If you are a foreign investor who comes from a common law country, we would like to create a contrast between the two different systems to give you a clear understanding. These features have made China one of the most popular investment destinations in the world. However, without having a basic understanding of the Chinese legal system, it is quite risky for foreign investors to conduct their business here. According to article 129 of the Constitution, the People`s Procuratorates are “the organs of legal control of the State”. Its functions are defined by the Organic Law of the People`s Procuratorates (1983). The supreme legislative power is the National People`s Congress. He had the power to revise the constitution and create important legal systems called “fundamental laws” (基本法律 jīběn fǎlǜ). Apart from this, the NPC also promulgates laws (法 fǎ) and decisions (决定 juédìng). Decisions may contain legal norms in the form of amendments or additions to laws. They are often used to delegate legislative power to the Council of State. In addition, the national broadcaster CCTV operates a “Television University”, which has a law program at the university level.
At the provincial level, there are post-secondary schools of justice or undergraduate colleges that provide legal training primarily to junior staff of legal institutions. In May 1996, the Lawyers Act was enacted by the AFN. He recognized the development needs of the legal profession. The definition of a lawyer was eventually changed from “state legal worker” to “a professional who legally obtains a lawyer`s certificate and provides legal services to the company.” The law establishes the conditions required for the exercise of the right; describes the professional capacity, rights and duties of a lawyer; Rules for Pro Bono. China`s legal system consists of laws that fall into seven categories and three different levels. The seven categories are constitutional and constitutional law, civil and commercial law, administrative, economic, social and criminal law, and the law of judicial and non-judicial proceedings. The three different levels are state laws, administrative regulations, and local laws. Although administrative litigation involving governments is on the rise because citizens are taking legal steps to protect their property from government violations, it is still quite difficult for the court to render fair judgments or effective enforcement because the court judges are appointed by the Communist Party and the funding comes from the government. While arbitration and mediation have the advantage over legal actions to some extent, their shortcoming cannot be ignored. The Chinese legal system is largely a civil system, although it has its roots in the Great Qing Code and various historical systems that largely reflect the influence of continental European legal systems, particularly the German civil law system in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Hong Kong and Macao, the two special administrative regions, although they are required to comply with the Constitution and the Basic Laws, as well as the power of the National People`s Congress, are able to largely maintain their colonial-era legal systems. A.1982 Constitution of the People`s Republic of China (Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Xianfa) The Constitution of the People`s Republic of China guarantees the fundamental rights and interests of citizens, including the right to vote and stand for election; freedom of expression, press, assembly, association, procession and demonstration; freedom of religion; the inviolability of personal freedom, personal dignity and residence; freedom and confidentiality of correspondence; the right to criticize any authority or official of the State, to make proposals and to exercise control; the right to work and rest and the right to material support from the State and society when they are elderly, sick or disabled; and the right to education and the freedom to participate in scientific research, literary and artistic creation and other cultural activities. China`s constitution, adopted in 1982, has been amended four times, the last time this year on September 14. March 2004, when the National People`s Congress voted to include formal guarantees of human rights – “The State respects and protects human rights” – and private property. The private property protection clause equates the private wealth of Chinese citizens with public sector ownership, “which should not be challenged.” Other important amendments to the Constitution included an institution of the leading role of the “Three Represented” important ideas in national political and social life, expressions of coordinated development of material civilization and political and cultural progress, the inclusion of the term “builders of socialism” and the improvement of the system of land expropriation. B.NPC Statutory Law and Other Legislation Over the past six years, China has intensified legislative measures to adopt and revise laws and regulations after becoming a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) at the end of 2001. By the end of 2003, some 440 laws and decisions relating to the law of the National People`s Congress and its Standing Committee, more than 1,000 administrative regulations of the State Council and 10,000 local ordinances had been issued. These laws, regulations and rules, which apply to a wide range of fields, have helped to establish a relatively comprehensive legal system in China. In 2003, China made unusual progress in its efforts to improve its legal system.
First, the Standing Committee of the National People`s Congress unanimously adopted the amendment to the Constitution of the People`s Republic of China, which was subsequently adopted by the National People`s Congress in March 2004. Second, the previous “measures of internment and deportation of vagrants and urban beggars” have been replaced by the “measures to support and manage people without safe sources of life in cities”, which reflect in the headlines the social progress of the measures. On August 1, 2003, a decree came into effect that provides voluntary protection to vagrants and beggars and demonstrates China`s efforts to protect the civil rights of migrants and the homeless in urban areas. The new measures came more than a month after China`s central government abolished a 20-year-old order that allowed police to arrest people without identity cards at will. Under the new regulations, the police are not allowed to detain migrants without identity cards as vagrants. Instead, the police have a duty to “inform beggars and vagrants that they can seek help from shelters.” This is based more on the voluntary basis of the new discharge system than on the “waiting system” currently in force. Thirdly, the new rules on the registration of marriages have been adopted, replacing the old rules that were considered obsolete. Under the new rules, couples only have to present their id and residency papers and sign a document stating that they are not married or related in order to register their marriage, thus ending the involvement of “Danwei” or state work units that was previously essential. C.International Treaties The 1982 Constitution does not specify the treatment of international law in relation to the laws of the PRC. In practice, however, the legislative approach was to automatically adopt international law within the framework of PRC law.
However, if the PRC has made a reservation to a provision of a treaty, that aspect or provision of the treaty will not be transposed into law. D. Jurisdiction Unlike common law jurisdictions such as the United States or England, there is no strict precedent for jurisdiction. Theoretically, each case is its own decision and will not bind any other court. In practice, however, judges of the lower people`s courts often try to follow the interpretations of laws adopted by the supreme people`s courts. In addition, higher courts may use the finality of their judgments on appeal as binding on the lower court that issued the first judgment or order. The Chinese legal system was strongly influenced by the Soviet Union, Germany, Japan, America and some international treaties in various respects.