Chen Sixi has spent 27 years helping Beijing put in place a series of basic laws. Now he hopes to see a shift to focusing on the quality of laws rather than their quantity.
'Previously, in order to have laws to use as soon as possible, we preferred they be 'rough' rather than 'delicate',' he said. 'But this created problems in enforcement, so much of our work now will focus on fixing existing laws.
'The new laws... will be more challenging, too, as they deal with issues on which we have not been able to garner consensus in the past.'
Two of these are amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code and Civil Procedure Code, which have had a direct impact on judicial injustice- a major source of people's anger at the government. New laws will also focus on issues such as social welfare and charities.
Although the first laws of the People's Republic were passed in the 1950s, the Cultural Revolution interrupted the legislative process, which only resumed in 1976. Legislators faced the daunting task of providing laws for a country eager to reform and engage the world, a process that began three years later.
By the end of last year, there were 239 national criminal, civil and commercial laws in place - an achievement the government hailed as a milestone on the road to achieving a 'socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics'.
But while the framework is cause for celebration, now is the time to improve the way laws are made. Because if the Communist Party slogan of 'serving the people' is to have meaning, the process has to be scientific and more open to public participation.
