Editor’s Note: On Thursday, March 11, the NPC approved the two amendments discussed in this post; both have taken effect on March 12. We have updated this post consistent the amendments’ final texts, which are accessible from the respective bill pages.
The National People’s Congress (NPC) concluded its 2021 session on Thursday, March 11. It is the seventh year in a row—the second-longest streak post-1978 (after 1988–1997)—that the NPC reviews legislation at its annual plenary session. This year, besides a decision to overhaul Hong Kong’s electoral system, the NPC also reviewed and approved amendments to its own governing laws: the NPC Organic Law [全国人民代表大会组织法] and the NPC Rules of Procedure [全国人民代表大会议事规则]. The former outlines the NPC’s organizational structure and prescribes the functions of its various components, whereas the latter lays out the procedures for conducting business in the full NPC.
Before this week, neither law had ever been updated. The NPC Organic Law was enacted on December 10, 1982, the same day as China’s current Constitution, and the NPC Rules of Procedure seven years later, in April 1989. The amendments thus focus heavily on codifying the changes in the NPC’s organization and practice in the last several decades. They also seek to modernize the two laws’ structures, delete irrelevant and duplicative provisions more suitable for other laws, and ensure that they are consistent with newer statutes, including the 1994 Budget Law [预算法] (amended in 2014 and 2018), 2000 Legislation Law [立法法] (amended in 2015), 2006 Oversight Law [各级人民代表大会常务委员会监督法], and 2018 Supervision Law [监察法].
As a result, few provisions in the amendments are truly novel, even though their texts span over dozens of pages. In this explainer, we will dissect the two amendments and sort out “new” provisions—which in fact will lead to changes in practice—from those that will not. The NPC Organic Law is abbreviated as “OL” below, and the NPC Rules of Procedure as “ROP.” Citations are to the two laws as amended, not to the amendments.
Continue reading “2021 NPC Session: Dissecting the Amendments to the NPC’s Two Governing Laws (Updated)”