Chapter VII

Party Discipline

Article 38

A Communist Party member must consciously act within the bounds of Party discipline.

Party organizations shall criticize, educate or take disciplinary measures against members who violate Party discipline, depending on the nature and seriousness of their mistakes and in the spirit of "learning from past mistakes to avoid future ones, and curing the sickness to save the patient."

Party members who violate the law and administrative discipline shall be subject to administrative disciplinary action or legal action instituted by administrative or judicial organs. Those who have seriously violated criminal law shall be expelled from the Party.

Article 39

There are five measures of Party discipline: warning, serious warning, removal from Party posts and proposals for their removal from non-Party posts to the organizations concerned, placing on probation within the Party, and expulsion from the Party.

The period for which a Party member is placed on probation shall not exceed two years. During this period, the Party member concerned has no right to vote, elect or stand for election. A Party member who during this time proves to have corrected his mistake shall have his rights as a Party member restored. Party members who refuse to mend their ways shall be expelled from the Party.

Expulsion is the ultimate Party disciplinary measure. In deciding on or approving an expulsion, Party organizations at all levels should study all the relevant facts and opinions and exercise extreme caution.

It is strictly forbidden, within the Party, to take any measures against a member that contravene the Party Constitution or the laws of the state, or to retaliate against or frame up comrades. Any offending organization or individual must be dealt with according to Party discipline or the laws of the state.

Article 40

Any disciplinary measure against a Party member must be discussed and decided on at a general membership meeting of the Party branch concerned, and reported to the primary Party committee concerned for approval. If the case is relatively important or complicated, or involves the expulsion of a member, it shall be reported, on the merit of that case, to a Party commission for discipline inspection at or above the county level for examination and approval. Under special circumstances, a Party committee or a commission for discipline inspection at or above the county level has the authority to decide directly on disciplinary measures against a Party member.

Any decision to remove a member or alternate member of the Central Committee or a local committee at any level from posts within the Party, to place such a person on probation within the Party or to expel him from the Party must be taken by a two-thirds majority vote at a plenary meeting of the Party committee to which he belongs. Such a disciplinary measure against a member or alternate member of a local Party committee is subject to approval by the higher Party committees.

Members and alternate members of the Central Committee who have seriously violated criminal law shall be expelled from the Party on decision by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee; members and alternate members of local Party committees who have seriously violated criminal law shall be expelled from the Party on decision by the standing committees of the Party committees at the corresponding levels.

Article 41

When a Party organization decides on a disciplinary measure against a Party member, it should investigate and verify the facts in an objective way. The Party member in question must be informed of the decision to be made and of the facts on which it is based. He must be given a chance to account for himself and speak in his own defence. If the member does not accept the decision, he can appeal, and the Party organization concerned must promptly deal with or forward his appeal, and must not withhold or suppress it. Those who cling to erroneous views and unjustifiable demands shall be educated by criticism.

Article 42

It is an important duty of every Party organization to firmly uphold Party discipline. Failure of a Party organization to uphold Party discipline must be investigated.

In case a Party organization seriously violates Party discipline and is unable to rectify the mistake on its own, the next higher Party committee should, after verifying the facts and considering the seriousness of the case, decide on the reorganization or dissolution of the organization, report the decision to the Party committee further above for examination and approval, and then formally announce and carry out the decision.