NPC Standing Committee Makes New Progress in Legislation

Chinese Top Legislator Li Peng said March 9 that the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) made new progress in the work of legislation concerning supervision over the past year and that it made due contributions to the smooth progress of China's reforms and opening up, and socialist modernization.

On the 3rd Session of the Ninth NPC, Li Peng, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said the committee has deliberated 31 draft laws and adopted 21 laws.

It basically fulfilled the annual plan for legislation and taken another step toward the establishment of the legal system with Chinese characteristics, he noted.

The NPC Standing Committee also approved 12 treaties and agreements China had signed with foreign countries and conventions for the country to join in.

Li Peng outlined three characteristics of the legislation work of the NPC Standing Committee last year:

First, the legislation was closely integrated with major policy decisions involving reforms, development and stability. Through the efforts in setting up and perfecting of relevant legal system, the development of various services was guaranteed and promoted.

Second, the work on law revision was enhanced. The number of draft amendments to the laws in the past year account for about half of the total laws examined, so that the revised laws conform all the more to the objective reality and they played a still better role in standardizing social life.

Third, the work of law interpretation was placed high on the agenda. Apart from the interpretations to some related clauses of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), the NPC Standing Committee also examined the draft interpretations on some related stipulations of the Criminal Law.

The law interpretation will make the laws still more applicable and authoritative, and safeguard the unity of legal system, he said.

The NPC Standing Committee last year formulated the Law on Enterprises under Sole Individual Proprietorship together with laws on corporations and partnership businesses. The new laws are crucial for the development of the market economy.

Laws on administrative appeals, compensation and supervision have greatly improved supervisory mechanisms in the government. Meanwhile, the NPC Standing Committee worked out the decision to ban Falungong evil cult, and to prevent and punish cult activities, which is significant for safeguarding social stability, he said.

The draft legislation law has been submitted to the current session for deliberation and, when it is passed, it will play an important role in standardization of legislation work, Li said.

On the NPC's supervision work, Li Peng said that in the past year, the NPC Standing Committee placed its supervisory function on an important position. It has thus made supervision more effective. The Standing Committee has arranged the drafting and examination of three stipulations and decisions on supervision work, and conducted four law-enacting checks. All the work has been basically completed.

In selecting the law-enacting examination programs, the Standing Committee focused its attention on the central tasks of the state and the issues of great concern to the people. It examined successively the implementation of the Law on Air Pollution Control, Forest Law, Product Quality Law and Compulsory Education Law.

To cope with the outstanding problems that should be resolved at present, the NPC Standing Committee listened to and examined the State Council's report on basic living guarantees for laid-off workers of the state-owned enterprises, on increasing farmers' income and easing their burden, on construction of public security contingents and on management of cultural market.

News media did the coverage of deliberation sessions to combine the NPC's supervisory rule with media's supervision so that the people's supervision over the work of the NPC Standing Committee and other state organs is facilitated.

Last year, the NPC Standing Committee formulated decisions on beefing up its supervision over examining the budget of the central government and over economic work. Moreover, it also examined the legal documents on supervision over trial and procuratorating procedures, thus creating conditions and obtaining experience for formulating comprehensive law supervision.

This year, NPC Standing Committee will make a breakthrough in coping with knotty problems in legislation, improving the quality of the work of legislation and go on increasing supervisory work in accordance with the central tasks for the year 2000.

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