Preface

　　I. Legislation and Legal Supervision by the NPC Standing Committee

　　II. Administration by Law

　　III. Judicature, Prosecution, Public Security and Judicial Administration

　　IV. Reform of the Judicial System

　　V. Legal Protection of Human Rights

　　VI. Protection of Intellectual Property Rights

　　VII. Promoting Progress in Ecological Environment Management

　　VIII. Legal Publicity, Legal Education and Legal Research

　　IX. International Exchange and International Cooperation

　　Concluding Remarks

　　Annex

Preface

　　In 2014, China gave full play to the important role of the rule of law in the governance of the country and society, by centering on the general target of improving and developing the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and promoting the modernization of the national governance system and its ability of governance. Using the rule of law to guide the reform, it further improved the quality of legislation and legal system, further promoted the work of exercising law-based administration and the construction of a law-based government, further administered justice fairly and strictly, further enhanced the judicial credibility, gave more publicity to and strengthened education to promote the rule of law, carried on more legal research and fostered the legal culture.

　　The Communist Party of China (CPC) convened the Fourth Plenary Session of its Eighteenth Central Committee in October 2014. It reviewed and adopted the Decision Concerning Some Important Issues on Comprehensively Promoting the Law-based Governance of the Country. This was the first plenary session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China convened ever with the rule of law as its main theme. It was a milestone of epoch-making significance in the history of the Party’s building and its promotion of the rule of law. The Decision says that the general target for comprehensively promoting the law-based governance of the country is to build the socialist system of the rule of law with Chinese characteristics and build a socialist law-based country. It further stresses that to attain this general target, it is essential to uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China, uphold the principal position of the people, uphold the principle that all are equal before law, uphold the combination of the law-based governance of the country and the virtue-based governance of the country, and persist in proceeding from the actual conditions in China. The Decision outlines the major tasks for comprehensively promoting the law-based governance of the country are, namely: to improve the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics with the Constitution as its core to strengthen the implementation of the Constitution; to deepen the exercise of administration by law to accelerate the building of a law-based government; to ensure the fair administration of justice to improve judicial credibility; strengthen the whole people’s sense of the rule of law to promote the building of a law-based society; strengthen the work of training a contingent of legal personnel; and strengthen and improve the Party’s leadership over the work of comprehensively promoting the law-based governance of the country.

　　Law-based governance of the country is the solemn choice of the Communist Party of China after it came into power. To comprehensively promote the law-based governance of the country with the rule of law as its basic way to administer state and government affairs manifests the CPC’s deepening understanding of the law of governing the country, the law of socialist construction, and the law of the development of the political civilization of mankind, its profound understanding of the fundamental questions of shouldering the mission of governing the country, and achieving the economic development, clean politics, cultural prosperity, social justice and good ecology, and its positive response to the people’s demand for the rule of law and expectation of governing the country according to law, and shows the Party’s firm determination and confidence in leading the people of the whole country to take the road of the socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics unswervingly, and accelerating the building of a socialist law-based country. At this new juncture of the history, the Fourth Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee of the Party drew a magnificent blueprint for comprehensively promoting the law-based governance of the country with distinct Chinese characteristics. China ushered in a brand-new era of building a law-based country.

        Annex: Annual Report on Promoting the Rule of Law in China (2014)  （please download）