Chinese Law Enforcement Report 2013 released

The Chinese Law Enforcement Report 2013 was released on June 7 at the China Hall of Science and Technology in Beijing.

The Report's debut also marked the opening of the Symposium on the Modernization of State Governance and Building a Rule of Law Society, hosted by the China Behavior Law Association (CBLA).

The symposium attracted an array of legal professionals, including judges, prosecutors, lawyers, law professors and legislators.

Jiang Bixin, vice president of the Supreme People's Court of China and president of CBLA, delivered the opening remarks. He stressed the importance of proper law enforcement and reflected on its three functions. The basic function is to maintain social order and benefit mankind and society. The second is to repair loopholes in existing laws, which are sometimes inevitable. Law enforcement also provides meaningful feedback so that legislation can be improved.

Law professors at the symposium shared their views on the legal concept of a "society with the rule of law." Professor Xue Gangling, dean of the Law School of the China University of Political Science and Law, argued that a society with the rule of law should be founded on a nation's customs, as customs are the durable power of a people. However, he remarked that it was a pity that the time-honored traditions of the Chinese nation seem to do more harm than good in building a society based on the rule of law.

The Report is the first annual report focusing on China's law enforcement. After the Third Plenum of the 18th CPC Central Committee last November, which outlined a long list of unprecedented reforms, the priorities in China's judicial reform have shifted from law making to law enforcement.