Chen Wenqing: Improve the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics

Improve the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics

Chen Wenqing

The overall goal of comprehensively advancing the rule of law is to build a socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics and build a socialist country under the rule of law. To build a socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics, it is necessary to form a complete system of legal norms, an efficient system for the implementation of the rule of law, a strict system for the supervision of the rule of law, a strong system for the guarantee of the rule of law, and a perfect system of intra-Party laws and regulations under the leadership of the Party. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China stood at the strategic height of the overall development of the cause of the Party and the country, focused on promoting the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation with Chinese-style modernization, and made new major decisions and arrangements for improving the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics. We need to accelerate the construction of a socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics, and better give play to the role of the rule of law in consolidating the foundation, stabilizing expectations, and benefiting the long-term, so as to provide a solid legal guarantee for the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation.

I. Deeply understand the great significance of improving the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics

Building a socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics is an important part of Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, and is the general starting point for comprehensively advancing the rule of law. Improving the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics is of great and far-reaching significance for further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese-style modernization.

(1) Improving the system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics is an intrinsic requirement for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "The socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics is essentially the legal expression of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. "The system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the fundamental institutional foundation of the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics, and the system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics is an important part of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. What kind of rule of law path to take and what kind of rule of law system to build are determined by a country's basic national conditions. To uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, we must unswervingly follow the path of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, build a socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics, provide institutionalized solutions to a series of problems facing the development of the cause of the Party and the country from the perspective of the rule of law, and constantly demonstrate the institutional advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

(2) Improving the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics is an important task for comprehensively building a modern socialist country on the track of rule of law. The report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly stated that one of the main goals and tasks of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way in the next five years is to "improve the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics". The rule of law is an important support for the national governance system and governance capacity, the rule of law system is the backbone project of the national governance system, and the rule of law is an important guarantee for Chinese-style modernization. To build a modern socialist country in an all-round way on the track of the rule of law, it is inevitably necessary to bring all aspects of work, such as reform, development, stability, internal affairs, foreign affairs, national defense, governance of the party, governance of the country, and governance of the army into the track of the rule of law, and carry out work with the concept of the rule of law, the thinking of the rule of law, the procedures of the rule of law, and the method of the rule of law, and promote Chinese-style modernization with the rule of law in all aspects of the country's work.

(3) Improving the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics is the general starting point for comprehensively advancing the rule of law. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Comprehensively advancing the rule of law involves many aspects, and in practical work, there must be a general grasp of the overall situation and leading all parties, and this general grasp is to build a socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics." "Different from the legal system, the rule of law system is the organic unity of the formulation of laws and the implementation, supervision and protection of the rule of law, and the organic unity of legislation, law enforcement, justice and law-abiding. We must focus on the general starting point of improving the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics, persist in the joint advancement of law-based governance, law-based governance, and law-based administration, and the integrated construction of a rule of law country, a rule of law government, and a rule of law society, so as to achieve scientific legislation, strict law enforcement, fair justice, and law-abiding by the whole people, and strive to build a higher level of rule of law in China.

II. Earnestly summarize the great achievements in the establishment of a socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core has positioned the rule of law, laid out the rule of law, and strictly enforced the rule of law from the overall and strategic perspective of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, and has vigorously promoted the comprehensive rule of law into the "four comprehensive" strategic layout, and promoted the construction of a socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics to achieve historic achievements, providing a strong guarantee for writing a new chapter in the two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability.

(1) Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law has been formed. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the most important achievement we have made in the construction of socialist rule of law is the formation of Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law. Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law combines Marxist rule of law theory with the specific reality of China's rule of law construction and China's excellent traditional legal culture, and has distinctive characteristics of theoretical innovation, characteristics of the times and national characteristics, providing a scientific action guide for advancing comprehensive law-based governance on the new journey of building a strong country and national rejuvenation, and contributing Chinese wisdom to promoting the construction of a new international rule of law order and advancing the progress of human rule of law civilization.

(2) The Party's leadership over the establishment of the rule of law has become more powerful. The Party Central Committee established the Central Committee for Comprehensive Law-based Governance, and "building a socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics" was written into the Party Constitution, and institutional arrangements were formed for the Party to lead legislation, ensure law enforcement, support the judiciary, and take the lead in abiding by the law. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee and the Central Work Conference on Comprehensive Law-based Governance studied the issue of comprehensively governing the country according to law and made comprehensive arrangements, and the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee made special arrangements for upholding and improving the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics. The "Regulations on the Political and Legal Work of the Communist Party of China" have been formulated, and the implementation plan for the construction of a rule of law in China, the implementation outline for the construction of a rule of law government, and the implementation outline for the construction of a rule of law society have been formulated, and the Party's ability to use the rule of law to lead and govern the country has been significantly enhanced.

(3) The socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics is becoming more and more perfect. Through the amendment to the Constitution, the promulgation of the Civil Code, and the enactment of the Law on Safeguarding National Security and Regulations for the Hong Kong S.A.R., all aspects of national and social life have laws to follow. As of June 2024, there are 303 laws, 598 administrative regulations, and more than 14,000 local regulations in force. At present, there are 225 central intra-party regulations, 227 intra-party regulations of ministries and commissions, and 3,485 local intra-party regulations, forming a relatively complete system of intra-party laws and regulations.

(4) The role of rule of law services in safeguarding the overall situation is fully demonstrated. In 2023, the sense of security of the people nationwide was 98.2%, and the mainland is recognized as one of the safest countries. Formulate and implement provisions on the national security responsibility system for Party committees (Party groups) and the responsibility system for maintaining social stability, giving full play to the important role of the rule of law in preventing and defusing major risks. Adhere to and develop the "Fengqiao experience" in the new era, based on prevention, mediation, the rule of law, and the grassroots, and promote the rule of law in the prevention and resolution of contradictions and disputes. We will further promote the construction of a business environment based on the rule of law, equally protect all types of business entities in accordance with the law, and continue to stimulate market vitality.

(5) Stronger safeguards for social fairness and justice. The reform of the judicial responsibility system has been carried out in an all-round way, the status of judges and procurators as the main body in handling cases has been gradually established, and 85 percent of human resources have been concentrated on the front line of case handling. The trial-centered reform of the criminal procedure system has been further advanced, correcting a number of major unjust and wrongful cases in accordance with law, formulating and implementing the "three provisions" to prevent interference in the judiciary, and striving to solve problems such as difficulties in filing cases and difficulties in enforcement, which are strongly resented by the public, and the quality, efficiency, and credibility of law enforcement and justice have continued to improve.

(6) The overall pattern of comprehensively governing the country according to law has been basically formed. The construction of a rule of law government has taken the lead in making breakthroughs, the reform of the administrative law enforcement system has been further promoted, and the level of law enforcement in a strict, standardized, fair, and civilized manner has generally improved. The implementation of the "Eighth Five-Year Plan" for popularizing the law has been initiated, and the people's awareness of the rule of law has been continuously enhanced. We have comprehensively strengthened the construction of the rule of law work team, with more than 95 percent of judges and procurators with a bachelor's degree or above, and the number of lawyers has increased from 300,000 to 725,000 over the past few decades, making it the world's largest legal education system and training more than 100,000 legal professionals every year.

At the same time, there are still some shortcomings and deficiencies in the construction of the rule of law system in the mainland, such as the rule of law implementation system is not efficient enough, the rule of law supervision system is not strict enough, the rule of law guarantee system is not strong enough, and the shortcomings of foreign-related rule of law are still relatively obvious. To advance the establishment of the rule of law system, it is necessary to focus on key points, strengths and weaknesses, and make up for shortcomings, and on the basis of continuing to improve the system of legal norms and intra-Party laws and regulations, focus on strengthening the establishment of the rule of law implementation system, the rule of law supervision system, and the rule of law guarantee system, and promote the correct implementation of the law.

III. Accurately grasp the correct direction for improving the Socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics

Whether or not we can do a good job in comprehensively advancing the rule of law depends on whether the direction is correct and whether the political guarantee is strong and effective. It is necessary to always take Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law as the fundamental follow and guide to action, stand firm in political positions, adhere to the correct direction, and ensure the steady and long-term development of the establishment of a socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics.

(1) Adhere to the Party's absolute leadership. The party's leadership is the soul of the socialist rule of law on the mainland, and it is the biggest difference between the rule of law on the mainland and the rule of law in Western capitalist countries. Practice has proved that only the Communist Party of China can shoulder the historical mission and the important task of the times to lead the people to advance the comprehensive rule of law, and only under the leadership of the party can the rule of law and the rule of law be strictly enforced, can the people be the masters of the country be fully realized, and the rule of law in the country and social life can be promoted in an orderly manner. To uphold the party's leadership over the comprehensive rule of law, the most important thing is to deeply understand the decisive significance of the "two establishments", strengthen the "four consciousnesses", strengthen the "four self-confidences", and achieve the "two safeguards", continuously improve political judgment, political comprehension, and political execution, and implement the party's propositions in the entire process and all aspects of governing the country according to law.

(2) Adhere to the characterization of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics is a rule of law system rooted in Chinese culture, based on China's national conditions, and solving China's problems, a great historical practice in the field of rule of law under the leadership of our Party and the Chinese people, and a socialist rule of law system rather than other rule of law systems. It is necessary to firmly grasp the characterization of socialism with Chinese characteristics, unswervingly follow the path of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, and must not be misled by the erroneous ideological trends of the West, never copy the models and practices of other countries, and never follow the path of the so-called "constitutionalism", "separation of powers" and "judicial independence" in the West.

(3) Adhere to the people-centered. The socialist rule of law on the mainland is the rule of law of the people, and the rule of law of Western capitalism is the rule of law of capital. Adhering to the people-centered approach is fundamental to distinguishing the socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics from the capitalist rule of law. It is necessary to always adhere to the rule of law for the people, strive to solve the public security issues that the people are most concerned about, the protection of rights and interests, and the fairness and justice that the people are most concerned about, and use the rule of law to ensure a better life for the people. It is necessary to always persist in relying on the people in the establishment of the rule of law, fully mobilize the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the people, and broaden the channels for the people's participation, expression, and supervision, so that the establishment of the rule of law is deeply rooted in the people's creative practice.

IV. Comprehensively implement the key tasks of improving the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics

The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Promoting Chinese-style Modernization" clarifies the key tasks of improving the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics from the aspects of deepening reform in the legislative field. We must grasp it in an all-round way and conscientiously implement it.

(1) Persist in putting legislation first, deepening reforms in the legislative field. Good law is a prerequisite for good governance. It is necessary to improve the system for ensuring the full implementation of the Constitution, establish a system for reporting on the implementation of the Constitution, improve the system of constitutional review and record review, and safeguard the unity, dignity, and authority of the country's legal system. It is necessary to improve the pattern of legislative work under the leadership of party committees, led by people's congresses, supported by the government, and with the participation of all parties, and make overall plans for the enactment, reform, abolition, interpretation, and codification, and continuously improve the quality of legislation. It is necessary to focus on key areas, emerging fields, and foreign-related fields, and improve the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics with the Constitution as the core. It is necessary to improve the coordination mechanism between intra-party regulations and national laws and regulations, and improve the systematic, integral, coordinated and timely nature of legislation. It is necessary to build a unified national information platform for laws, regulations, and normative documents, and promote the uniform and correct implementation of laws.

(2) Focus on efficient implementation and further promote administration according to law. The vitality of the law lies in its implementation. It is necessary to promote the legalization of government agencies, functions, authority, procedures, and responsibilities, improve the mechanism for reviewing the legality of major decisions and normative documents, and strengthen the review of government legislation. It is necessary to deepen the reform of the administrative law enforcement system, improve the comprehensive law enforcement system and mechanism at the grassroots level, improve the administrative law enforcement supervision system and mechanism, improve the administrative discretion benchmark system in the field of administrative punishment, promote the cross-regional convergence of administrative law enforcement standards, improve the two-way connection system of administrative punishment and criminal punishment, and achieve strict, standardized, fair and civilized law enforcement. It is necessary to improve the vertical management system and the local hierarchical management system, improve the vertical management institutions and local coordination and cooperation mechanisms, steadily promote the optimization of institutions in counties with small populations, deepen the reform of the management system in development zones, and optimize the structural layout of public institutions.

(3) Strengthen restraint and oversight, and complete judicial systems and mechanisms for fair law enforcement. Strengthening restraint and supervision is an important guarantee for achieving justice. It is necessary to improve the institutional mechanisms for the supervision organs, public security organs, procuratorial organs, adjudication organs, and judicial-administrative organs to perform their respective duties, and for the supervision, investigation, procuratorial, adjudication, and enforcement powers to cooperate with and restrain each other, so as to ensure that the entire process of all aspects of law enforcement and justice operates under effective restraint and supervision. It is necessary to deepen the reform of separating adjudication power from enforcement power, improve the national enforcement system, and earnestly solve the problem of difficulty in enforcement. It is necessary to improve the system of judicial relief and protection for law enforcement, improve the state compensation system, deepen and standardize judicial openness, implement and improve the judicial responsibility system, and promote the standardized and efficient exercise of law enforcement and judicial power. Systems involving compulsory measures involving citizens' personal rights, as well as compulsory measures such as sealing, seizure, and freezing, should be improved, advancing full coverage of defense counsel in criminal cases, and strengthening judicial safeguards for human rights law enforcement.

(4) Highlight both the symptoms and the root causes, and improve mechanisms for advancing the establishment of a rule of law society. A society governed by the rule of law is the foundation for building a country governed by the rule of law. It is necessary to deepen the reform of the lawyer system, the notary system, the arbitration system, the mediation system, and the judicial appraisal management system, improve the public legal service system covering both urban and rural areas, improve publicity and education on the rule of law, and let the rule of law go to the people. It is necessary to implement the principles of education, reform, and rescue, strengthen and improve the protection of the rights and interests of minors, strengthen the prevention and management of juvenile crime, and formulate provisions on special correctional education. It is necessary to improve the practice-oriented education and training mechanism of law schools, complete the mechanism for collaborative education between law schools and legal practice departments, and improve the quality of training legal personnel.

(5) Pay attention to integrated advancement, strengthening the establishment of rule of law involving foreign interests. The rule of law is an important part of a country's core competitiveness. It is necessary to make overall plans to advance the domestic rule of law and foreign-related rule of law, and establish a working mechanism for the integrated advancement of foreign-related legislation, law enforcement, justice, law-abiding and legal services, and the cultivation of rule of law talents. It is necessary to improve the system of foreign-related laws and regulations and the implementation system of the rule of law, deepen the cooperation between France in the Law Enforcement Division, and better safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests. It is necessary to improve the judicial adjudication system in foreign-related civil legal relations in which the parties agree on jurisdiction in accordance with the law and choose to apply extraterritorial law, improve the international commercial arbitration and mediation system, and create a preferred place for international commercial dispute resolution. It is necessary to actively develop foreign-related legal services, cultivate world-class arbitration institutions and law firms, and provide strong legal guarantees for mainland citizens and enterprises to go global.

(6) Grasp the "key minority" of leading cadres. Leading cadres are important organizers, promoters, and practitioners of comprehensively governing the country according to law, and they must implement the major decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee on comprehensively governing the country according to law, put themselves in it, and be models of respecting the law, studying the law, abiding by the law, and using the law. It is necessary to increase the ability to use rule of law thinking and rule of law methods to deepen reform, promote development, resolve contradictions, maintain stability, and respond to risks, so as to do things in accordance with the law, find the law when encountering problems, use the law to solve problems, and rely on the law to resolve contradictions. It is necessary to keep in mind that the statutory functions and powers are statutory, adhere to the statutory duties must be done, and cannot be done without the authorization of the law, so as to perform their duties in accordance with the "three determinations", act in accordance with the legal system, and implement them in accordance with their job responsibilities. It is necessary to keep in mind that the red line of the law cannot be crossed and the bottom line of the law cannot be touched, and set an example and abide by the law.

Source: People's Daily (2024-08-06 Edition 06)

Author: Chen Wenqing

Editor: Cai Weiping

Supervisor: Guo Wenping, Xu Feng

Submission email: [email protected]