Procedural Essays: Volume 9

Author: Sun Qian
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-11-01
Features: It must be admitted that, "in the past long period, we emphasized policies and directives more and acted directly according to them more, while speaking less of the rule of law and strict adherence to it. We paid little attention to ensuring that there were laws to follow, that laws must be followed, that law enforcement must be strict, and that violations must be punished. This was something that had to be done during the revolutionary period to overthrow the reactionary regime. However, after establishing the people's democratic regime led by the working class and basically eliminating counter-revolutionaries, and basically completing the task of eliminating the production relations of feudal and capitalist ownership, we still did not promptly and simultaneously emphasize strengthening the rule of law, accelerating its construction, emphasizing strict adherence to the law, and adhering to ensuring that there were laws to follow, that laws must be followed, that law enforcement must be strict, and that violations must be punished. This was a major mistake." After reflecting deeply on our shortcomings, we spent nearly 30 years for the country to basically achieve a historical leap from "legal desolation" to "rule of law construction," and then to making the realization of a "country under the rule of law" the goal. But to achieve this goal, there is still a long way to go. Nowadays, although some people still doubt the "guiding role" of law in real life, and although the construction of the rule of law still has many shortcomings, the objective standard for judging right and wrong is gradually shifting from "what people say" to "what the law says." Meanwhile, the people-centered constitutional spirit of "the state respects and protects human rights" has become the cornerstone of national reform and development, and also the focus of all judicial work. The rule of law is not all-powerful, but without it, nothing can be done. Of course, in the process of governing the country according to law, we basically followed the path of "doing while establishing" and "establishing while reforming." This is because there was almost no existing path to follow. With the transformation of the economic base, the entire vast superstructure also changed slowly or quickly. And if we do not resolutely reform the shortcomings of the current system, some of the serious problems that occurred in the past may reappear in the future. Reform has become the mainstream of the times; but how to reform has become the focus we must face and resolve. For this reason, the 16th National Congress of the Party clearly pointed out that political reform is the self-improvement and development of the socialist political system. It is necessary to proceed from China's national conditions, summarize our own practical experience, and at the same time learn from the beneficial achievements of human political civilization. It is necessary to focus on strengthening the system, realizing the institutionalization, normalization, and proceduralization of socialist democratic politics. The determination of the goals, tasks, and major measures of the judicial system reform should be based on China's national conditions, conform to the state system and political system, and conform to the operational rules of the socialist modernization judicial system. Precisely for this reason, this volume takes the reform of the procuratorial system as the main line, compiling 23 relevant articles that explore the internal logic of the contemporary Chinese procuratorial system from different perspectives. At the same time, starting from the issues that the public and have strong demands, it puts forward many constructive academic viewpoints and specific measures to address the existing problems of the procuratorial system. Among them, it includes the transformation of "enforcement concepts" and the reflection on "leadership systems," as well as the definition of "organizational principles of the procuratorate" and the feasibility of "international treaty measures." It also includes the discussion of the "reasonable positioning of procuratorial power" and the "independent exercise of procuratorial power," as well as the improvement of the "procuratorate system" and the "investigation mechanism." In a nutshell, the compiled articles are beneficial to readers in broadening their horizons, contributing to the theoretical research and innovation of the procuratorial system, and promoting judicial reform.