UPDATE (Sept. 5, 2018): The comments deadline has been extended to October 4, 2018 for all draft laws except the draft Separate Parts of the Civil Code, which will be open for public comments until November 3, 2018.
The NPC Standing Committee is now soliciting public comments on the following draft laws until October 2, 2018 (the deadline is likely not finalized):
- draft Separate Parts of the Civil Code 民法典各分编草案
- second draft amendment to the Criminal Procedure Law 刑事诉讼法修正草案二次审议稿 (English translation & English comparison charts)
- draft Vehicle Acquisition Tax Law 车辆购置税法草案
- draft Farmland Occupancy Tax Law 耕地占用税法草案
- draft Regulations on Fire and Rescue Ranks of Integrated Fire and Rescue Teams 综合性消防救援队伍消防救援衔条例草案
All linked files are PDF documents in Chinese. English translations will be linked to if and when available. The accompanying explanations of these drafts can be read here (PDF).
The draft Separate Parts of the Civil Code includes six parts, with a total of 1034 articles in 73 chapters. We will have more to say on the draft Code in the coming weeks. The two draft tax laws do not differ much from the previous versions that the State Council had published, which were discussed here.
The second draft of the Criminal Procedure Law amendment makes mostly minor changes to the first draft. But it does expand the scope of cases where trial in absentia may be employed to include those involving “serious crimes endangering national security or terrorism crimes,” where the suspects or defendants have fled overseas, and where the Supreme People’s Procuratorate has greenlighted its use. The first draft only explicitly authorizes the use of trial in absentia in criminal cases of corruption and bribery to aid Communist Party’s still ongoing anti-corruption campaign.
To submit comments online, please refer to these instructions. The “Occupations” dropdown list for the draft Regulations on Fire and Rescue Ranks includes a new third item, “fire and rescue personnel” (消防救援人员).
Comments can also be mailed to the NPCSC Legislative Affairs Commission (全国人大常委会法制工作委员会) at the following address:
Chinese: 北京市西城区前门西大街1号 邮编：100805
English: No. 1 West Qianmen Avenue, Xicheng District, Beijing 100805
Please clearly write “[BILL NAME IN CHINESE]征求意见” on the envelope.
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