Party Regulations

　　The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee released two documents on May 27 tostandardize the Party’s internal rule-making processand improve the development of intra-Party regulations.

　　One regulation specifies the Party organs authorizedto draft, approve, publish, amend and abolishParty regulations and procedures to do so. Anotherdocument stipulates how Party regulations should berecorded, reviewed, amended or abolished.

　　“Stable and standard management of the CPC,theruling party, is an important aspect of the rule of law inChina,” Jiang Ming’an, a law professor at Peking University,told Xinhua News Agency.

　　The new Party leadership elected at the 18th CPCNational Congress last November attaches great importanceto tightening internal management of the Partythrough standardizing the formation of Party rules,Jiang said.

　　On a number of occasions, Xi Jinping, General Secretaryof the CPC Central Committee, has promised tokeep power within the cage of regulations.

　　The cage – laws and Party regulations – should bestrong enough, said Ye Duchu, a professor at the PartySchool of the CPC Central Committee.

　　The first document stipulates that Party regulationsmust be made under the principle that the Party mustabide by the nation’s Constitution and laws in all itsactivities.

　　“Sound internal regulations are instrumental to theParty and the country’s destiny,” said Zhen Xiaoying,a professor at the Central Socialist Academy based inBeijing.

　　Founded in 1921, the CPC currently has 82 millionmembers and 4 million grassroots organs. Itis governed by a comprehensive set of regulations.

　　But experts said that some regulations arenot well-targeted and hence not operational,and some old ones have not been updated in atimely fashion.

　　More transparent and systematic

　　The two regulations are the first formaldocuments to regulate the formation ofCPC rules. They are based on a temporaryregulation on the formation of Party rulesissued in 1990.

　　Compared with the temporary regulation, the newregulations make the rule-making process more transparentand systematic.

　　Article 19 of the first document stipulates that, aftera Party regulation is drafted, the CPC Central Committeeshould solicit opinions from Party members andrelevant experts. On matters closely related to the public’simmediate interests, the CPC should seek feedbackfrom the public. Feedback can be collected in writtenform, online or through consultation meetings.

　　The article will prevent formalism andbureaucracyin the rule-making process as well as prevent theParty from being alienated from the general public ordivorced from reality, Zhen said.

　　According to the new regulatory protocol,new rulesshould generally be published after approval, which isa departure from the Party’s previous stipulation thatonly required certain Party regulations to be releasedto the public.

　　“The basic nature of rules is openness and transparency.Those that are not open and transparent cannotbe called rules,” said Jiang. He added thatincreasedawareness of Party regulations can facilitate the implementationand public oversight of such rules.

　　The CPC now requires, for the first time in its history,the development of annual and five-year plans on draftingand amending internal rules.

　　A relatively long-term plan will help the Party makebetter and more consistent rules, said Zhen.

　　In addition, the new documents also stipulate thatParty regulations should be properly recorded, sortedout and evaluated by authorized Party organs.

　　Party regulations should be recorded with theCPC Central Committee within 30 days of theirpromulgation. Regulations contradictory to theConstitution and system of laws should be amendedor annulled, and those that run counter to the CPCconstitution or regulations enacted by central Partyorgans.

　　In June 2012, the CPC began comprehensivereview of all regulatory documents issuedsince the founding of the People’s Republic ofChina in 1949, in order to decide which shouldbe abolished.

　　According to Xinhua News Agency, thisis the first time that Party regulations havebeen sorted and checked for consistency andvalidity. CA

　　The CPC reshapes the process by which it establishes Party rules By Wang Hairong

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