“Sweep Away Darkness, Eliminate Evil”: A Belated Overview of China’s First Organized Crime Law

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In December 2021, the NPC Standing Committee adopted the Anti–Organized Crime Law (AOCL or Law) [反有组织犯罪法], China’s first statute dedicated to combatting organized crime. The Law has taken effect on May 1, 2022. It came at a time when the Communist Party’s three-year campaign to “clear out the underworld” (or saohei, short for “扫黑除恶,” literally “sweep away darkness and eliminate evil”) that began in 2018 was wrapping up and when central authorities were calling for the “normalization” of the saohei campaign.

China previously launched two similarly named special actions in the 2000s to “crack down on the underworld,” or dahei (short for “打黑除恶”). The difference in one character, however, gave the latest saohei campaign a broader scope. Rather than fight organize crime in a whack-a-mole fashion primarily to ensure public safety, saohei is “inherently political”: it is expressly aimed at solidifying the Party’s rule down to the lowest levels of governance. To that end, China’s national criminal justice authorities issued a series of guidance documents to broadly define “organized crime” and related concepts, call for whole-of-society efforts to prevent organized crime, set forth special criminal procedures and powers, and penalize corrupt officials who enable such criminal activities.

The AOCL is a key tool to “normalize” the saohei campaign. It was enacted in part to “safeguard national security, social order, and economic order,” and incorporated many of the measures contained in the guidance documents. As saohei will remain part of the Party’s social governance program for at least the next five years, below we take a belated look at the AOCL.

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NPCSC Session Watch: Women’s Rights, Trade Unions, Yellow River & Black Soil Protection, Emergency Management Reform & More (Updated)

UPDATE (Dec. 16, 2021): According to a spokesman for the NPCSC Legislative Affairs Commission, the NPCSC will additionally review a draft revision to the Company Law [公司法] and a draft amendment to the NPCSC Rules of Procedure [全国人民代表大会常务委员会议事规则] at its December 2021 session.

The Council of Chairpersons decided on Monday, November 29 to convene the 32nd session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) from December 20 to 24. The session’s tentative agenda includes fourteen bills. A quick rundown follows.

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NPCSC Session Watch: Three-Child Policy, Data Privacy, Innovation Policy, Court Reform & New National Law in Hong Kong & Macau

The Council of Chairpersons decided on Tuesday, July 27 to convene the 30th session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) from August 17 to 20. The session’s tentative agenda includes fifteen bills. A quick rundown follows.

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NPCSC Seeks Public Comments on Draft Amendments to NPC Organic & Procedural Rules, Maritime Traffic Law Revision, Anti–Organized Crime Law, Anti–Food Waste Law, Two Military Bills & Two Other Bills

The NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) is soliciting public comments on the following nine bills through January 29, 2021:

Draft NameChinese TextExplanatory Document
NPC Organic Law (2nd Draft Amendment)
全国人民代表大会组织法修正案草案二次审议稿
PDFPDF
NPC Rules of Procedure (2nd Draft Amendment)
全国人民代表大会议事规则修正案草案二次审议稿
PDFPDF
Rural Revitalization Promotion Law (2nd Draft)
乡村振兴促进法草案二次审议稿
PDFPDF
Hainan Free Trade Port Law (Draft)
海南自由贸易港法草案
PDFPDF
Anti–Organized Crime Law (Draft)
反有组织犯罪法草案
PDF
(English)
PDF
Anti–Food Waste Law (Draft)
反食品浪费法草案
PDFPDF
Law on the Protection of the Status, Rights, and Interests of Military Personnel (Draft)
军人地位和权益保障法草案
PDFPDF
Maritime Traffic Safety Law (Draft Revision)
海上交通安全法修订草案
PDFPDF
Military Facilities Protection Law (Draft Revision)
军事设施保护法修订草案
PDFPDF

English translations will be provided if and when available. All explanatory documents are in Chinese. The NPCSC also reviewed a second draft of the Coast Guard Law [海警法], a draft Supervisors Law [监察官法], and a draft revision to the Military Service Law [兵役法] at last week’s session, but did not also release them for public comments today.

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NPCSC Session Watch: Criminal Justice, Maritime & Military Affairs, Hainan Free Trade Port, Food Waste & a Lot More (Updated)

UPDATE (Dec. 21, 2020): According to an NPCSC spokesperson, the NPCSC will continue deliberating the draft revision to the Rural Revitalization Promotion Law and the draft Coast Guard law in 2021. These two bills thus will not pass at this NPCSC session.

On Friday, November 27, the Council of Chairpersons took the unusual step of announcing the next NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) session almost a month in advance. It decided that the 13th NPCSC will convene for its 24th session from December 22 and 26 and tentatively placed a whopping 18 legislative bills on the agenda, including 16 draft laws and 2 draft decisions. There is a little something for everyone: the bills touch on issues ranging from criminal justice to military affairs, from trade and intellectual property to maritime issues. A quick preview of the session follows.

Continue reading “NPCSC Session Watch: Criminal Justice, Maritime & Military Affairs, Hainan Free Trade Port, Food Waste & a Lot More (Updated)”