A System of Socialist Rule of Law
At its fourth plenary session in October 2014, the 18th CPC Central Committee noted that, “The overall goal of comprehensively promoting law-based governance is to establish a system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, and build a country of socialist rule of law.” This goal defines the nature and orientation for advancing law-based governnance and prioritizes the key tasks to fulfill.
The system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics is composed of five subsystems:
• a complete system of legal norms, to be assessed on whether the related legislation is scientific, democratic and ethical;
• a highly effective implementation system, the basic elements of which include a complete legislative system, a complete judicial system and a complete executive system;
• a rigorous system of legal oversight, including constraints and supervision by the National People’s Congress, administrative agencies, judicial agencies, mass media and the general public;
• a powerful system of strong legal protections, including important protections for establishing and upholding judicial powers, implementing and promoting openness in judicial proceedings, and adapting to and satisfying the needs of law-based governance; and
• refined internal rules of the CPC.
The basic requirements of a country of socialist rule of law include a sound and complete set of laws, the authoritativeness of those laws and their effective implementation.
To establish a socialist law-based country, China must take the path of law-based governance under Chinese socialism, maintain the leadership of the CPC, uphold the mastery of the people and the concept that everyone is equal before the law, integrate the rule of law and rule of virtue, and demand that this be based on the actual conditions of its own.
社会主义法治体系
2014年10月召开的中共十八届四中全会指出，“全面推进依法治国，总目标是建设中国特色社会主义法治体系，建设社会主义法治国家。”全面推进依法治国总目标的提出，既明确了全面依法治国的性质和方向，又突出了工作重点和总抓手。中国特色社会主义法治体系由五个子系统构成：一是完备的法律规范体系，坚持以科学立法、民主立法、道德立法为衡量标准；二是高效的法治实施体系，以完善立法程序、完善司法制度、完善执政方式等为基本内容；三是严密的法治监督体系，包括全国人大的制约监督、行政机关的制约监督、司法机关的制约监督、社会舆论的制约监督、公民的制约监督等各类监督；四是有力的法治保障体系，以树立和维护司法权威、实施和促进司法公开、适应和满足法治需求等为重要保障；五是完善的党内法规体系。社会主义法治国家基本要求主要表现在法律完备而良好、法律权威、法律有效实施等方面。中国建设社会主义法治国家，必须走中国特色社会主义法治道路，坚持中国共产党的领导，坚持人民主体地位，坚持法律面前人人平等，坚持依法治国和以德治国相结合，坚持从中国实际出发。
