Legal experts call for agency to oversee constitution

The government should set up an independent agency to oversee implementation of constitutional rule, legal experts say. A system should also be established to ensure government entities and officials abide by the constitution. The recommendations follow the recent plenary session of top leaders who pledged to promote constitutional rule. The national legislature has designated today as the country's first Constitution Day. Both suggestions could be accomplished by institutional reform, experts said. "[One method of reform] should be to set up an agency, independent of any party or government organs, but enshrined with exclusive powers to oversee implementation of the state constitution," said Zhang Qianfan , a professor of constitutional law at Peking University. Fan Chongyi, a leading criminal procedure expert at the China University of Politics and Law, said: "Institutional reform to establish a mechanism to oversee the implementation of the state constitution is the key to … strengthening constitutional rule in the country as recently called for by the party leadership." The October plenum was largely concerned with rule by law and how the country's constitution should be interpreted and implemented. President Xi Jinping has also called for more awareness of the the mainland's constitution, and better understanding of the role of law, Xinhua reported. Xi also praised the constitution for it conformed to national conditions and realities, and was in line with the development of the times. However, he said the administration should abide by the constitution in leading the country as it embodied the will of the party and the people. Critics often claim that the government ignores the constitution. They complain of violations of human rights and freedom of speech, expression, assembly and protest. Legal experts note that the constitution, introduced in 1954 and adopted in its current form in 1982, cannot be used as a basis for legal defences, nor can any individual or institution question the constitutionality of a law, regulation or executive decision. And while the constitutional rule ideology stresses "rule by law" rather than "rule by man", critics said often the instructions of party figures are seen as more important than law. Critics say constitutional violations are partly due to the absence of a suitable review mechanism. According to the current constitution, the National People's Congress (NPC), the mainland's top legislature, and its Standing Committee are already empowered to supervise the implementation of the constitution. Legal experts said that institutional reform should be introduced to strengthen the interpretation and supervision of the implementation of the constitution. The government is unlikely to introduce a Western system that enshrines a court to monitor the implementation of the constitution, but many experts have called for authorities to consider setting up an independent "constitutional commission" within the National People's Congress Standing Committee. Some experts said Beijing was more likely to improve its current legislative constitutional review system. Zhang said he believed it was likely an independent constitutional committee would be set up within the NPC Standing Committee. Fan said the government would introduce procedural and systematic reform to require all legislation and public bills to be examined and reviewed for their constitutional implications before they were enacted. "The National People Congress has passed thousands of laws and regulations. But none have been reviewed for their constitutionality, let alone being declared unconstitutional," Fan said, referring to arguments by experts that some went against the constitution. Fan said reforms would preserve the power of the constitutional committee to examine any Communist Party organs and ensure their leaders abided by the constitution, or to hold them legally accountable. The party said it would require all government officials to take an oath on the state constitution prior to taking office if they were elected or appointed by the people's congresses or their standing committees at the national and local levels.

Legal experts call for agency to oversee constitution

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Legal experts want an independent agency to oversee 'rule by law' - as well as a system to ensure government officials abide by it

Legal experts want an independent agency to oversee 'rule by law' - as well as a system to ensure government officials abide by it