The Path of Socialist Rule of Law with Chinese Characteristics

It is the foundation of the legal system for socialism with Chinese characteristics to maintain its true qualities, the embodiment of the legal system for the innovative practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the legal guarantee for the prosperity of socialism with Chinese characteristics. That is, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, closely focus on upholding and improving the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, thoroughly implement the theory of the rule of law with Chinese characteristics, build a socialist law-based system with Chinese characteristics, adhere to the centrality of the people, adhere to equality before the law, adhere to the combination of governing the country by law and virtue, and adhere to the principle of starting from China’s reality, and build a socialist country ruled by law featured by scientific legislation, strict law enforcement, judicial justice, and observance of law by all. It is an important part of the socialism road with Chinese characteristics and the only way to comprehensively promote the law-based governance of the country and build China into a rule of law country. In the early days of the founding of the new China, the Communist Party of China rushed to formulate new laws based on the successful experience of rule of law construction in base areas. In September 1949, the First plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference passed the “Common Program of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference” with a provisional constitutional nature. China’s first constitution was officially promulgated in 1954, establishing the fundamental political, economic, and legislative, administrative, and judicial systems of new China, and initially laying the foundation for the socialist rule of law. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee, Deng Xiaoping emphasized and attached importance to the construction of the legal system, and pointed out: “We must continue to develop socialist democracy and improve the socialist legal system”. “Our democratic system is still imperfect. A series of laws, decrees and regulations must be formulated to institutionalize and legalize democracy.” After the Fourth Plenary Session of the Thirteenth CPC Central Committee, Jiang Zemin proposed the idea of “governing the country by law” in 1996. In 1997, the Fifteenth CPC National Congress established rule of law as the basic strategy for the Party to lead the people in governing the country, and put forward the historical task of “governing the country by law and building a socialist country ruled by law”. The constitutional amendment passed at the Second Session of the Nineth National People’s Congress in 1999 formally established this strategy of governing the country in the form of the fundamental law of the country.

The socialism law-based governance with Chinese characteristics means that the people, under the leadership of the Party, manage state affairs, economic and cultural undertakings, and social affairs through various channels and methods in accordance with the Constitution and legal provisions, ensure that all tasks of the state are carried out in accordance with the law, and gradually realize the institutionalization and legalization of socialist democracy, so that this system and laws will not be changed due to changes in leaders, and changes in leaders’ views and focuses. The core is Constitution-based governance. The road of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics should not only learn from the achievements and experience of the paths of law-based governance of all countries in law-based human civilization, but also embody the essence of socialism with Chinese characteristics, that is, adhering to the Party’s leadership and the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, and implementing the theory of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics. The basic experiences summarized in the long-term practice of the construction of the road of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics are: adhering to the leadership of the Communist Party of China, adhering to the centrality of the people, adhering to equality before the law, adhering to the combination of governing the country by law and virtue, and adhering to starting from China’s reality.