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What is the legislative process of the National People's Congress? |
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The Presidium of the National People's Congress may introduce a
bill to the National People's Congress for due consideration during
its current session.
The Standing Committee of the NPC, along with the State Council,
the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People's Court, the
Supreme People's Procuratorate and special committees of the NPC
may introduce a bill to the NPC, which will be put onto the agenda
of the current session by the Presidium.
A delegation, or group of no less than 30 deputies, may introduce a
bill to the NPC, where on, the Presidium will decide if the bill is
to be put onto the agenda or referred to a special committee for
further consideration. If the special committee will recommend it
for consideration, the Presidium will decide to proceed or not.
During its consideration the committee may invite the sponsor of
the bill to attend such a meeting.
When the NPC is not in session, a bill for consideration must first
be submitted to its
Standing Committee which may then refer the bill on to the NPC
after it has taken due consideration of the procedures for
referral, set out in Section 3 of Chapter 2 of the Legislation Law.
Thereafter the Standing Committee, or sponsor, will brief the
plenary session on the bill.
A bill which the Standing Committee submits to a forthcoming
session of the NPC must be followed by the distribution to the
deputies of the draft law one month before the session begins.
Consideration of a bill which has been included on the agenda of a
current session of the NPC must begin with a briefing to the
plenary meeting by the bill sponsor. During the consideration
process the sponsor will have representatives hear comments and
answer questions.
Upon the request of an examining delegation, the agent or
organization relevant to the deliberation will have representatives
to brief the session.
Once a bill has been put on the agenda of a session of the NPC, it
shall be deliberated fully by the relevant committee, its findings
submitted and then printed and distributed to all deputies
attending the session.
A bill which has been put on the agenda of the current session must
be reviewed by the Law Committee and a report delivered for
consideration to the Presidium along with the amended draft law.
The report must contain an explanation of the main differences in
opinion on the bill. Once deliberated, the Presidium passes the
deliberation report and the amended draft law for due printing and
circulation to all attending deputies.
The executive chairman of the Presidium may call for a session of
delegation leaders to discuss the range of opinions that a proposed
bill, included on the agenda for the current session, covers. The
executive chairman will then report the findings of the discussion
back to the Presidium.
The executive chairman of the Presidium can also call a session of
deputies, elected to discuss major issues related to the bill, and
report to the Presidium on the discussion and expressed opinions.
Should the sponsor of a bill wish to withdraw from the agenda of a
current session of the NPC, they may do so providing adequate
explanation is given by the bill sponsor, and the Presidium agrees,
following a report submission, and reading, to the plenary session
before the bill is terminated.
In the case of additional considerations and deliberations arising
in the course of a bill's progress through the plenary session, the
Standing Committee may conduct further deliberations, and reports
its decision to the next session of the NPC. The Standing Committee
may also conduct further considerations and prepare amendments that
may be submitted at the next session.
Once the deputies have deliberated, the draft law will be amended
by the Law Committee, based on the opinions of the deputies. The
voting version of the draft law will then be submitted by the
Presidium to the plenary session for voting on. These bills will be
adopted if they achieve successful voting from more than half of
the voting deputies.
A national law enacted by the NPC will be promulgated by a signed
presidential order from the President of the state.
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