The Basis and Limit of the Power of the National People's Congress to Authorize its Standing Committee to Enact Laws
The Chinese Legislation Law,which was amended in 2023,provides that the National People's Congress(NPC)may authorize its Standing Committee(NPCSC)to en-act laws.This is the institutionalization of the existing experience of legislative collaboration be-tween the two organs.The NPC made such authorizations in the 1950s,the 1980s,and the 2020s,but there were ambiguities,such as unclear normative basis and inconsistent forms of authorization,in practice.In terms of the basis of authorization,the NPC has cited the miscel-laneous provision on its own powers,the miscellaneous provision on the powers of the NPCSC and other provisions in the Constitution for the authorization,but its practice is not consistent and sometimes it failed to specify the basis.In terms of the form of authorization,the NPC sometimes made special decisions on the authorization and sometimes gave the authorization in the decision on the work report of the NPCSC.In terms of the content of authorization,the NPC has authorized the NPCSC to formulate and amend laws in a general way and also specifically authorized the NPCSC to formulate,amend or implement on a trial basis of specific laws or draft laws.The reason why the authorization can appear repeatedly across different historical periods is because of its constitutional structure,at the core of which is the tension between the legisla-tive resource of the NPC and the need for legislation.The constitutional status of the NPCSC al-so determines its suitability to accept the authorization by the NPC.The normative basis for the authorization lies in the miscellaneous provision on the powers of NPCSC[Article 67(22)of the Constitution],which provides that the NPCSC can exercise other functions and powers ac-corded to it by the NPC.The NPC cannot rely on the miscellaneous provision on its own func-tions and powers[Article 62(16)of the Constitution]or the provision on its own legislative power[Article 62(3)of the Constitution]to make the authorization.The authorization must be kept within constitutional boundaries and may not undermine the constitutional status of the highest organ of state power.The NPC cannot break through the absolute reservation of legisla-tive power set by the Constitution between the NPC and the NPCSC.Therefore,it can authorize the NPCSC to formulate relevant laws on matters involving basic laws,but must make core polit-ical decisions on such matters on its own.The NPC's authorization will contribute to the rebal-ance between democracy and effectiveness.Experimental authorization and executive authoriza-tion are desirable institutional forms of authorization.China should further standardize the au-thorization between the NPC and the NPCSC,so as to enable the NPCSC to play a greater role in the state governance system.
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
维普
