Letters | Why Hong Kong should take note of the bill to amend China’s ‘Legislation Law’

As the law on how to make laws and regulations, China’s “Legislation Law” is an important piece of constitutional legislation in the country’s legal system. The bill to amend the Legislation Law submitted to the National People’s Congress by its Standing Committee is an exciting advancement of legislative ideology and techniques by the top legislature.

The amendment bill proposes to establish community legislative contact points to extensively solicit opinions from various sectors of the community in drafting and amending laws. Being a brand new idea, it needs a more detailed action plan for execution. For example, it is unclear who will manage these contact points. More importantly, how will its efficiency in collecting and conveying the opinions from community to legislators be assessed? Certain key performance indicators might be helpful.

The legislative process usually involves addressing direct or indirect conflicts of interest or ideology. In making or amending a law, legislators need to be aware of the entire spectrum of interests and opinions potentially affected by the proposed legislation. The amendment bill suggests that a hearing is just an important platform for collecting, listening to and resolving different opinions from all sides.

If so, in case a national law implemented in Hong Kong is being amended, is it not necessary to solicit the opinions of Hong Kong residents and Hong Kong deputies to the NPC? Can a hearing be held in Hong Kong if necessary?

The amendment bill advocates a new mode of local legislation – regional coordinated legislation, which encourages neighbouring provinces and municipalities to jointly formulate and pass local legislation to tackle shared problems or implement national policies.