Legal Daily reporter Jiang Anjie
Character sketches
In 1958, Xiao Yang studied at Chinese Min University.
Xiao Yang served as Secretary of the Party Group, President and Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court from 1998 to 2008. He once served as chief procurator of the People's Procuratorate of Guangdong Province, deputy chief procurator of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and minister of justice.
Experienced and important participant in the progress of China's rule of law since the reform and opening up: opened the early exploration of the reform of the anti-corruption system, led the creation of China's first whistleblowing center, the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and advocated the formulation and participation in the drafting of a special anti-corruption and bribery law. During the period of presiding over the work of the Ministry of Justice, he suggested that he hold lectures on the legal system for the central leaders, suggested that the central authorities implement the rule of law and build a socialist country ruled by law; reform the lawyer system and the prison system, create a legal aid system, and promote the promulgation of China's first lawyers' law and prison law. During the work of the Supreme People's Court, "fairness and efficiency" were taken as the theme of the court's work, with the goal of building a fair, efficient and authoritative socialist judicial system with Chinese characteristics in accordance with constitutional principles, the judicial system was systematically reformed, the direction of the construction of the professionalization of judges was proposed, and the central government was suggested to propose a criminal policy of "blending leniency with severity" and reform the death penalty approval system.
40 years, in history, but the white colt has crossed the gap; Yu Xiaoyang, but a thousand sails read out.
The eighth president of the Supreme People's Court of New China chose to deliver a moving "farewell speech" in his hometown of Guangdong, exactly 70 years old. Since then, his life has returned to tranquility and has basically faded from people's sight. It was the last time he participated in the deliberation of the "two supremes" report, and the media captured a photo of "smiling in the sky" and was praised as "a very humane display of the joys and sorrows of the chief justice of the republic", which was frozen in memory like a postcard. That is, this year, Xiao Yang, who was labeled "Reform is a real revolution, since it is a revolution, it is inevitable that there will be certain risks", together with his name, left to history.
In the past 40 years, with the vicissitudes of China's reform and opening up, Xiao Yang has also gone through the ups and downs of his life. He once described his experience as "going up and down a line, walking a circle." This means that from the most basic communes, counties, prefectures (cities), provinces to the central government, every ladder has passed through, and he has circled the political and legal circle of public security, procuratorate, judiciary, and courts for a week. This kind of rich experience is rare in China's legal circles.
From the Prosecutor General of Guangdong Province to the Minister of Justice of the Republic to the President of the Supreme Court, from leading the creation of the first whistleblowing center and the first anti-corruption bureau; It is recommended that the central authorities select "Governing the country according to law and building a socialist country with a legal system" as the title of the lecture on the legal system, and promote the establishment of the strategy of governing the country according to law; To put forward "fairness and efficiency", promote the recovery of the right to approve the death penalty, and promote the professionalization of judges... In every position he has worked, he has been like a never-ending seeker, leaving a footprint that can be recorded in the history of China's rule of law. Xiao Yang, the name of this famous reformer in the political and legal circles, will always be remembered by the Republic!
Some people once asked: In all departments of war and law, Xiao Yang promoted reform with the courage of "a brave man with a broken wrist," and what did he bring to China? A legal scholar bluntly said that the value that Xiao Yang brought to China's judiciary and the accompanying controversies will be left to history to test. "But, as a legal man, we thank him. In time, five or ten years from now, Chinese will thank him. ”
With the passage of time, today is the historical node "ten years later". Standing on the coordinates of the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, looking back, what is the recent situation of Xiao Yang, who has personally experienced, witnessed, participated in, and promoted the rule of law process of reform and opening up for 40 years? On December 9, the reporter came to the home of Xiao Yang, who is 80 years old.
At 9:20 a.m., due to arriving ten minutes early, I took a look around. The living room is furnished in an unpretentious way, the cabinet full of books is conspicuously placed with a group photo of Xiao Yang and his wife, and the carpet in front of the sofa is somewhat old, with annual rings engraved.
At 9:30, I heard the footsteps of the old man walking down the stairs, and I immediately stepped forward and reached out to hold the old man's warm and powerful hand, Xiao Lao looked slightly emaciated, but his spirit was strong. The old man was able to accurately say that the last time we met was in 2014, and the daughter next to him was also amazed at her father's memory. Xiao Yang specifically mentioned the names of several familiar veteran leaders of the Legal Daily and asked about their recent situation; He also recalls the China Lawyers Daily, which he founded when he was a minister, which was later renamed the "People's Letter Newspaper".
From newspapers to the Ministry of Justice, between words and conversations, Xiao Yang's life of rule of law and his counterparts in reform and opening up slowly appeared in front of us.
In 1977, Xiao Yang served as the secretary of Longgui Commune in Qujiang County, Guangdong Province. After serving as Longgui Commune, Xiao Yangxing repaired water conservancy and advocated scientific farming, and under his leadership, the five production teams of Longgui Commune became the mu production ton grain team.
1975 to 1983 – The Day of the Dragon Return
In 1978, this is an important inflection point in contemporary China, in December of this year, China seems to have no winter, in the supposedly cold season, 18 villagers in Xiaogang Village, Fengyang, Anhui Province, pressed their bright red handprints on a contract divided into fields and households, which sounded the spring thunder of reform and opening up and awakened the sleeping earth. From the south to the north, china, where everything is revived, sings the story of spring and gushes with the vitality of change. Many people left the field this year, ran to the examination room, and embarked on a journey to change their destiny.
At this time, Xiao Yang was busy going down the field with the farmers in a place called Long Gui. In 1961, after graduating from the Law Department of Chinese University, he went to Xinjiang to teach at the Political science and law cadre school, but was later dissolved due to sino-Soviet tensions and returned to the Qujiang County Public Security Bureau in Guangdong.
Xiao Yang recalled to reporters that Longgui was one of the most memorable places in his life. Here, he met the Bole of his life, Li Haitao, secretary of the Shaoguan Municipal Party Committee who knew and loved talent, and Kang Leshu, secretary of the Qujiang County Party Committee. Because Xiao Yangken was hard-working, flexible, thoughtful, and witty, in June 1975, he was appointed secretary of the party committee of Longgui Commune, at the age of 37. Some people openly questioned, "Send such a young man to be the secretary and joke about the big commune of tens of thousands of people?"
What to do? The unique tenacity of the Hakka family and their stubbornness in not accepting defeat made Xiao Yang make up his mind to do something like this. Xiao Yang, who was willing to study, humbly worshiped the old peasants as his teachers, formed an agricultural advisory group, and after taking a series of courageous and insightful measures, the average yield of the barren mountainous areas exceeded 1,000 kilograms per mu and even tons of grain fields appeared, which caused a sensation in the whole county and even the entire region.
Because he was famous for engaging in agriculture from laymen to insiders, in December 1979, Xiao Yang, as a representative of the national advanced agricultural unit, went to Beijing to receive an award and came to the Great Hall of the People, which was the first time Xiao Yang returned to Beijing after graduating from Chinese University. Unexpectedly, at the door of the Great Hall of the People, he met Zhu Mingshan, a college classmate who had been absent for 18 years. At that time, Zhu Mingshan was already a bureau-level cadre of the Supreme Court. No one could have predicted that more than a decade later, Xiao Yang and Zhu Mingshan would reunite again as "first and second leaders" at No. 27 Dongjiaomin Lane to jointly promote China's judicial reform.
Talking about this history, Xiao Yang added a detail, after returning from Beijing to win the award, Shaoguan City also rewarded a van in Longgui Commune. In order to let the whole community share the fruits of development, Xiao Yang suggested that the car be allocated to the commune health center for the rescue of patients.
Xiao Yang recalled that in Longgui, there was another thing he could not forget, that is, he decided to lead everyone to repair the hydropower station. At that time, there was no capital, no equipment, no technology, but he "did not seek fame in, did not avoid retreating", bought machinery, bought pipelines, and built factories, all needed money. Xiao Yang made a bold decision to take out a loan. How much? More than a million. At that time, the mainstream idea was that there was neither domestic nor foreign debt, that loans were not only disgraceful but also extremely risky, and that more than a million was an appalling astronomical number. But Xiao Yang resisted the pressure and insisted decisively.
The reporter asked whether the hydropower station is still there? Xiao Yang said proudly that he was still generating electricity. After the completion of the power station, Longgui bid farewell to the era of oil lamps, not only solved its own electricity problem, but also merged the remaining electricity into the national grid, and in 1987, the power station paid off the investment debt.
Xiao Yang also did a very controversial thing at that time. A young man with strong ability but rich peasant background, Xiao Yang carefully observed and found that the young man was educated, intelligent, capable, and understood agricultural production, so he tried to make him the leader of the production team. As a result, the grain of this production team doubled that year. The following year, production went up another level.
The reporter asked, "It seems that your reform boldness existed when you were young, and did you not worry or be afraid at that time?" Xiao Yang frankly said, "I am a poor peasant boy who left his hometown and immigrated to Shaoguan, and he never thought that he must become an official and was not afraid." Perhaps it is this fearless spirit of not going home to farm the land, the selflessness of the heart, supporting Xiao Yang step by step, decisively moving forward.
In the nearly four-hour interview, most of the time was spent with the old man narrating and the reporter listening. The reporter found that Xiao Yang was very bold when he was young, and his proposals of "letting capable people sit in the first chair" and "letting insiders display their talents in familiar fields" have injected vitality into his future advocacy of "professionalization" and also provided a source for a series of reforms he implemented after "returning to the team".
In November 1988, Comrade Liu Fuzhi inspected the work of the People's Procuratorate of Guangdong Province, and Xiao Yang reported to Liu Fuzhi on his work.
1983-1993 – "Returning" at the Prosecutor's Office
What was the era of the early 1980s? At that time, reform and opening up were like a surging tide, and the waves were rolling, at the same time, it was inevitable that the mud and sand would fall, butterflies and flies would pupate at the same time, the smashed "Public Prosecutor's Law" urgently needed to be restored, China's legal system was in ruins to be rebuilt, and there was a shortage of legal talents.
In 1983, the Qingyuan Prefectural Committee merged with the Shaoguan Municipal Party Committee, and Wang Ning, the secretary of the provincial party committee (who had a first secretary at the time), who had never known him, discovered his "legal" background from Xiao Yang's resume, and after reporting to the provincial party committee, decided to let Xiao Yang "return to the team". In June of that year, Xiao Yang returned to his political and legal posts and successively served as deputy chief procurator and chief procurator of the Guangdong Provincial Procuratorate, deputy secretary of the party group of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and deputy chief procurator.
As soon as he took office, Xiao Yang thought about how to boldly explore in this experimental field of reform and opening up and try to reform the procuratorial system according to law. Liu Fuzhi, then chief procurator of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, once commented on the work of the Guangdong Provincial Procuratorate, saying that "several new things have happened in Guangdong."
People remember: In 1987, the Guangdong procuratorial organs proposed to escort the reform, opening up, and economic construction through case handling; In 1988, the Economic Crime Reporting Center was established in Shenzhen; In 1989, another "new move" was made, and the first anti-corruption and bribery work bureau was established in Guangdong. Some argue that this is an early attempt to reform China's anti-corruption system. Xiao Yang told reporters that at that time, he envisioned the establishment of the Guangdong Provincial Anti-Corruption and Bribery Work Bureau, and even the brand was done well, but later because of different internal opinions, it was changed to the Guangdong Provincial People's Procuratorate Anti-Corruption and Bribery Work Bureau on the eve of the listing.
Recalling his experience in the procuratorate, Xiao Yang used the word "return to the team" to express his heart's longing for the law for many years. He told reporters many stories that were not known to the outside world.
He said: When the central political and legal commission research group went to Guangdong to sum up the experience of the first "strike hard," it was not interesting to repeat the experience of "strike hard" that others had said when it was his turn to speak. However, Liu Fuzhi, then executive deputy secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, was very enlightened and asked him to continue speaking, and after the meeting, he asked the secretary to call Xiao Yang to organize the speech into a draft and send it to him.
In July 1986, Xiao Yang, as the chief procurator of Guangdong Province, took the lead in proposing the view that "procuratorial work should be subordinated to and serve economic construction", clearly expounded that crackdown and protection are not incompatible, and issued 12 provisions to protect the legitimate rights and interests of scientific and technological personnel. In order to achieve the unity of protection of production and punishment to save crimes, the Procuratorate of Guangdong Province has also tried to suspend arrests. This caused great controversy at the time, like a stone hitting the water, setting off waves again. Xiao Yang briefed reporters that at that time, there were even two camps of "invigorating factions" and "killing factions," which showed the great difference of opinion, which also confirmed Xiao Yang's advanced consciousness and courage to take big strides and dare to blaze new trails. Pearl River Film Studios made a film for this purpose, "Suspension of Arrest".
Xiao Yang also told reporters an example. A young man and a woman fell in love, and after being caught by the militia, the men and women were tried separately, and the woman was forced to change her speech and said that she had been raped, and the man was sentenced to death at that time. Xiao Yang did not approve of this kind of "heavy" punishment that deviated from the law, and became a "target." This kind of case deeply touched Xiao Yang's heart and made him begin to think about issues related to criminal policy, so he put forward the procuratorial concept of "being strict and measured, having a wide range of edges, blending leniency with severity, and seeking truth from facts," which made ideological and practical preparations for him to later suggest to the central authorities to implement the criminal policy of "blending leniency with severity" when he was in the court.
In May 1991, the founding of China Procuratorial Daily and the office work conference were photographed, and Xiao Yang concurrently served as acting president. The person in the center of the front row is Comrade Liu Fuzhi, then chief procurator of the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
1993-1998 – Experience the change from "rule of law" to "rule of law"
In 1992, Deng Xiaoping boarded a train heading south, and after the southern tour, the momentum of China's reform was even stronger.
In March 1993, Xiao Yang was appointed as the sixth minister of justice of the Republic, at the age of 54. How to find the integration point between reform and opening up and judicial administration work? It was the breakthrough he had to look for in his new post.
During the interview, the reporter saw for the first time the historic document "Outline for the Development of China's Judicial Administration Work" displayed by Xiao Yang, creating a modern and civilized prison, reforming the lawyer system, and creating a legal aid system... From a series of reform measures, it can be seen that during the period of administration and justice, Xiao Yang's reform efforts have increased significantly, and the system design is more forward-looking. At this time, Xiao Yang soberly realized that under the call of the market economy, the lawyer system could no longer meet the needs of the development of the market economy, and there must be major moves. Therefore, at the June 1993 National Forum of Heads of Justice Departments (Bureaus), Xiao Yang stressed that lawyer reform should be the "top priority." He proposed that "the model of ownership of the means of production and the model of administration are no longer used to define the nature of the legal institution; Lawyers must be professional" proposition, the overall goal and thinking is very bold, refreshing.
It can be said that it is a "big axe", professor Chen Weidong of Chinese Min University uses these four words to evaluate. In an interview with reporters, he said that "the legal counsel office with the nature of state-owned system will be reformed to a more advanced cooperative law firm, so that the cooperative law firm that represents the collective business model has made great progress throughout the country; Exploring the organizational form of law firms with individual systems has filled the gap in China's legal service market. Wang Junfeng, president of the All-China Lawyers Association, also told reporters, "That year, many people felt that the spring of Chinese lawyers had come. "Dentons, King & Wood Mallesons, JunHe, Zhong Lun and other law firms that later became top law firms are all practitioners of this system, and the biggest significance of the reform is that it has released vitality for the further development of the legal profession." It was a big step forward, and this reform was unpredictable at the time, with risks," commented lawyer Lu Hongbing. Xiao Yang himself believes that the reform of the lawyer system laid a good foundation for him to implement reform in the courts later, and without the reform of the lawyer system, there would be no subsequent trial-centered reform.
During this period, Xiao Yang also proposed the legal aid system with Chinese characteristics for the first time, but because it was not understood, it was slow at the beginning, and he was once very anxious. Nowadays, the "legal aid system" has taken root and blossomed in China.
"Let the poor, the weak and the disabled be able to fight lawsuits and establish and implement a legal aid system," he told reporters, "it can show and show the world that China is a civilized and progressive country.", this is Xiao Yang's deeper thinking. Some people believe that the "proposal of this system" has left a brilliant bright color on Xiao Yang's life path, and also provided a blueprint for the "judicial aid system" proposed by Xiao Yang in the later period.
It must be mentioned that Xiao Yang also attaches special importance to legal education. At the beginning of 1998, the National Steering Committee for Legal Degree Education was established, and the Ministry of Justice opened up a new channel for cultivating high-level applied and compound legal talents, reflecting the strategic vision of system designers to reserve talents for governing the country according to law 20 years ago.
"Those who are good at plotting win, and those who are far-sighted win." During his administration of the Ministry of Justice, Xiao Yang not only carried out drastic reforms, but also greatly advanced China's judicial administration work on the basis of the original; Moreover, he was able to keenly seize the opportunity to propose to the central authorities to hold a lecture on the legal system, which eventually led to the proposal of the strategy of governing the country according to law.
Xiao Yang believes that the legal line established by the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee is essentially to take the road of governing the country according to law. Only at that time, this was still only a state of rule of law in a hazy state, and people did not have a clear understanding of the difference between "rule of law" and "rule of law", let alone from the height of the basic strategy of governing the country. The leap from "rule of law" to "rule of law" was really completed in September 1997. On September 12, 1997, the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China solemnly put forward: "Governing the country according to law is the basic strategy of the party leading the people to govern the country." ”
Here I would like to talk about a special practice of "popularizing the law." On June 21, 1994, at the symposium on the first anniversary of the establishment of the "National Middle and Senior Cadres Law Lecturer Group" jointly organized by the Ministry of Justice, the Central Propaganda Department, and the China Law Society, many experts suggested that a lecture on the legal system be held for the leaders of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. The party group of the Ministry of Justice immediately asked the central government for instructions and obtained approval, so there was the first lecture of the central legal system lecture of December 9, 1994.
Later, in the third lecture in February 1996, the Ministry of Justice carefully "deliberated" and repeatedly "studied" the topic and the candidate for the speech, and the plan was changed several times, and finally the topic of the central government was "Governing the country according to law and building a socialist country with a legal system."
It was in the concluding speech of this lecture that the central leaders put forward the strategy of governing the country according to law. The 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China further sublimated "building a socialist country with a legal system" into "building a socialist country ruled by law", completing the leap from "legal system" to "rule of law".
In Xiao Yang's view, although the change from "legal system" to "rule of law" is only a one-word difference, it is a major change in concept, marking that China's pursuit of the rule of law has moved from obscurity to maturity and consciousness, is a major development of the party's leadership style, ruling style, and statecraft strategy, and is the perfection of China's socialist democratic politics and legal system construction.
Liu Biao, who was very familiar with this period of history and was then vice minister of the Ministry of Justice, said that from the establishment of the central lecture on the legal system to the establishment of the basic strategy of promoting the rule of law, the significance and value of its manifestation have left a strong mark on Xiao Yang in the history of China's rule of law construction.
In November 1996, the Guangdong Provincial Legal Aid Center was inaugurated, and Xiao Yang attended the unveiling ceremony and delivered a speech.
1998-2008 – Judicial Reform "Breaking the Ice"
Time always speaks, but history moves forward in silence.
In March 1998 and March 2003, Xiao Yang was twice elected president of the Supreme People's Court at the First Session of the Ninth National People's Congress and the First Session of the Tenth National People's Congress. This decade should be the most brilliant decade in Xiao Yang's life, and it is also the decade that has aroused the most attention from the outside world. As the frequency of his exposure under the spotlight is getting higher and higher, while becoming the "darling" of the media, the voices of criticism and doubt have also made him bear the pressure that ordinary people cannot imagine. But he was impressed by his firm belief that "as long as a communist is loyal to the party, he cannot be afraid of storms"; With the rule of law sentiment that "the judiciary must be fair and the responsibility is greater than the sky", we will promote China's judicial reform to "break the ice".
At the end of 1998, ordinary citizens holding ID cards and media reporters holding press cards walked into the door of the "mysterious" court, and The Chinese courts fully implemented trial openness, which should be said to be the first major thing Xiao Yang did. Soon, Xiao Yang put forward that "fairness and efficiency are the main themes of the work of the people's courts in the 21st century" and issued a declaration on China's judiciary in the new century; He also put forward the strategic layout of "trial work is the center, team building is the key, and court reform is the way out."
During the interview, the reporter learned that in those decades, the ship of the Supreme Court with Xiao Yang as the "navigator" really experienced the course of crossing dangerous shoals and riding the wind and waves in the course of advancing toward the goal of building a fair, efficient, and authoritative socialist judicial system with Chinese characteristics in the "big sea" of judicial reform. An old judge recalled to reporters that in March 1998, when the Supreme Court was already discussing the issue of judicial reform, Xiao Yang believed that a series of studies should be carried out and promoted as a whole, so the "Five-Year Reform Outline of the People's Courts" was released, opening a new page in China's judicial reform. However, due to various factors, this round of judicial reform focused on the working mechanism, and Xiao Yang was also very helpless or regretful. This was confirmed by the reporter in the interview.
By the time of the "Second Five-Year Reform Outline of the People's Courts," Xiao Yang's own understanding of judicial laws was already quite profound, and judicial theory was also tending to mature. As a result, his thinking and understanding of the rule of law was reflected at this stage, "such as the change of the meeting system of the adjudication committee to the trial system, the professionalization of judges, the diversified dispute resolution mechanism, the unified application of law, and the case guidance system", which later became an important part of the sound judicial system. In particular, the professional construction of the judicial team launched by the entire judicial reform team of the Supreme Court is an important theoretical basis for the reform of the judicial system today.
"Without professional construction, it is impossible to have the classified management of personnel later, and it is impossible to manifest judicial laws!" An old judge who participated in the formulation of the "15th, 25th, 35th, and 45th Court Reform Outline" commented on this.
The most controversial reform under Xiao Yang's tenure now seems to have been the return of the right to review the death penalty for 26 years. It is said that this reform has put the elderly under unimaginable pressure from the outside world.
"The biggest difficulty in reform is the obstruction of outdated judicial concepts." Xiao Yang told reporters that at that time, many people, including some leading cadres, believed that killing people was a deterrent, stressing that only by killing more people could we ensure the stability of public order; therefore, the new concepts of "killing less and killing cautiously" and "strictly controlling and prudently applying the death penalty" were naturally incompatible with the viewpoint that "it is okay to kill cautiously, but not to kill less, and the pace of reform is difficult. How hard is it?" Like dancing on the tip of a knife", some people describe it.
However, it turned out that the unified exercise of the power to approve the death penalty and the insistence on "killing less" and "killing with caution" would not condone and encourage crime. "The reality is that the first year of recovery creates a new history of the number of suspended death sentences being higher than the number of immediate executions of the death penalty for the first time.". Xiao Yang told reporters.
According to the Ministry of Public Security, in the first 11 months of 2007, the number of bombings nationwide fell by 25 per cent, the number of intentional homicides by 10 per cent and the number of robberies by 7 per cent. According to the results of the seventh survey of people's security released by the National Bureau of Statistics, 93.3% of the public believe that the public security environment is safe, an increase of 1.3 percentage points over 2006. Practice has proved that Xiao Yang told reporters that "major and important cases are declining year by year, and punishing crimes in various forms will not affect the intensity of the crackdown."
During the interview, the reporter specifically asked whether Xiao Yang regretted it when he was under pressure? He firmly said, "We must not be afraid of trouble in matters where human lives are at stake, and we have left the country open-minded; if we cannot unify the whole country on this issue, there will be no way to talk about judicial unification." He said: "When we talk about justice for the people, we mean that we can protect the legitimate interests of the people, and the right to life is the supreme interest." If the issue of the death penalty is not properly closed, what justice will be discussed for the people?"
Zhang Jun, who has been in charge of the death penalty review work for a long time and is now the chief procurator of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, once said that in those years, under the strong leadership and support of the Party Central Committee, in order to eliminate social doubts, on many occasions, President Xiao Yang made a speech on the withdrawal of the right to approve the death penalty, and his attitude was very clear. Because the withdrawal of the right to approve the death penalty "involves the whole body", this reform has led to a series of changes in the criminal procedures of the first and second instance trials and even the investigation procedures, so the significance of withdrawing the right to approve the death penalty is by no means only in the change of the approval system itself, it has brought about the overall reform of China's criminal justice and is a landmark event in the progress of China's rule of law.
In Zhang Jun's view, "reform is a process that should be considered and evaluated in a longer historical process." What conforms to the laws of nature and the laws of history will have vitality and will be able to withstand the test of history. ”
On September 16, 1997, Xiao Yang answered reporters' questions at the press conference of the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on "governing the country according to law and building a socialist country ruled by law."
From 2008 to 2018, the dream of "the elderly" is still there
In the past 40 years, China has changed, like a red sun spewing out of thin air, and the sky is full of sunshine; China's courts are changing, based on the national conditions, revolutionizing the past and making new ones, and unswervingly adhering to the path of socialist rule of law.
New era and new coordinates, how can China move forward?" Reform does not stop, opening up does not stop", this is General Secretary Xi Jinping's firm answer. In 2018, the rings of history have entered the nineteenth scale. The Party Central Committee has set up the Central Committee for Comprehensively Ruling the Country According to Law, made a series of major policy decisions on comprehensively ruling the country according to law, and put forward a series of new ideas, new ideas, and new strategies for comprehensively ruling the country according to law. This is the first time since the founding of the party or since the founding of New China, which fully demonstrates and embodies the great importance that the party attaches to comprehensively ruling the country according to law.
As an old man who has witnessed the development of China's rule of law for 40 years, Xiao Yang believes that the great changes brought to China by reform and opening up are fundamental changes in the way the country governs the country - realizing the great change from legal nihilism to comprehensively ruling the country according to law. In terms of the way the country governs and the party governs, a path of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics has been explored. He told reporters that General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "to comprehensively promote the rule of law, we must take the right road", which is the direction of guidance, and only by adhering to the leadership of the party can the development of the rule of law go the right way.
Xiao Yang, who retired ten years ago, did not stop pursuing the rule of law, and most of his time and energy was spent studying the theory of rule of law and promoting the spirit of rule of law. In a speech at his alma mater, Chinese Min University, in 2014, he called himself a "law-obsessed old man" and proudly said, "My legal dream is still there, my dream of the rule of law is still there!"
Towards the end of the interview, when the reporter asked him how he spent his old age? He said that he has a happy and harmonious family, and he has been with his wife for many years, and he is very grateful to his wife for accompanying him through years of ups and downs and walking through decades of uneven roads; After he was idle at home, he accompanied his family everywhere he went, his wife learned to swim with him when he was 58 years old, and he learned to play ball with him at the age of 68. Of course, what warmed him was also the obedient and contentious children, and the handmade "gavel" made by the little grandson was a gift he received on his 80th birthday and was placed on the display shelf with great weight.
Looking back on the 40-year process, Xiao Yang said affectionately that he felt fortunate that he was in this magnificent era of reform, and that he was proud to participate in this great cause that had never been done before!
"Serving the people is the original intention of communists and the original intention of judicial reform." This firmness shocked the reporter's soul.
Interviewing Xiao Yang, following his memories, wandering in the long river of 40 years of rule of law, feeling that his thoughts were also flying in the sky, and he was overwhelmed when he wrote.
Returning to the question at the beginning of the article, what has Xiao Yang's reform brought to the rule of law in China? It must be admitted that when China's judicial reform comes to the time period of "four beams and eight pillars have been built and entered the fine decoration", history will not forget Xiao Yang, the "rammed foundation man". The reform he has promoted in each department is a major change including ideas, concepts, systems, and teams, thus gaining a glimpse of the process and context of the progress of China's rule of law, and also letting us see that It is not easy for China's rule of law to come to today, which can be described as "vicissitudes and great changes" and "magnificent waves".
During the interview, the reporter was not only shocked by the difficulties of the 40 years of reform, but also moved by Xiao Yang's personality charm, and there were many stories of Xiao Yang's insight and talent, which could not be written due to space limitations, which could not be described as regretless. How to describe Xiao Yang? I can't help but think of the sentence in "The Window": "Don't be insulted, idle to see the flowers blooming and falling in front of the court." Go to stay unintentional, and the clouds outside the sky are cirrus cloud Shu. ”
On this day, Beijing was particularly cold, and Xiao Yang insisted on sending me to the door of the living room; While putting on his coat on the porch, the old man was sent to the gate again, and had to say goodbye for the second time, turning around in his kind eyes. Looking at the fortitude revealed in his emaciated face, thinking back to the difficulty and difficulty of reform, at this moment, this extraordinary old man is more distressing than respect. In China, the rule of law has climbed over the obstacles, cut through thorns, and taken a road that previous generations wanted to take but did not take, and there are many people we deserve to pay tribute! Xiao Yang is one of them.
In the cold wind, tears filled his eyes...
In December 2002, Xiao Yang gave a lecture on "Rule of Law, Judges and Judicial Reform" at the "Chief Justice Forum" of Chinese Min University.
Floating boat vicissitudes Immediately Kunlun - look at Xiao Yang from another angle
The banner "Floating Boats in the Vicissitudes of the Sea, Li Li Kunlun" was given in the winter of 1990, before Xiao Yang was about to go to Beijing to become deputy procurator general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, Kou Qingyan, an elder in Guangdong's political and legal circles, was happy about Xiao Yang's promotion to warn and encourage him. According to Xiao Yang's recollection, when Elder Kou wrote for him, he was not familiar with him, but only wrote it out of encouragement and encouragement for the young people, and at the same time warned him that doing political and legal work was like floating boats in the sea, and it was even more like riding a horse in Kunlun, and if he was not careful, he would be in danger. For so many years, Xiao Yang has been treasured by this banner.
In order to let readers better understand Xiao Yang outside the reform, the reporter interviewed several judges in particular.
A judge told reporters that in 2006, when President Xiao Yang visited the United States, Justice O'Connor of the U.S. Supreme Court accompanied him throughout the process. She once asked Dean Xiao: When I introduced your title, was it the President or the Chief Justice? Dean Xiao replied without hesitation: "Still the Chief Justice!" O'Connor has a sense of respect for Xiao Yang.
In the eyes of a senior judge, Xiao Yang is a generous elder, who gives more encouragement and encouragement to young cadres, and is never aggressive and humorous. Once, when the party group would deliberate on an important document, Dr. Liu Shude of the research office (who was not very old but was a little bit top-notch, and who looked a little older) attended the meeting, and President Xiao was very eager to listen to the opinions of ordinary cadres, and said to the position where Liu Shude was sitting: "What is the high opinion of that old comrade?" It made everyone laugh.
"Old comrade" Liu Shude continued this story when interviewed by reporters, which made people even more stoic. He said that after the meeting, Director Shao Wenhong, who attended the party group meeting as an observer, told me that President Xiao asked her after the meeting, "Who is the 'old comrade' who reported today?" She replied with a smile, "It is Liu Shude, not an 'old comrade', but a young comrade." Dean Xiao then smiled and responded, "Oh, Liu Shude, he gave me the book." Since then, in addition to the "four beautiful women" (the names of the four gay men feel like women), the Supreme Court has added a story of "old comrades" after tea and dinner.
In March 2006, Liu Shude had the honor of following President Xiao Yang on a foreign visit. One morning when I went to the square for a walk, I met Dean Xiao who happened to be walking. Dean Xiao called out to him happily: "Comrade Xiao Liu, come and take a picture together." Liu Shude was overjoyed, and for the first time, he had a group photo with Dean Xiao abroad. On the way back to the hotel, he happily said to President Xiao, "Today's mood is particularly good, and I have become younger again, from 'old comrade' to 'Comrade Xiao Liu'", and President Xiao also smiled.
On May 11, 2007, Xiao Yang, accompanied by Jiang Xingchang (second from left), then deputy secretary of the party group and vice president of the Supreme People's Court, investigated the construction of the second office area of the Supreme People's Court (death penalty review office area).
Reporter's Note: Xiao Yang in the eyes of the reporter
□ Jiang Anjie
Xiao Yang is not only a never-ending seeker, a leader who has been renewing for a long time, a person with pure capital letters, but also a good friend of the media. At that time, he opened up the media to report on court trials "on the principle of self-responsibility", bringing judicial reporting to a new stage. To this day, the old reporters who run the political and legal mouth on various occasions get together and still often mention Xiao Yang in their memories.
Why do media friends like Xiao Yang? Outsiders may think that because Xiao Yang is a reformer, the strength of his refusal to accept defeat makes him inherently easy to become a news figure, easy to bring his own aura, and has the thickness and height of news; In fact, people who are familiar with him know that Xiao Yang can become good friends with the media because of his character and personality charm. Whether it is the strength of his cheeks, puffing up his lips, raising his head slightly, and often clenching his fists in his hands, or the purity of his smile or laughter when he is happy, there is an irresistible appeal, and this power comes from the light of humanity on him, so the reporter feels cordial and has no sense of distance when he sees him.
I remember that one year, when the reporter participated in the activity in the Great Hall of the People, when he hurried out after the end, he suddenly heard a call with a thick Cantonese accent behind him: "Xiao Jiang...", which sounded more like "Xiao Jiong'er" and had a little tail note. Looking back, Xiao Yang, who was not very tall, was walking forward in the crowd. Surprised and pleased, I said, "Dean Xiao, shall we take a picture?" Xiao Yang said, "Good. Naturally, he stopped next to him, and more people began to gather around, also wanting to take a picture with Xiao Yang. I felt his handsome guards subconsciously blocking, but Xiao Yang said kindly, "Come on, it doesn't matter." That kindness still ripples in my mind.
I have also heard reporters say more than once that when they travel with Xiao Yang on the same plane, they are often greeted by Xiao Yang to change seats with the staff and sit in the front cabin. Looking at the inadvertent details, they all left a beautiful mark in the reporter's heart.
In September 2011, Xiao Yang retraced the road into Xinjiang when he was young and took photos at the former site of Yangguan