"Every case must be filed, every lawsuit must be heard!" Interpreting the 31 new regulations that will change China

I. Comprehensive Rule of Law

1. Party discipline should be stricter than the law.

Improve and strictly enforce various systems and regulations regarding the political, work, and living treatment of leading cadres, and focus on rectifying all kinds of privileged behavior. Any corrupt acts and corrupt individuals must be resolutely punished according to discipline and law, without leniency.

2. The Political and Legal Affairs Commission retained it.

The Political and Legal Affairs Committees of Party committees at all levels should focus their work on grasping the political direction, coordinating the functions of various departments, overseeing political and legal work, building the political and legal team, supervising law-based performance of duties, and creating a fair judicial environment, taking the lead in acting according to the law, and ensuring the correct and unified implementation of the Constitution and laws.

3. On Taiwan: unwavering commitment to the one-China principle

Use legal means to uphold the one-China principle and oppose "Taiwan independence," enhance common understanding of safeguarding the one-China framework, and advance the peaceful reunification of the motherland.

4. Regarding special administrative regions: external forces should not meddle in domestic affairs.

Exercising central power in accordance with the law, protecting the high degree of autonomy in accordance with the law, supporting the chief executives and governments of special administrative regions in administering according to the law, safeguarding the development of economic and trade relations and exchanges and cooperation in various fields between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao, and guarding against and opposing interference by external forces in the affairs of Hong Kong and Macao……

II. Strengthening the Authority of the Constitution

1. Establish a system of pledging allegiance to the Constitution.

December 4 of each year is designated as the National Constitution Day. A constitutional oath system is established, whereby all state functionaries elected or appointed by the People's Congress and its Standing Committee must publicly swear an oath to the Constitution when taking office.

All acts in violation of the Constitution must be investigated and corrected.

All ethnic groups, state organs, armed forces, political parties, social organizations, enterprises, and institutions must take the Constitution as the fundamental norm for their activities and bear the responsibility of upholding the dignity of the Constitution and ensuring its implementation. All acts in violation of the Constitution must be investigated and corrected.

2. Improving legislation to crack down hard on corruption

Accelerate the advancement of national anti-corruption legislation, improve the system for punishing and preventing corruption, form an effective mechanism that ensures officials dare not, cannot, and do not want to engage in corruption, and resolutely curb and prevent corrupt practices. Improve the legal system for punishing bribery and corruption crimes, expanding the object of bribery from property to property and other property interests.

3. A market economy requires even more legal safeguards.

Formulate and improve laws and regulations on development planning, investment management, land management, energy and mineral resources, agriculture, fiscal taxation, and finance, to promote the free flow of goods and factors, fair trade, and equal use.

4. Safeguarding human rights

Protect citizens' rights in accordance with the law, and accelerate the improvement of legal systems that reflect fairness in rights, opportunities, and rules, ensuring that citizens' personal rights, property rights, basic political rights, and other rights are not infringed upon……enhance public awareness of respecting and protecting human rights, and improve the channels and methods for remedying citizens' rights.

5. Environmental protection: substantially raising the cost of ecological violations

Use strict legal systems to protect the ecological environment, accelerate the establishment of an ecological civilization legal framework that effectively curbs development activities and promotes green, circular, and low-carbon development, strengthen producers' legal responsibilities for environmental protection, and significantly increase the cost of violations.

6. Counter-terrorism: expedite the introduction of counter-terrorism laws.

Accelerate the construction of a rule-of-law framework for national security, promptly introduce a batch of urgently needed laws such as those on counter-terrorism, advance the legalization of public security, and build a legal system for national security.

7. Internet legislation began.

Strengthen legislation in the internet sector and improve laws and regulations on internet information services, cybersecurity protection, and online social management……

8. Eliminate departmental buck-passing and introduce third-party assessment.

Effectively prevent the legalization of departmental interests and local protectionism through institutional mechanisms and work procedures. For major legislative matters with significant inter-departmental disputes, decision-making authorities shall introduce third-party evaluations.

III. Law-Based Administration

1. Establish a lifelong accountability system and retroactive accountability mechanism for major decisions.

For serious errors in decision-making or failure to make timely decisions that should have been made according to law, resulting in major losses or adverse impacts, strictly pursue the legal liability of the chief administrative officer, other responsible leaders, and relevant responsible personnel.

2. Improve the error correction and accountability mechanism.

Improve the error correction and accountability mechanism, and refine accountability methods and procedures such as ordering public apologies, suspension from duty for investigation, resignation by taking responsibility, ordered resignation, and recall.

3. Resolutely eliminate interference in law enforcement activities.

Strengthen law enforcement oversight, resolutely eliminate interference in law enforcement activities, prevent and overcome local and departmental protectionism, and punish corruption in law enforcement.

4. Eliminate the practices of failing to transfer cases, difficulty in transferring cases, and substituting administrative penalties for criminal punishment.

Improve case transfer standards and procedures, establish information sharing, case notification, and case transfer systems among administrative law enforcement agencies, public security organs, procuratorial organs, and judicial organs, resolutely overcome the phenomena of failing to transfer cases, difficulty in transferring cases, and substituting fines for criminal penalties, and achieve seamless integration of administrative penalties and criminal punishments.

5. Significantly reduce the types of law enforcement teams at the municipal and county levels.

Promote comprehensive law enforcement in key areas such as food and drug safety, industry and commerce quality inspection, public health, work safety, culture and tourism, resources and environment, agriculture, forestry and water conservancy, transportation, urban and rural construction, and marine fisheries, and where conditions permit, promote cross-departmental comprehensive law enforcement.

6. Administrative organs shall not establish powers beyond the provisions of law.

Administrative organs shall not set powers outside the law, and without legal or regulatory basis, they shall not make decisions that diminish the lawful rights and interests of citizens, legal persons, or other organizations, or increase their obligations. The system of government power lists shall be implemented, and the space for power rent-seeking shall be resolutely eliminated.

IV. Upholding Judicial Fairness

1. Party and government organs and leading officials must not interfere in judicial matters.

No Party or government organ or leading official may direct judicial organs to perform duties that violate the law or impair judicial fairness, and no judicial organ may carry out any requirement of a Party or government organ or leading official that unlawfully interferes with judicial activities. Anyone who interferes with the handling of cases by judicial organs shall be given Party discipline or administrative sanctions; if such interference causes a wrongful conviction or other serious consequences, they shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the law.

2. Resolutely eliminate all hidden rules.

No leniency outside the law is allowed, and no case-related, favor-based, or money-driven cases are permitted. We resolutely oppose and overcome privilege mentality, bureaucratic style, and overbearing conduct, and resolutely oppose and punish rough and brutal law enforcement. Zero tolerance for corruption in the judicial field, and we resolutely eliminate the rotten apples.

3. Resolutely punish acts of judicial brokerage.

Regulate the contact and interaction between judicial personnel and parties, lawyers, special relationship persons, and intermediary organizations in accordance with the law. It is strictly forbidden for judicial personnel to privately contact parties and lawyers, disclose or inquire about case details, accept meals or property, or introduce agency and defense business to lawyers, and other illegal or disciplinary acts. We resolutely punish judicial brokerage activities to prevent interest transfer.

4. Prevent public opinion from affecting judicial fairness.

Improve the system of people's supervisors, focusing on supervising the filing, detention, seizure and freezing of property, prosecution, and other aspects of law enforcement activities in the investigation of duty-related crimes by procuratorial organs. Judicial organs should promptly respond to social concerns. Regulate media coverage of cases to prevent public opinion from affecting judicial fairness.

5. Fully implement legal principles such as the presumption of innocence in doubtful cases and the exclusion of illegally obtained evidence.

Improve judicial oversight over measures restricting personal freedom and investigative methods, strengthen the prevention of torture and illegal evidence collection at the source, and improve mechanisms for effectively preventing and promptly correcting wrongful convictions.

6. Implement the principle that whoever handles a case is responsible for it.

Judicial personnel must not improperly interfere with cases handled by others, and establish a system for recording and holding accountable internal judicial personnel who inquire about cases. Improve the responsibility system for presiding judges, collegial panels, chief prosecutors, and lead investigators, ensuring that those handling cases are responsible for them.

7. Every case must be filed, and every lawsuit must be heard.

Ensure that cases legally accepted by the people's courts are filed and addressed, protecting the litigation rights of parties. Increase penalties for false litigation, malicious litigation, and unreasonable persistent litigation. Improve the leniency system for admitting guilt and accepting punishment in criminal proceedings.

8. Promote pilot reform of the system for separating judicial power from enforcement power.

Improve the judicial system, promote pilot reforms to separate adjudicative and enforcement powers. Improve the penal enforcement system, unify the penal enforcement system. Reform the personnel, property, and management system of judicial organs, explore the separation of court and procuratorate administrative affairs from adjudicative and prosecutorial powers.

V. Building a Law-Based Society

Incorporate Petitioning into the Rule of Law

Establish and improve mechanisms for early warning of social conflicts, interest expression, consultation and communication, and relief and assistance, smooth legal channels for coordinating public interests and safeguarding rights. Incorporate petitioning into the rule of law, ensuring that reasonable and lawful demands can achieve reasonable and lawful results in accordance with legal provisions and procedures.

VI. Building a Team of Legal Professionals

1. Establish a system for selecting judges and prosecutors level by level.

Newly appointed judges and prosecutors are uniformly recruited by the Higher People's Courts and Provincial People's Courts, and they shall serve in grassroots courts and courts. Judges and prosecutors of higher-level people's courts and people's courts are generally selected from outstanding judges and prosecutors of the next lower-level people's courts and people's courts.

2. Improve the legal profession admission system

Improve the national unified legal professional qualification examination system and establish a unified pre-service training system for legal professionals. Establish a system for recruiting legislative workers, judges, and prosecutors from qualified lawyers and legal experts, open channels for eligible military transfer cadres to enter the specialized legal team, and improve the standardized and convenient mechanism for recruiting talents from graduates of political science and law majors.

3. Select and appoint to leadership positions those who are adept at using law-based thinking to advance their work.

Focus on the construction of leadership teams at all levels of legislative, law enforcement, and judicial organs, highlight political standards, and select people who are adept at using rule of law thinking and methods to promote work for leadership positions. Smooth the channels for exchange among cadres and talents in legislative, law enforcement, and judicial departments, as well as between them and qualified cadres and talents in other departments.