Provide strong support for the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of rural women: Experts interpret the Law on Rural Collective Economic Organizations

On June 28, the 10th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress voted to pass the Law on Rural Collective Economic Organizations. The law attaches great importance to the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of rural women. The all-media reporter of China Women's Daily interviewed a number of experts to explain the positive impact of the Rural Collective Economic Organization Law on protecting the legitimate rights and interests of rural women.

Members of rural collective economic organizations must not violate the provisions of this Law and other laws and regulations

Membership of rural collective economic organizations is the core issue of the Rural Collective Economic Organization Law.

Li Mingshun, vice president of the China Marriage and Family Research Association and vice president of the Marriage and Family Law Research Association of the China Law Society, told this reporter that the Rural Collective Economic Organization Law comprehensively implements the people-centered development thinking, takes safeguarding the fundamental interests of the broad masses of peasants as the starting point and the end goal, and on the basis of summing up and absorbing the practical experience of the reform of the rural collective property rights system, it has determined a unified and clear standard for membership, and this standard fully embodies the inherent nature, legality, and equality of the membership of rural collective economic organizations. It has provided strong support for the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of rural women.

The Law on Rural Collective Economic Organizations stipulates that the State shall protect the legitimate rights and interests of rural collective economic organizations and their members, and no organization or individual may infringe upon them. Li Mingshun said: "The membership of rural collective economic organizations is inherent, and the membership of rural collective economic organizations, including women, is determined by the mainland's socialist economic system, which is a concrete embodiment of the masses of the people being masters of the country under the socialist system. ”

The Law on Rural Collective Economic Organizations stipulates that residents whose household registration is or has been in a rural collective economic organization and has formed a stable relationship of rights and obligations with the rural collective economic organization, and whose basic livelihood guarantee is the land and other property collectively owned by the members of the rural collective economic organization, is a member of the rural collective economic organization. "The inherent nature of the membership of rural collective economic organizations determines that the criteria for their recognition must be determined by national law, not by any organization or individual. This provision clarifies a unified standard for determining the membership of rural collective economic organizations, and embodies the will of the state to protect the legitimate rights and interests of members of rural collective economic organizations, including women. Li Mingshun said.

The Law on Rural Collective Economic Organizations stipulates that "women enjoy equal rights with men, and shall not infringe upon the rights and interests of women in rural collective economic organizations on the grounds that women are unmarried, married, divorced, widowed, or have no male household". Li Mingshun believes that from the perspective of equality in the membership of rural collective economic organizations, the determination of membership in rural collective economic organizations must implement the constitutional requirements of equality between men and women, and ensure and safeguard the equal subject qualifications and legitimate rights and interests enjoyed by women.

In Li Mingshun's view, the Law on Rural Collective Economic Organizations has greatly strengthened the content of protecting the rights and interests of members of rural women's collective economic organizations, solved the pain points and difficult problems in the field of protecting the rights and interests of rural women, and is conducive to realizing the simultaneous development of women's cause and economy and society, and is conducive to improving the sense of gain, happiness and security of rural women.

Effectively prevent the problem of "empty at both ends" of membership in rural collective economic organizations

"Having membership in a rural collective economic organization is a prerequisite for enjoying the rights and interests of a member of a rural collective economic organization." Zhang Yongying, a researcher at the Women's Research Institute of the All-China Women's Federation, said that due to the influence of traditional concepts such as the traditional marriage model of "living with the husband" and the traditional concept of "the daughter who marries out the water spilled", rural women often change their place of residence due to changes in marital status, which in turn affects their membership in rural collective economic organizations.

Zhang Yongying introduced that the All-China Women's Federation has long been concerned about safeguarding the rights and interests of members of rural women's collective economic organizations and related rights, using various channels and consultation mechanisms on behalf of women to participate in democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic supervision, actively participating in the formulation and revision of relevant laws and policies, combing and summarizing the prominent problems of rural women's rights and interests being violated in practice, and submitting opinions and suggestions on implementing the basic national policy of gender equality and ensuring that rural women have equal access to membership and enjoy legitimate rights and interests. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs attaches great importance to the protection of rural women's rights and interests, and has strengthened institutional measures to protect women's rights and interests in an important document on steadily advancing the reform of the rural collective property rights system. In the process of formulating the Law on Rural Collective Economic Organizations, the National People's Congress elevated it into law, stipulating that members of rural collective economic organizations shall not lose their membership in rural collective economic organizations due to divorce, widowhood, or other reasons. Where members of a rural collective economic organization marry and have not obtained membership in other rural collective economic organizations, the original rural collective economic organization must not revoke their membership. It provides a clear legal basis for preventing rural women's rights and interests from being violated due to changes in marital status, and the article uses the concept of "members of rural collective economic organizations" instead of "women", so that sons-in-law and other sons and daughters-in-law are equally protected. "It is expected that the implementation of this law will become a fundamental solution to the problem of the 'two ends empty' of the rights and interests of married women." Zhang Yongying said.

Vigorously ensure the participation of rural women in the decision-making and management of rural collective economic organizations

Ensuring women's participation in the decision-making and management of rural collective economic organizations is an important aspect of ensuring that rural women enjoy equal membership and rights and interests.

According to the Law on Rural Collective Economic Organizations, the congress of members of rural collective economic organizations shall "have an appropriate number of women representatives". "This provides a solid legal guarantee for rural women to participate in the decision-making and management of rural collective economic organizations and better protect the rights and interests of their members." Zhang Yongying said.

Zhang Yongying further explained that rural women account for more than 65% of the rural labor force and are the main force in promoting rural revitalization. Rural collective economic organizations are an important subject for developing and strengthening a new type of rural collective economy and promoting common prosperity, an important force for realizing good governance in rural areas, and an important guarantee for consolidating the foundation of the party's governance in rural areas. A certain proportion of women participate in the decision-making and management of rural collective economic organizations, which is not only conducive to promoting rural women to play a full role in comprehensively promoting rural revitalization, but also conducive to promoting the implementation of the principle of equality between men and women in the decision-making of rural collective economic organizations, and better safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the members of rural collective economic organizations.

"It is hoped that in the process of implementing this law, the relevant departments will make the implementation of this provision the focus of supervision and evaluation, and effectively ensure the realization of the right of rural women to participate in the decision-making and management of rural collective economic organizations." Zhang Yongying said.

The Law on Rural Collective Economic Organizations adds a provision on public interest litigation, stipulating that where the lawful rights and interests of women are violated when confirming the membership of a rural collective economic organization, resulting in harm to the public interest, the procuratorate may issue a procuratorial recommendation or initiate public interest litigation in accordance with law.

Yang Li, a researcher at the Rural Economic Research Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, believes that this provides a direct legal basis for procuratorial organs to carry out public interest litigation in the field of protection of women's rights and interests, and that after the newly revised Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests in 2022 added provisions on public interest litigation, this new judicial approach and effective means are once again clarified and emphasized, and the supervision of public interest litigation and the scope of cases are more specific and targeted. It is believed that after the adoption and implementation of the Law on Rural Collective Economic Organizations, public interest litigation will play a greater role in protecting women's collective membership.

Source: China Women's Daily, Qilu Women

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