Top legislature streamlines process of reviewing normative documents

China's efforts to review normative documents, such as administrative regulations and judicial interpretations, will be strengthened in line with a new decision to ensure that the Constitution is better upheld and implemented.

The 22-article decision, passed on Friday by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the top legislature, emphasized the importance of examining whether normative documents are consistent with the Constitution, and it urged more studies on constitutional issues.

Provisions that contradict the Constitution, its principles or its spirit must be corrected in a timely manner, the decision said, adding that NPC special committees or the NPC Standing Committee's working bodies have the right to require those who create problematic documents to rectify or remove them.

It is the first time that the NPC Standing Committee has streamlined the process of reviewing normative documents, with specifications on what should be examined, through such a legislative decision.

"Improving the review, correction and abolition procedures is to play the supervision role of the NPC Standing Committee, showing our stronger determination to rectify unconstitutional behavior," said Yan Dongfeng, head of the review office of the NPC Standing Committee's Legislative Affairs Commission.

He said the formulation of the decision was designed to ensure the full implementation of the Constitution as required by the central leadership and a report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2022.

Zhang Yong, deputy head of the commission, said the decision will promote whole-process people's democracy, advance law-based governance and guarantee compliance with rule of law.

"It's also a summary of our experience in reviewing documents over the past few years," Zhang said.

In one case given as an example, the commission said practices resulting in the collective punishment of family members of convicted criminals should be abolished, as they were inconsistent with the principles and spirit of the Constitution.

The commission had received requests from some residents for a review of local notices in which a few criminals' spouses, children, parents and close relatives had been subjected to restrictions in accessing education, employment and social insurance.

Flagging the restrictions as collective punishment, the residents called for such practices to be stopped.

The case was included in a recent report released by the commission, which deemed the notices inconsistent with the Constitution and laws related to education, employment and social insurance.

"So we've urged related departments to abolish the documents," said Shen Chunyao, head of the commission. "Criminals should be liable and punished for their own misconduct, meaning that others shouldn't be implicated in the penalties. It's a basic principle of rule of law in modern society."

Self-examination should also be encouraged across the country to prevent similar situations, he said.

The decision also expanded the scope of documents deemed to be normative to include those created by economic zones and free trade areas, and said all such documents should be handed over to the NPC Standing Committee for record within 30 days of being made public.

It also urged greater efforts to use information platforms for recording and reviewing documents to make the process digital as well as easier.

The decision, which took immediate effect on Friday, has received thumbs-ups from law professionals.

Zhang Xiang, a law professor at Peking University, said oversight of normative documents had been intensified since the 19th CPC National Congress in 2017, adding that the decision provided a stronger legal basis for it.

Zheng Lei, a law professor at Zhejiang University, said the decision has legal force despite not being a typical law, comparing it to a prelude to subsequent special legislation.

Qin Qianhong, a law professor at Wuhan University, said in a recent article that the adoption of the decision was conducive to solving problems in the review of normative documents, and was a quick response to meet public demands on establishing rule of law and correcting unconstitutional actions.