CPC to Strengthen Democratic Legal System

The Chinese Communist Party (CPC) has, at the 5th Plenum of its 15th Central Committee, decided to strengthen the country's democratic legal system during the next five years.

According to a document adopted at the Plenum and released on October 18, developing a democratic political system and building a socialist country with the rule of law will be an important goal of China's socialist modernization drive.

The document is entitled CPC Central Committee Proposal for Formulating the Tenth Five-Year (2001--1005) Plan.

The people's democratic dictatorship under the leadership of the industrial workers' class and based on the alliance of workers and the farmers should be adhered to and improved on, the document said.

The people's congress system, the multi-party cooperation and political consultation system under the CPC leadership and the regional autonomy system should all be adhered to and improved on, the document said.

The political restructuring should further be pushed forward, as well as the building-up of a democratic legal system, it said.

In terms of political restructuring, the document said that legislation and supervision work of the people's congresses should be further enhanced, and relations between deputies to the congresses and their constituents should become closer to ensure a scientific and democratic policy-making.

Democratic elections, democratic policy-making, democratic management and democratic supervision must be implemented across the country to guarantee citizens with far-ranging rights and freedom and to respect and protect human rights, it pledged.

Grassroots governments and autonomy organizations of the masses should be optimized for public participation, and all the regulatory, management affairs of grassroots governments, factories and villages must be open to public supervision.

The building and improvement on the legal system facilitating the socialist market economic operations is the key to China's legal work, it said, noting that property-ownership relations, credit transaction and contract matters under the conditions of a market economy must be covered by law and administered in accordance with law, so as to ensure a sound market order and protect fair competition.

Government work should operate in line with statutory laws while improving the public servants system, with government functionaries held responsible for their conducts and regularly check on their performances. Judiciaries shall be reformed to guarantee their independent rights to prosecution and trials, as well as to ensure justice be served, said the document.

Activities to split the motherland in name of ethnic issues and other illegal doings in the name of religion must be dealt with in accordance with law and vicious cults must be banned, it said.

Social security measures must be implemented at the grassroots level, criminal activities endangering national security and public orders, as well as social vices like prostitution, gambling and drugs shall be severely cracked down upon and wiped out, it said.

The document also elaborated China's future defense policies, saying that national defense must be further strengthened along with economic progress.

New high-technology weapons shall be developed to enhance Chinese army's defense capability for the new situations that may arise, it said.

On the role of the CPC in China's socialist modernization drive, the document said that its administerial capability must be improved and updated, especially the capability to regulate the national economy and social development.

It said that the Party must follow the three principles raised by General Secretary Jiang Zemin that the Party must always earnestly represent the development requirements of China's advanced social productive forces, the progressive course of China's advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people.

It called for all Party members to unite around the CPC Central Committee with Jiang at the core to work for the realization of the national economic and social development plan for the coming five years and to struggle for the modernization of the country and the ultimate reunification of the motherland.



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