Improving the Socialist Legal System

Socialist democracy shall be institutionalized and legalized through the improvement of the legal system of socialist countries. It includes legislation, law enforcement, administration of justice, and observance of law, so as to “ensure that there are laws to abide by, that laws are observed and strictly enforced; and that lawbreakers are prosecuted”. To improve the socialist legal system, we must adhere to the principles of legitimacy, democracy, equality, and unity. The principle of legitimacy is to continuously improve socialist laws under the leadership of the Communist Party, establish the exercise of state power in accordance with the law, and ensure that there are laws to abide by. State organs, social organizations, public officials, and individual citizens must unconditionally strictly enforce and abide by the laws of the state. No one is allowed to do what the law does not permit.

The principle of democracy is a basic principle of the socialist legal system, and runs through the formulation, implementation, supervision and compliance of socialist laws. The principle of equality means, based on socialist democracy, to realize the true equality of the people in politics, economy, culture, and society, and insist that all citizens are equal before the law in particular. All state organ workers and citizens must strictly abide by the law. No one shall enjoy privileges not bound by law. The principle of unity means that, the constitution promulgated by the highest organ of state power has the highest legal effect and shall be uniformly implemented across the socialist country. No laws, administrative regulations, and local regulations shall be in conflict with the constitution, and all regions and departments are not allowed to arbitrarily formulate and implement systems and regulations that violate the principle, spirit and specific provisions of the law. The basic content of improving the socialist legal system is to “ensure that there are laws to abide by, that laws are observed and strictly enforced; and that lawbreakers are prosecuted”. “There are laws to abide by” means to formulate laws, decrees, regulations, resolutions, orders and local regulations, etc. that reflect the common will and interests of the majority of the people, and it is the prerequisite for realizing the socialist legal system; “Laws are observed” is the principle of universal observance of law. All organizations and individuals must act within the scope of the national constitution and laws, and no organization or individual can have privileges prescribed beyond the law. It is the reliable foundation of the socialist legal system; “Laws are strictly enforced” requires that all administrative organs, procuratorial and judicial organs in socialist countries have a legal basis for their acts and not exceed the scope of prescribed by the law. It is an important condition for the realization of the socialist legal system; “Lawbreakers are prosecuted” means that no person in a socialist country, no matter how high his status or how great his achievements, has the privilege to transcend the law; anyone's illegal and criminal acts should be exposed in a timely manner and due legal responsibility shall be imposed in accordance with the law. This is a strong guarantee of the socialist legal system.