The Law System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

With the Constitution as the commander, the law as the backbone, and administrative regulations and local regulations as important components, it is the organic unity composed of multiple laws, including constitutional laws, civil law and commercial law, administrative law, economic law, social law, criminal law, litigation and non-procedural law, etc. It is a unified, systematic and hierarchical scientific system with the development requirements of dynamics, openness and keeping pace with the times. In the early days of the founding of the new China, in accordance with the needs of new regime building, from 1949 to 1954 before the first National People’s Congress, China promulgated and implemented the “Common Program of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference” with a provisional constitutional nature, and formulated a series of laws and decrees such as the “Organic Law of the Central People's Government”, starting the historical process of the democratic legal system building of the new China. In 1954, the first session of the First National People’s Congress passed the first constitution of the new China.

In 1956, the 8th CPC National Congress proposed that China must gradually and systematically formulate comprehensive laws according to needs. By 1966, the Chinese legislature had enacted more than 130 laws and decrees, but the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics had not been established yet.

In 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee opened up a new historical period for the construction of socialist democracy and legal system. In 1979, the Second Session of the Fifth National People’s Congress passed a resolution to amend certain provisions of the Constitution, and enacted 7 laws including the “Election Law of the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses”, representing a prelude to China's large-scale legislative work in the new era. In 1982, the Fifth Session of the Fifth National People’s Congress passed the current constitution. Since then, some parts of the constitution were amended in 1988, 1993, 1999 and 2004. In 1997, the Fifteenth CPC National Congress clearly stated that a socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics shall be formed by 2010. In 2007, the 17th CPC National Congress proposed to improve the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics. As of the end of August 2011, China had enacted current constitutions and 240 effective laws, 706 administrative regulations, and more than 8,600 local regulations. The legal departments covering all aspects of social relations have been set up, with basic and main laws put in place, as well as relatively complete administrative regulations and local regulations. The overall legal system was scientific and harmonious, and the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics had basically taken shape. The socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics is an important part of the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the basis for comprehensively implementing the basic strategy of governing the country by law and building a socialist country ruled by law, and the concentrated embodiment of institutionalization and legalization of practical experiences of economic and social development since the founding of New China for more than 60 years, especially the Reform and Opening-up.This legal system embodies not only the essential requirements of socialism with Chinese characteristics, but also the era requirements of Reform and Opening-up and socialist modernization, as well as the cultural requirements of inheriting the excellent traditions of Chinese legal culture and drawing on the achievements of human legal civilization.