Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

Last updated
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China

中华人民共和国全国人民代表大会
常务委员会
Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress
National Emblem of the People's Republic of China (2).svg
Type
Type
Leadership
Zhao Leji, Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
since 10 March 2023
Liu Qi, CCP
since 10 March 2023
Structure
Seats175
NPC Standing Committee.svg
Political groups
Ruling party
  •   CCP (117)

Democratic Parties and Independents

Vacant

  •   Vacant (2)
Elections
Indirect modified block combined approval voting [1] [2] [3] [4]
Last election
 March 2023
Next election
March 2028
Meeting place
Great Hall Of The People At Night.JPG
Great Hall of the People, Xicheng District, Beijing, People's Republic of China
Website
en.npc.gov.cn.cdurl.cn OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Rules
Rules of Procedure for the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (in English)
Conference Room of the NPC Standing Committee on Great Hall of the People second floor Tiananmen Square Visit.jpg
Conference Room of the NPC Standing Committee on Great Hall of the People second floor
National People's Congress Office Building in Beijing National People's Congress Building (20200904130106).jpg
National People's Congress Office Building in Beijing

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. It exercises the powers of the NPC when it is not in session.

Contents

The NPCSC is composed of a chairman, vice chairpersons, a secretary-general, and regular members, all of whom are elected by regular NPC sessions. The day-to-day operations of the Standing Committee are handled by the Council of Chairpersons, which is composed of the chairman, vice chairpersons, and the secretary-general. Although the parent NPC officially has superiority over the Standing Committee, and certain authorities are not delegated, the Standing Committee is generally viewed to have more de facto power, as the NPC convenes only once a year for two weeks, leaving its Standing Committee the only body that regularly drafts and approves decisions and laws.

History

In 1954, the 1st National People's Congress was held in Beijing, which became the statutory parliament of the People's Republic of China. The Standing Committee was established as its permanent body. The 1954 Constitution of the People's Republic of China stipulates that "the National People's Congress is the sole organ that exercises the legislative power of the state" and that the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has only the power to "interpret laws" and "enact decrees". However, because the number of delegates to the National People's Congress is in the thousands and non-full-time, only one meeting is held annually, and the meeting period cannot be too long. The 2nd NPC authorized its Standing Committee the power to exercise legislative power when the NPC is not in session. [5] [ non-primary source needed ]

For a while after establishment of the People's Republic, the power of the Standing Committee was limited to interpretation of its constitution and laws. At present, the NPC Standing Committee plays a key role in legislation and has the power to promulgate and amend most laws and decrees. Bills voted on by the National People's Congress are usually submitted by the Standing Committee after its third reading.

During the political chaos of the Cultural Revolution, the NPC rarely held meetings and the Standing Committee virtually ceased to function. During this period, Chairman Zhu De and First Vice Chairman Dong Biwu had both died, which enabled Vice Chairman Soong Ching-ling, a member of the Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang, to exercise the functions and powers of Chairman of the NPCSC to a certain extent. With the abolition of the presidency in 1975, she effectively became the first female head of state in China by legal definition.

In 1980, after the decision of the 5th National People's Congress, the "Committee for the Amendment of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China" was formally established, presided over by Ye Jianying, Soong Ching Ling and Peng Zhen, and including the main leaders of the democratic parties, social organizations and jurists. It was responsible for amending and establishing the new constitution. During the discussion on constitutional amendment, Hu Qiaomu, secretary general of the Constitution Revision Committee, proposed cutting the number of NPC deputies to 1,000 and setting up two chambers of 500 each under the NPC to make the NPC a permanent, bicameral body, in an attempt to change its image as a "rubber stamp". Another committee member proposed to imitate the system used by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union with one chamber composed of representatives from different regions and the other composed of representatives from different professional sectors. Opponents, led by Deng Xiaoping and Ye Jianying, argued that "if the two parties disagree, it will be very troublesome to coordinate and difficult to operate". A compromise was finally reached that greatly expanded the powers of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, making it a permanent legislature with the power to enact most laws and to review those for approval by the NPC. [6] [ unreliable source? ]

Composition

The NPCSC currently has 175 members, and consists of a chairman, vice chairpersons, a secretary-general, and regular members. [7] The chairman presides over the NPCSC, and presides and convenes its work. The chairman has conventionally been one of the top members of the Chinese Communist Party, ranking as either the second-ranking or third-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee since 1998. [8] The chairman, vice chairpersons and the secretary-general collectively make up the Council of Chairpersons, which handles the Standing Committee's daily affairs. [9] Members of the NPCSC must not, at the same time, hold executive, judicial, or supervisory positions. Other members of the NPC do not have this restriction. [9] [ non-primary source needed ]

Election

The Standing Committee is elected by and from the NPC delegates during a NPC plenary session. [10] The candidates for the NPCSC chairperson, vice chairpersons, secretary-general, and regular members are nominally nominated by the NPC Presidium, though the nomination process is effectively controlled by the CCP. [10] Elections for the non-regular NPCSC members, along with all other NPC elections are not competitive, with a single candidate proposed by the Presidium. In contrast, the elections for the regular NPCSC members have been the only competitive elections in the NPC since 1988; there are more nominees than available seats. [10]

Administrative bodies

A number of administrative bodies have also been established under the Standing Committee to provide support for the day-to-day operation of the NPC. These include: [11]

Functions and powers

Legislative

The NPC and its Standing Committee jointly exercise the power to enact laws in China. The legislative functions of the Standing Committee constitutionally include: drafting and revising laws except those to be enacted only by the full congress of the NPC; partially supplementing and amending, when the NPC is not in session, laws enacted by the NPC, provided that the basic principles of these laws are not contravened. [12] As a result, day-to-day legislative work is conducted by the Standing Committee. [13] Although the NPC has the power to revoke "inappropriate decisions" made by the Standing Committee, so far this power has never been used. As a result, the NPC Standing Committee often has a greater say in legislative deliberations.

The NPCSC has the power of judicial interpretation of the constitution and law in the PRC, [9] including the Basic Law of Hong Kong and Macau. In contrast to common law jurisdiction in which stare decisis gives the power of both final interpretation and adjudication to a supreme court, within mainland China constitutional and legal interpretation is considered to be a legislative activity rather than a judicial one, and the functions are split so that the NPCSC provides legal interpretations while the Supreme People's Court actually decides cases. Because an interpretation of the NPCSC is legislative in nature and not judicial, it does not affect cases which have already been decided.

  • Truex, Rory (2016). Making Autocracy Work: Representation and Responsiveness in Modern China. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   9781107172432.
  • Mackerras, Colin; McMillen, Donald; Watson, Andrew (2001). Dictionary of the Politics of the People's Republic of China. Routledge. ISBN   978-0415250672.

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References

  1. ↑ National People's Congress of the PRC. 中华人民共和国全国人民代表大会和地方各级人民代表大会选举法 [Election Law of the National People's Congress and Local People's Congress of the People 's Republic of China]. www.npc.gov.cn (in Chinese (China)). Archived from the original on 13 June 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  2. ↑ "Electoral Law of the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses of the People's Republic of China". National People's Congress. 29 August 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  3. ↑ "China's Electoral System". State Council of the People's Republic of China. 2014-08-25. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  4. ↑ "IX. The Election System". China.org.cn. China Internet Information Center. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  5. ↑ "全国人民代表大会为什么要设立常委会？". 中国人大网 (in Chinese (China)). 2000-11-30. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  6. ↑ Tencent News (2011). "共和国辞典第44期：八二宪法". Tencent Net History (in Chinese (China)). Archived from the original on 2016-08-16. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  7. ↑ "National People's Congress Organizational System". China Internet Information Center . Archived from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  8. ↑ Truex 2016, p. 53.
  9. 1 2 3 "Constitution of the People's Republic of China". National People's Congress . Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 Liao, Zewei (2023-03-04). "NPC 2023: How China Selects Its State Leaders for the Next Five Years". NPC Observer. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  11. ↑ Wei, Changhao (2018-03-15). "Bilingual NPC Organizational Chart". NPC Observer. Retrieved 2024-04-04.
  12. 1 2 "Functions and Powers of the Standing Commitee[sic]". www.npc.gov.cn. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  13. ↑ Truex 2016, p. 51.
  14. 1 2 "FAQs: National People's Congress and Its Standing Committee". NPC Observer. 4 May 2023. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  15. ↑ Li, Cheng (2016-10-18). Chinese Politics in the Xi Jinping Era: Reassessing Collective Leadership. Brookings Institution Press. p. 69. ISBN   978-0-8157-2694-4.
  16. 1 2 "全国人大常委会关于实行宪法宣誓制度的决定". People's Daily . Archived from the original on 2016-12-22. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  17. ↑ "FACV Nos 10 and 11 of 1999". Judiciary of Hong Kong. 3 December 1999. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  18. ↑ "Hong Kong's self-styled 'voice of reason' says Beijing-imposed electoral shake-up is 'the worst' things will get for the city". Hong Kong Free Press . 2021-04-05. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  19. ↑ "Hong Kong to ask Beijing to interpret national security law after Jimmy Lai victory". South China Morning Post . 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  20. ↑ "Hong Kong leader demands international respect for the national security law". South China Morning Post. 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  21. ↑ "EU accuses China of dealing 'severe blow' to Hong Kong political freedoms". South China Morning Post . 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  22. 1 2 "Beijing planning crackdown on Hong Kong's district councillors, a year after pro-democracy landslide - report". Hong Kong Free Press . 2020-12-23. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  23. ↑ Ho, Kelly (2021-03-30). "Beijing unanimously approves Hong Kong election overhaul, reducing democratic representation". Hong Kong Free Press . Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  24. ↑ "'Get approval for foreign lawyers in NSL cases'". RTHK . Retrieved 2022-12-31.
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
Simplified Chinese 全国人民代表大会常务委员会
Traditional Chinese 全國人民代表大會常務委員會
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin Quánguó Rénmín Dàibiǎo Dàhuì Chángwù Wěiyuánhuì
Wade–Giles Chʻüan2-kuo2 Jên2-min2 Tai4-piao3 Ta4-hui4 Chʻang2-wu4 Wei3-yüan2-hui4
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization Chyùhn gwok Yàhn màhn Doih bíu Daaih wuih Sèuhng mouh Wái yùhn wuih
Jyutping Cyun4 gwok3 Jan4 man4 Doi6 biu2 Daai6 wui6 Soeng4 mou6 Wai2 jyun4 wui6
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