Some 37 laws, regulations and ministerial directives relating to
the civil affairs have been enacted in China over the past eight
years.
"Changes are being made to the country's civil administrative
legislation at a speed which has no parallel," Yan Shi, an official
with the Civil Affair Ministry (CAM), said in Beijing Friday.
According to Yan, since the founding of new China in 1949, seven
laws, 32 regulations and nearly 30 ministerial directives on civil
administration have been formulated, most of them were done after
1994.
The changes cover a broad field including the protection of senior
citizens' rights, the adoption of children, marriage registrations,
funerals and burials, negative income tax for urbanites,
reemployment of ex-servicemen, the soliciting of contributions for
social welfare use, the counseling and compensating of the
handicapped, the issuance of welfare lotteries as well as donations
for disaster relief.
Tong Baogui, head of the Internal Office of the Committee for
Internal and Judicial Affairs of the National People's Congress,
China's top legislature, said, "Legislation on civil affairs has a
direct bearing on the interests of people, especially the
vulnerable."
"It is also has a far reaching influence on the country's economic
reforms and social stability," he said.
As
civil administration is mainly focused on the old and weak, the
laid-off and victims of natural disasters, every job the ministry
takes charge of requires cooperation from other departments such as
the Ministry of Public Security, the tax department and the
Ministry of Finance.
Correspondingly, the legislation of legal documents on civil
affairs is more time-consuming and can cause departmental
conflicts.
"The speeding up of civil administrative legislation is the result
of the country's increased legal awareness and the unanimous
recognition of the importance of legislation," Yan said.
According to incomplete statistics, there are 358 current local
rules and regulations applying to civil administration in current
use. The largest number in use in one province or autonomous region
is 17, which is in Shandong Province.
In
western China region such as the
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Qinghai
and Guizhou
provinces, the number in each of them is about eight.
In
2000 alone, some 158 out-of-date regulations and normative
documents were canceled and 60 items were erased from the
government list.
Chen Xunchui, an official with the CAM taking charge of the
implementation of China's bottom-line security system, said, "The
CAM has established a series of compulsory procedures to make sure
civil administrative personnel provide a standard service and
perform according to law."
"Standardization helps improve transparency and wins people's
trust," he said.
Currently, there are some 121,000 civil administrative personnel
working in the sector and meanwhile they are receiving supervision
from law enforcing measures.
In
Hubei, Shandong, Henan and Beijing, a special organization has
already been established by local civil affair departments to carry
out much needed surveillance.
The CAM has also promised to investigate cases and enforce both
administrative and economic penalties on departments and
individuals responsible for any violations.
"Despite the marked progress, there is still much left to be done",
said Tong, "And only after the country's economic strength expands
and the reform of economic systems deepens can the legislation work
be hastened."
Sources with the CAM disclosed that the Ordinance on Management of
Provincial and Inter-county Boundaries as well as the Ordinance on
Management of Marital Registration will be soon announced.
Another two ordinances on foundation management and preferential
treatment toward servicemen are being deliberated in the State
Council.
What's more, a number of regulations including the Law on the
Organization of Neighborhood Committee are being amended.
(Xinhua News
Agency May 18, 2002)