the policy in the implementation of individual streets and communities in the district, and there were problems such as "simplification" and "one-size-fits-all" in the way of work, and the Nanchuan District Civilization Office had instructed the relevant streets and communities to immediately stop improper practices. In the next step, we will draw inferences from one case and conduct a comprehensive investigation throughout the region, further guide the towns and streets in the jurisdiction to improve their working methods, and do a good job in civilized advocacy on the basis of reasonableness, reasonableness and legality.

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News+: The community neighborhood committee issued a "Notice", requiring a written declaration in advance for the wedding banquet. Is this reasonable?

Xie Zhiyong: I don't think there is any need or basis for such an approach.

Residents' committees cannot arbitrarily interfere with the actions of individual residents, which in fact exceeds the boundaries of the authority conferred on them by law.

Some of the expressions in this "Notice", such as the need for written declaration and approval, are very similar to administrative approval or administrative licensing, and the residents' committee has no power to set up permits and implement permits.

It is a bit inexplicable to ask the restaurant to check the declaration form when receiving the reservation of the banquet. It is enough for the restaurant to comply with the Food Safety Law and other laws and regulations and operate in accordance with the law, and the residents' committee has no right to interfere in the legitimate business activities of the business entity.

News+: The "Notice" mentions that if anyone does not listen to the dissuasion and abuses the banquet, the public security organs, the market supervision bureau, the fire department and other departments will jointly enforce the law. Does the residents' committee have such authority?

Xie Zhiyong: Residents' committees cannot order administrative law enforcement agencies to carry out administrative activities according to their own intentions, unless the Circular is the intention of the people's government at a higher level. But the document does not show that the residents' committee has usurped its authority. If the public security organs or market regulation departments are involved in the governance of such matters, the people's government must take the lead.

News+: What role should residents' committees play in social life?

Xie Zhiyong: The autonomy of villagers' committees and residents' committees is actually a very distinctive system in the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, and it is also an important part of the mainland's political system.

The position of the residents' committee in the law is self-management, self-education, and self-service, and the main emphasis is on its management of public affairs, such as where the environment needs to be beautified, which elderly people need to be cared for, and what residents need, and what the residents' committee provides.

The Organic Law of the People's Republic of China on Urban Residents' Committees also requires residents' committees to cooperate with and assist in the management of public order and even community corrections.

At present, many residents' committees have been converted from villagers' committees in an organized system, and they have some public affairs, especially those involving civilized customs, which are generally resolved through village rules and conventions. However, village rules and conventions must first of all not be unconstitutional, illegal, or contrary to state policies, and secondly, they must obtain the consent of the residents, follow the principle of the minority obeying the majority, and change customs through a method approved by everyone.

News+: What measures are more reasonable to take to promote the change of customs?

Xie Zhiyong: It is true that there are some areas where the atmosphere of holding banquets is more prosperous, birthdays, children go to school, and ...... Holding a banquet for various reasons has led to an unbalanced psychology among people, and some people will think, I give others a share, and if I don't let me hold a banquet now, I will lose money. It is very difficult to change the cultural perception of regional folklore. I believe that the residents' committee did not deliberately abuse its power and create trouble, but also wanted to achieve the goal of creating a civilized urban area. But in any case, it must be done within the framework of the law.

For example, if some people choose not to hold a banquet, the government or residents' committee should give some incentives and commendations if conditions permit, and guide everyone to gradually abandon the abuse of banquets.

Conventional thinking should not be used to intervene forcefully, and it is not appropriate to approve or even punish them.

News+: In recent years, some grassroots workers have reported that the higher-level authorities have demanded that the responsibilities be consolidated at all levels, and some of the measures criticized by residents are aimed at completing the tasks set by the higher-level authorities. How can this situation be improved?

Xie Zhiyong: "A thousand lines at the top, a needle at the bottom." Whether it is the obligation of state governance stipulated in laws and regulations, or some phased goals required by state policies, who is finally achieving them? Basically, from the perspective of the organs, they are all the people's governments below the county level and their subordinate departments, and then the township and town people's governments, including the neighborhood and village (resident) committees, and many things are indeed implemented by them. However, it does not mean that they have to be implemented, and this is sometimes related to the level of awareness of the administrative organs at all levels.

For example, can the matter of changing customs be solved through the approval of the village (resident) committee?

If the administrative organ decides that it cannot solve the problem in this way, and wants to achieve social governance in a democratic way by advocating and formulating village rules and agreements, then it will not set a time limit, formulate some punishment measures, and require the village (resident) committee to achieve a certain goal.

However, when the administrative organs do not have a clear understanding of this aspect, they may impose a duty that meets the requirements of the law on the heads of the lower-level government organs or village (resident) committees. In fact, it is not necessary, national governance and social governance are not overnight, some specific customs cannot be completely reversed in a short period of time, and social development is a process of slow evolution. After we realize this law, in fact, the work pressure at the grassroots level will be reduced a lot, that is, we should not be perfect, but only progress.