Laws not an end in themselves
The socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics has developed gradually as the Communist Party of China (CPC) has led the people in their endeavors to build a socialist country under the rule of law. It,s the fruit of 60 years of experience, especially the 30 years of reform and opening-up, and it represents a significant transition from theory to practice in governing the country by the rule of law.
The socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics embodies the basic conception and political wisdom of the CPC in ruling according to the law, and is the start of a new historical period as the establishing of the system of laws is not an end in itself, rather it is the beginning of a new phase in developing the rule of law.
The white paper objectively shows that the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics is an organic and integrated system that embodies the essential requirements of socialism, the requirements of reform and opening-up, as well as modernization, and that it has learnt from China,s traditional culture and other cultures.
Laws are the norm of social life and embody the social consensus. Through development of the legal system we can integrate, confirm and maintain various factors that influence social development in the form of legislation. In this process laws enhance the cohesiveness of society.
The socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics stems from people,s long-term practice, and it embodies their will and shared values. In the process of establishing such a system, it was necessary to think about some deep-rooted issues, such as how to satisfy people,s desire for rule of law through the building of the legal system, and how to guarantee people,s dignity and rights through the development of rule of law. From the white paper we can see that the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics is people-oriented and embodies their human rights.
The socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics is a unified entity. All State organs and local authorities should strictly abide by these laws and be subordinate to the binding force of the legal system. There should be no privilege beyond the legal system and no one should be above the law.
The white paper advances the objectives and tasks for perfecting the legal system: responding to the needs of economic globalization, China,s social development and the process of governing by law, and strengthening legislation in economic, democratic, social, cultural, technological and environmental fields.
Now the system of laws is complete we should focus on effective implementation, and take the necessary actions to enforce the Constitution and the laws. In this sense, after the establishment of the legal system, China,s development of rule of law has proceeded from a time of legislation to a time of legal interpretation.
The vitality of laws is enforcement. The establishment of the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics has generally solved the problem that there should be laws to abide by, now the urgent problems that needs to be solved are that everyone should abide by the law, the law must be enforced strictly, and those who violate the law must be dealt with. Thus in perfecting the system, we should fully adhere to the Constitution, maintaining its authority by establishing an effective Constitutional supervision mechanism.
The Constitution, as the fundamental heart of the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics, can constantly improve the authority and cohesiveness of the legal system and satisfy people,s increasing demands for development of rule of law.
作者简介：The author is the dean of Law School, Renmin University of China. 文章来源：China Daily 11/18/2011 page8 发布时间：2011/11/24