The Evolution of the Recordation Review System and Its Causes
The introduction of the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Improving and Strengthening the Recordation Review System marks the growing maturity of the recordation review system in China.Over the past four decades,this system has undergone significant changes at both the institutional and practical levels,with the most crucial changes being the continuous expansion of the scope of review subjects,the alter-nating changes in the initiation procedure,the more diversified review standards,and the in-creasing visibility of its operation.In the 2000 Legislation Law,the recordation review system only covered administrative regulations,local regulations,autonomous regulations,and separate regulations.Since then,through amendments to the Legislation Law and other means,regula-tions of special economic zones,judicial interpretations,regulations of the Pudong New Area,regulations of the Hainan Free Trade Port,and laws of special administrative regions have also been made subjects of the review.In practice,some laws and normative documents have also been treated as subjects of the review.Until 2000,active review had been the dominant,and at the same time the only way to initiate the review.In the late 1990s,the specialized committees of the National People's Congress proposed to switch to the passive review,which was codified into the Legislation Law.In 2015,the revised Legislation Law explicitly adopted active review as a statutory review mode.In 2023,special reviews were provided for in the Legislation Law.The current Constitution takes the lead in setting the tone for the standards of the review of con-stitutionality and legality.The 2000 Legislation Law basically followed the standard of review established by the Constitution.At the practical level,the changes in the standard of review are obvious.Prior to 2017,the degree of openness of the recordation review procedure was extreme-ly low,and the practice is basically in a state of"doing without saying".Starting in 2017,the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress(NPCSC)has been making annual reports on its recordation review work to the NPCSC,which played an important role in promoting the publicity of the recordation review procedure.In addi-tion to the annual report,the Legislative Affairs Commission has opened at least three other im-portant platforms for public participation and disclosure.The above-mentioned key changes in the recordation review system are the result of interactions between many factors,the four most important ones being the impetus of the national top-level design,the traction of the constitu-tional implementation trend,the change in the perception of supervision,and the need to up-hold the unity of the legal system.
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