News Analysis: Latest session offers insight into China's legislative process

The latest bimonthly session of China's top legislature provided a perfect exhibition of the flexibility and firmness of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.

The conclusion of the latest bimonthly session on Saturday comes as Zhang Dejiang, one of China's top legislators, represents the country at a top international parliamentary meeting in New York between Sunday and Wednesday.

As a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), which hosts important dialogue between global parliamentary leaders twice a decade, the motions and moves of the NPC, China's parliament, are closely watched at home and abroad.

With a series of landmark laws voted on and passed that will effect the daily lives of people in China and impact the country's development, the latest session is a prime example of how China's top legislature asserts its legislative and supervisory powers.

One of the most important bills adopted during the bimonthly legislative session of the NPC Standing Committee last week was an amnesty deal that will see thousands of war veterans as well as very old, young or infirm prisoners granted official pardons ahead of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II on Sept. 3.

The deal, promulgated by President Xi Jinping, comes 40 years after China granted an amnesty to war criminals in 1975, and 56 years after it granted its first pardon to non-war criminals in 1959.

This is the eighth amnesty since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949. Due to its significance and urgency, lawmakers voted to pass it after the first review, so that amnesty procedures can begin before V-Day on Sept. 3.

Such hasty proceedings are rarity for China's top legislature.

According to the NPC rules of procedure, a motion or a law is usually reviewed three times before being voted on by lawmakers.

In the case of the landmark Property Law, which grants equal protection to public and private property, seven reviews were held before it was passed in 2007.

But leading up to the vote were revisions and discussions that took almost 13 years.

It took less than a minute for the nearly 3,000 lawmakers to pass the much-revised bill on March 16, 2007.

In the end, the law was passed by an overwhelming majority.

Similar in significance, the ninth amendment to the 1979 Criminal Law went under heavy scrutiny three times before it was approved at the latest session. The revision addresses basic criminal policies such as the use of death penalty, treatment for corrupt officials and establishing a society of good faith.

The amended Criminal Law further removed the death penalty for an additional nine crimes. Capital punishment for 13 economic-related non-violent crimes was also removed in 2011. Under the amended law, which will take effect on Nov. 1, the number of crimes punishable by death in China is now 46.

As part of China's ongoing crackdown on corruption, the new law ruled out commutation for corrupt officials.

Perhaps some of the strongest legislation in the new Criminal Law offers increased protection for women and children, stipulating that those found "buying abducted women and children must face criminal penalty."

It also repealed the crime of sex with underage prostitutes, reclassifying it under rape laws, which give much tougher punishments.

Under the previous law, people who have sex with prostitutes less than 14 years old face a maximum of 15 years in prison, while those convicted of raping a child may face death sentence.

Legislature carried out multiple investigations on whether to scrap the crime since it was written into the Criminal Law in 1997, and consulted academics and specialists.

The conflicting provisions have helped offenders escape harsher punishment, as they have argued that the underage prostitutes often consented and were paid. The crime also imposed an unfair stigma on young girls who might engage in forced prostitution. Despite being victims, they were often labelled as prostitutes.

In order to safeguard good faith, the amendments added crimes regarding cyber security, enhancing protection of citizens' personal information and ascertaining responsibilities for Internet service providers failing to fulfill network security duties.

The revised law says those counterfeiting passports, social security cards and driving licenses will also face punishment.

Organizing cheating in exams and bringing civil litigations based on fabricated facts to pursue illegitimate interests were also listed as crimes that are punishable by imprisonment of up to seven years.

The amended Air Pollution Control Law was passed by the NPC Standing Committee after being examined three times. It will restrict various sources of smog and make information on environmental cleanliness more available to the public.

Last week's bimonthly session also reviewed the first anti-domestic violence legislation and deliberated reports on national economic and social development as well as budget implementation.

To exercise the NPC's supervision, described by the Constitution as "the highest institution through which the Chinese people exercise their state power", they questioned cabinet members on the enforcement of the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law.

Vice Premier Wang Yang and ministers of water resources and science and technology joined lawmakers to review a report on law enforcement inspection results at the bi-monthly meeting.

Such procedures -- questions and criticisms on matters of widespread public concern -- are one of the means by which the NPC oversees the State Council, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate. Endit