On February 22, experts from the fields of insurance and law
discussed a draft of the controversial regulation on drivers'
third-party liability insurance, which was published by the
Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council. The session was
organized by the PICC Property and Casualty Co.
The experts proposed modifications to the draft, some of them
saying that the insurance companies would become traffic accident
scapegoats if the rules were passed into law.
The fact that the session was held just before February 28, the
deadline for public comments on the draft, indicates that China's
biggest auto insurance company had learned how to use professional
voices to express its opinions.
Now, more and more such interest groups are taking advantage of
opportunities to participate in the lawmaking process. For example,
many opinions were given during legislation of the Contract Law,
the Organic Law of Villagers' Committees, the Land Administration
Law, and the Law on Road Traffic Safety.
"Besides the legislature and the government, opinions from
scholars, the general public, organizations and enterprises also
have an impact on legislation in China," said Li Shuguang, vice
dean of the China University of Political Science and Law's
Graduate School.
The increased participation of interest groups and individuals
demonstrates the transformation of the legislative process in
China. The public is no longer expected simply to follow the law
passively: it actively participates in its creation.
"Legislation is the institutional distribution of power among
interests. In order to balance the power of the law between all
interest groups, they must all have the opportunity to join the
drafting process and lobby for their own interests," said Professor
Zhou Wangsheng, director of the Peking University's Legislation
Study Center.
Behind this change is China's reform and opening, which began in
1978. As it transits from a planned economy to a market economy,
the control that characterized the former is gradually being
replaced by the autonomy of the latter. Resurgence in public
consciousness of rights and interests and the diversity of those
interests are the drivers of the country's legislative
transformation.
The process requires that the government make a legislation
plan, appoint a drafting committee, and organize a group of
drafters to research, seek comments and complete a preliminary
draft before submitting it to the National People's Congress (NPC)
or people's congresses of localities. Finally, the deputies will
discuss and vote on the law.
According to Zhou, about 75-85 percent of the laws adopted by
the NPC in the past 20 years were proposed by the State Council.
The Xinhua News Agency reports that the State Council proposed 38
of the 76 draft laws that went to the 10th NPC for
consideration.
At the same time, administrative organs of the government passed
numerous regulations.
"Much work has to be done on drafting laws during this period of
legislative transformation. It is difficult for the NPC to complete
the draft process without the government. The government has a far
greater share of resource distribution," said Zhou.
Joining the legislature's public opinion discussions is the most
common way for people to make their voices heard. They can also
offer suggestions to the legislature and present their opinions in
the media.
Since the 1980s, lawyers and other law professionals have been
the most active both in drafting and proposing laws. The government
has invited them to join in drafting important amendments to the
Constitution, the Criminal Law, the General Provisions of the Civil
Law, the Criminal Procedure Law and Administrative Procedure Law,
as well as in creating and amending regulations.
On September 3 last year, the Law Committee under the Beijing
Municipal People's Congress' Standing Committee organized the first
hearing on the city's regulation for implementing the national Road
Traffic Safety Law. Sixteen citizen representatives had the chance
to speak. On October 22, after some changes were made in accordance
with the opinions expressed at the hearing, the regulation was
adopted.
The hearing was a landmark in the city's democratization drive.
It built a platform for different interest groups to express their
standpoints.?
Many interest groups still have a long way to go in determining
the best ways to use the power of their voices. For example, in
past legislation on direct sales and taxes, foreign companies
showed the advantage of their far greater experience in protecting
their own interests by lobbying legislators. But the change is now
well under way, and Chinese lobbyists are learning to make their
voices to best effect.
(China Newsweek, translated by Wu Nanlan for
China.org.cn, March 29, 2005)