China has established a recordation review mechanism to strengthen over-sight of legislative activities and ensure that normative documents are consistent with the Consti-tution and laws.The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress(NPCSC)promul-gated the Decision on Improving and Strengthening the Recordation Review System(hereafter referred to as the Decision)on December 29,2023.There are three categories of decisions made under the recordation review system by the special committees of the NPC and the working bodies of the NPCSC("recordation review authorities"):communications,written review opin-ions,and rectification or annulment decisions.Among them,rectification or annulment deci-sions are the most authoritative and potent methods to correct normative documents that are in-consistent with the Constitution or laws.In actuality,the NPCSC has not yet issued any rectifi-cation or annulment decision so far.In the practice of recordation review,recordation review authorities mainly employ methods of communication with enacting organs or the issuance of written review opinions to address normative documents that contravene the Constitution or laws.It is important for recordation review decisions to have a general binding force.Communications and written review opinions can be regarded as the urging phase in which the recordation review authorities exercise their supervisory powers,while correction or annulment decisions represent the enforcement stage.Based on a systematic and teleological interpretation of Articles 13 and 14 of the Decision,communications and written review opinions should also have general bind-ing force.If so,more standardized and institutional arrangements must be made for the publicity mechanism.In the future,all communications and written review opinions can be recorded,numbered,categorized,and published in the form of bulletins or by other appropriate means.Based on the principle of appropriate functional allocation of state power,constitutional review and recordation review conducted by the NPCSC are necessarily general and abstract,rather than case-specific and concrete as judicial review or review by the constitutional court."Gener-al binding force"first refers to the fact that,after a recordation review decision on a normative document is made,other normative documents having the same problems should also be prompt-ly amended or abolished by their formulating authorities.The binding force of recordation review decisions also hinges on their retroactive effect.Generally,all three types of recordation review decisions should adhere to the principle of non-retroactivity.In principle,corrected or annulled normative documents should not be retroactively applied to administrative decisions and judg-ments that have already come into effect.
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