1st LD: China promotes law study among civil servants

China's civil servants must take exams and be evaluated on their legal knowledge, according to an official document issued on Thursday.

The national recruitment exam for civil servants will put more weight on the candidates' knowledge of the law while incumbents must take the exams before being promoted, said the document, titled Guidelines on Improving the Arrangements for Civil Servants to Study and Use the Law.

It was jointly issued by the Organization and Publicity Departments of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and the Ministries of Justice and Human Resources.

Those who seek jobs in law enforcement agencies will take a special examination.

The law will be an important performance criterion and a key step to promotion. Leading officials of Party and government departments will have an annual review of their knowledge.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the CPC leadership has repeatedly instructed senior officials to lead by example in abiding by the law and studying the law, but some of them have not paid enough attention to the issue, and a few of them have knowingly broken the law, a Ministry of Justice official told Xinhua.

The guidelines stressed the study of the Constitution, the basic laws of the country, laws closely related to social and economic development and the daily life of the people, laws related to civil servants' official duties, as well as the rules of the Party.

While organizing law-themed lectures and forums on a regular basis, Party organizations should also hold study sessions pertaining to a specific field before reaching a major decision and keep a record of learners' attendance and study progress.

The document also highlighted microblogs, WeChat and other social-networking services as learning platforms, encouraging organizers to arrange learners to attend court hearings.

Law will become a compulsory training subject for officials in Party schools, governance academies and other training institutions.

The move aims to enable civil servants to "boost their abilities to deepen reforms, push forward development, resolve conflicts and safeguard stability on the track of the law", the document said, adding that leading officials at all levels should set an example by obeying the law and doing things in accordance with the law.

In addition to study, the document urged Party and government groups to verify the legality of major decisions, and establish a mechanism to backtrack liabilities and punish officials for illegal decision making, abuse of official power and dereliction of duty that lead to severe consequences.

The document highlighted major decision-making in the law enforcement field, stressing that such decisions must be evaluated and approved in accordance with the law first, and those that haven't gone through this process are invalid.

The document stipulated that governments at all levels should have law advisers to provide legal opinions during major decision-making. Party and government organs as well as state-owned enterprirses should all have their own lawyers.

It also stressed transparency, urging government and Party organs to inform the public of their duty and jurisdictions as well as the legal basis, progress and results for official decisions and projects. Endi