Op-Ed Contributors
Law must be more than just words
Updated: 2011-04-18 08:04
By Xu Xianming (China Daily)
After decades of legislation, China has finally established its own basic legal system. But that system leaves much to be desired; there are still loopholes to fill. Therefore, in the coming years, more effort is needed.
In China, the economic and political, as well as many other social institutions, are still immature and need to be further developed. As a result, the laws governing finance, the transfer of land-use rights, housing, and ecological protection are far from adequate to meet the needs of healthy growth. So they need to be constantly amended to adapt to changing circumstances.
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Rule of law is different from rule by law. Rule by law can be the governance by individual persons, to whom the law is none other than a pet tool; the ruler can alter or even dispose of it at his or her own will. But under the rule of law, the law becomes embodied into the daily life of all members of society, none of whom can override it.
Then the entire country can be run according to the law and the institutionalizing of the socialist democracy can be gradually realized.
Currently more attention should be paid to the quality rather than quantity of laws. The legislators must take into consideration the changing social conditions, and combine the requirements of the State with the people's emerging needs, so as to better protect the rights and liberty of individuals.
At the same time, legislative procedures should also be further reformed, introducing more transparency and citizen participation in the whole process, like planning, review, hearings, investigation and evaluation. Better and more just procedures can aid fairer application of laws.
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