5. We maintained the unity of the socialist legal system.

Maintaining the unity of the socialist legal system is an inherent requirement for strengthening the democratic legal system and doing legislative work well. China is a unified multiethnic socialist country. The unity of its socialist legal system is the foundation for safeguarding national unity, ethnic solidarity and social stability, and establishing a unified modern market system. At the same time, China is a large country; economic, cultural and social development varies greatly between regions; and the country is in the midst of profound changes. These basic national conditions determine that China implements a unified but tiered legislative system. We have always upheld the authoritative position of the Constitution as the country's fundamental law, and carried out legislative work in strict compliance with our statutory limits of authority and statutorily specified procedures. While enacting laws and regulations, we also carried out a concentrated review of existing laws and regulations, and strengthened the filing and examination of normative documents. In this way, we have ensured that laws, administrative regulations and local statutes do not conflict with the Constitution; administrative regulations do not conflict with laws; local statutes do not conflict with laws and administrative regulations; and provisions of laws and regulations are connected and coordinated and do not contradict each other, thereby guaranteeing the unity of the socialist legal system.

Fellow deputies,

The vitality of laws lies in their enforcement. The formation of a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics has generally solved the problem of having laws for people to follow. In these circumstances, the problem of ensuring that laws are observed and strictly enforced and that lawbreakers are prosecuted has become more pronounced and pressing. This is also an issue the masses have shown interest in and which has generated strong reactions from all sides. Therefore, as we continue to strengthen legislative work, we need to take active and effective measures to genuinely guarantee the effective enforcement of the Constitution and laws. First, we need to uphold their authority and dignity. All state organs, armed forces, political parties, mass organizations, enterprises and institutions must abide by them. No organization or individual has any privileges that transcend them, and all violations of the Constitution and laws must be prosecuted. Second, we need to adhere to law-based administration and judicial justice. State administrative organs must perform their duties in strict compliance with statutory authority and procedures, and accelerate the development of law-based government. State judicial and procuratorial organs must exercise their judicial and procuratorial powers in an independent and just manner, and uphold social equity and justice. Third, we need to enhance the awareness of laws and the rule of law across society. We need to get leading cadres at all levels and employees of state organs to take the lead in following the Constitution and laws, and become good at using the law to solve practical issues in real life. We need to assist the masses in learning to express their demands and solve problems and disputes in accordance with the law and legal procedures, and to use the law to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests. The NPC and its Standing Committee need to exercise, in accordance with the law, their important power of overseeing the enforcement of the Constitution and laws, and local people' s congresses at all levels and their standing committees need to fulfill, in accordance with the law, their important duty of ensuring that the Constitution, laws and administrative regulations are observed and enforced in their respective administrative regions in order to guarantee that all state organs truly use the powers bestowed upon them by the people for the benefit of the people.

Major Tasks for 2011

In 2011, the first year of the 12th Five-Year Plan period and the year that we will celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, the general requirements for the work of the NPC Standing Committee are: We must fully implement the guiding principles of the 17th National Congress of the CPC, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee and the Fourth Session of the 11th NPC; take Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents as our guide; thoroughly apply the scientific outlook on development; intimately integrate the Party's leadership, the people's position as masters of the country and the rule of law; focus on the overall work of the Party and the country in carrying out our functions and powers in accordance with the law; make full use of the role of deputies; maintain close contact with the people; further strengthen and improve our legislative work from a new starting point; constantly improve the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics; further strengthen and improve our oversight work in the new circumstances; give impetus to the implementation of the major decisions and arrangements of the Central Committee; strive to initiate a new phase in the work of the NPC; and make new contributions to ensuring that economic and social development in the 12th Five-Year Plan period is off to a good start and ensuring social harmony and stability.

I. Continuing to Strengthen Our Legislative Work From a New Starting Point

The formation of a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics marks a new starting point for China's legislative work. Social praxis is the foundation of laws, and laws encapsulate practical experience. Social praxis is endless and legislative work should also constantly move forward. Building socialism with Chinese characteristics is a long-term historic task. Improving the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics is also a long-term historic task, and it must develop as the praxis of socialism with Chinese characteristics develops. Furthermore, the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics is not static, closed or fixed, but rather, dynamic, open and developing. We must also note that, although our system of laws has already been formed, it is not perfect or flawless: Some existing laws need to be revised, some accompanying regulations urgently need to be enacted, and a few laws have yet to be introduced. The main reasons for this are that the legislative conditions for these laws are not ripe and no consensus on the relevant matters has been reached, so we must continue to explore and accumulate more experiences through praxis. In short, new changes in the domestic and international situations, new praxis of reform and opening up, new tasks of economic and social development, and new expectations of the people constantly present new tasks and requirements for our legislative work. Our legislative tasks are still painstaking and arduous, and legislative work can only get stronger and not weaker. For some time to come, we will devote more energy to revising and improving laws, and enacting accompanying regulations. At the same time, we still need to enact a number of new laws in order to ensure that the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics keeps up with the times, develops and improves. The NPC and its Standing Committee need to fully play their role as the country's highest organs of state power, exercise state legislative power in accordance with the law, make legislative work more organized and coordinated, urge relevant departments to earnestly study and solve major problems involved in legislation, improve the mechanisms of legislative work, strengthen legislative bodies and improve the competence of legislators, and initiate a new phase of our legislative work from a new starting point.

The legislative work of the Standing Committee this year is to promptly revise laws that are not compatible with economic and social development, and enact in a timely manner laws that are vital for pushing forward scientific development and promoting social harmony in accordance with the overall requirements for improving the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics. First, we will revise the Budget Law, the Law Concerning the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases, the Criminal Procedure Law, the Civil Procedure Law, the Organic Law of Local Governments, and the Military Service Law. Second, we will enact the Law on Mental Health, the Law on Administrative Coercion, and the Law on Entry and Exit Administration. Third, we will urge relevant departments to promptly enact accompanying regulations, and do the follow-up work of reviewing laws and regulations well, with the focus on urging and guiding the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate to complete the concentrated review of judicial interpretations currently in force.

We will enact legislation in a thoroughly scientific and democratic manner. We will use the evaluation of enacted legislation as a new measure to strengthen and improve legislative work, carry out such evaluations in an orderly manner and in various ways based on a review of the experiences gained through pilot programs, and objectively evaluate how scientific the system of laws is, how practicable laws and regulations are, and how effectively laws are implemented in order to provide an important basis for revising and improving laws and improving legislative work. We will improve the work mechanism by means of which deputies participate in legislation, integrate the work of handling bills and proposals from deputies with the work of enacting and revising laws, invite deputies to participate in the Standing Committee's activities for improving the quality of the drafting of laws and the quality of deliberation, conscientiously study and absorb comments and suggestions from deputies, and have them fully play their role in legislative work. We will actively explore ways and means for the orderly participation of citizens in legislation; widely solicit opinions from all sectors of society, particularly from the masses at the primary level; earnestly solicit the suggestions of experts and scholars; establish a sound feedback mechanism for recommendations from the general public; actively respond to social concerns; and take new steps in making legislation scientific and democratic.