Local governments have been seen quite active in bulldozing
private residences to pave the way for urban construction, which
result in widespread disputes and protests across the
country.
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At the same time, they have done little to stop local factories
that are draining out waste water and belching out foul
smoke.
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To curb the growing trend of government abuses of power and
nonfeasance on other occasions, China's national legislature on
Saturday began reviewing the country's first administrative
mandatory law.
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It aims to tell the government how to limit personal freedom of
certain individuals and freeze their properties for the purpose of
protecting the public interests, said Xin Chunying, deputy director
of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's
Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, Saturday when explaining the
draft law to the parliament.
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"Because of the lack of the administrative mandatory law, some
government bodies have been found lax in law enforcement in face of
severe violation of the law, while on other occasions abusing their
power of mandatory sanction," she said.
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According to the draft law, no mandatory sanction by the government
shall be carried out unless it is provided for by the law, and it
shall be enforced by the government body with authorization by the
law.
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Such sanctions include restriction of personal freedom, sealing up
or sequestrating property, freezing bank account, intrusion of
private residency by force. Follow-up actions may include fines,
auction of sequestrated property and transfer of funds from bank
accounts.
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To counter the widely-complained government intrusion of private
property and illegal check up of business account books, the draft
law says the government body must show legal basis in advance,
otherwise "the related party has the right to refuse."
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"Commodities of small vendors along the street shall not be
confiscated by law-enforcement bodies for the purpose of
maintaining street order," it says.
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One of the important of mandatory sanctions is they should be
carried out in a proper manner to minimize the losses that may
occur to the receivers, Xin said. Other principles also
include:
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-- Mandatory sanctions should be adopted as the last resort if
other options are available;
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-- Reconciliation with the receiver shall be encouraged in
resolving disputes under the condition that interests of the public
or other related parties are not affected.
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NPC statistics show that means of mandatory sanctions are visible
in 48 national laws and 72 regulations issued by the State
Council.
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Referring to the abuse of mandatory sanctions, Li Yuan, legal
expert with the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing
Committee, said there are more than 260 specific mandatory measures
in total in China.
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"Such abuses are expected to be curbed after the new law is
approved," He said.
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The new law will also mark the completion of China's legal
framework concerning the government conducts, which is composed of
laws on government punishment and government permit, she
said.
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The draft law does not apply when the government take emergency
measures in case of disasters, public health crisis or social order
crisis, or government orders on financial matters, or technical
monitor and control measures on export or import goods, because
they are or will be covered by separate laws, Xin said.
(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2005)