Chinese Law, the WTO, and the 2006 Session of the NPC

1
Chinese Law, the WTO, and the 2006 Session of the
NPC

• Effects of Regionalism and Ideology on the
  Development of Chinese Law

2
27 years of Legal Efforts

• 1978 Start process of modernization
• Two-hands politics Economy and Law
• 1992 Socialist Market Economy legal reform
  takes flight
• 1996 Socialist Rule of Law, written into the
  Constitution in 1999

3
Goals of Legal Reform

• Economical Succeeded Accession to WTO in 2001
• Substitute for Political Reform
• Organize new economic freedoms
• Stabilize state-society relationship

4
Main Current Issue

• Unbalanced Economic Growth
• - Unbalanced Regional Development
• - Wide Income-Gap
• Main theme 2006 NPC session

5
Centre - Regions

• Unitary State
• Unstated Federalism
• Principle of Democratic Centralism
• full scope to the initiative and enthusiasm
  of the local authorities under the unified
  leadership of the central authorities

6
Figure 1 Administrative Layers (Simplified)
Center
Special Administrative Region
Autonomous Region
Provincial-Level Municipality
Province
Prefecture
Large City
County
City
County
Urban District
Township
Town
Unit
Township
Town
Unit
Village
Village
Village
Village
VAN ROOIJ, Benjamin, Chinas System of Public
Administration, in CHEN, Jianfu, OTTO, J.M., LI,
Yuwen (eds.), Implementation of Law in the PRC,
Den Haag, Kluwer Law International, 2002, p. 336.
7
Local Protectionism

• Economic Reforms led to more Authority and Fiscal
  Responsibility for Local Governments
• Local Protectionism Local governments protect
  interests of Local Companies
• Discriminative Measures
• Influencing Courts
• Etc.
• Particularly acute in Poor Regions

8
Figure 2 State Structure
Legislative Power
State Power Organs National Peoples Congress,
its standing committee, local peoples
congresses of provinces, municipalities and
quite big cities designated by the State
Council.
Administrative Organs the State Council and,
its departments and commissions, local peoples
governments of provinces, municipalities and
quite big cities designated by the State
Council, governments of provincial capitals.
VAN ROOIJ, Benjamin, Chinas System of Public
Administration, in CHEN, Jianfu, OTTO, J.M., LI,
Yuwen (eds.), Implementation of Law in the PRC,
Den Haag, Kluwer Law International, 2002, p. 338.
9
Sources of Law in China
MILITARY RULES AND REGULATIONS STATE
POLICIES (????) FORMAL INTERPRETATIONS OF LAW
(STATUTORY, ADMINISTRATIVE, JUDICIAL)
CUSTOMARY LAW QUASI-LEGISLATION
INTERNATIONAL LAW
10
Legislative Disarray

• Broadness/Vagueness of Chinese Law
• - Large role for Local Rules Large Amount of
  Local Rules.
• -gt Problem of Transparency
• - Large Power Administration (Quasi-Law)
• No effective system of dealing with Conflicts of
  Laws

Localities become Independent Kingdoms
11
Judicial Problems

• Local Governments Influence Local Courts
• Financial Motives
• Relationship Judges Officials
• Aggravated by Lack of Educated Legal Force (esp.
  Poorer Regions)

12
Ideologies and Law

• The New Left
• Failure to put the Property Rights Law on the
  Agenda at the 2006 NPC Session
• Debates surrounding Anti-Monopoly Law
• Confucianism
• Moral Foundation for Harmonious Society
• BUT Confucian Values never left the Legal
  Landscape Guanxi, Negative Attitude towards
  the Law,