Li Lin: the construction of the rule of law in China is undergoing four major transformations

  2881

20 years has passed since ruling the country by law was established as the basic strategy of state governance at the Fifteenth Party Congress in 1997 and, since the Eighteenth Party Congress, the CPC Central Committee has attached high importance to the strategy of ruling the country by law in an all-round way and made special strategic arrangements for the implementation of this policy at the Fourth Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee. How to understand the 20-year’s practice of ruling the country by law in China? What is the significance of this policy to the state governance by law? Recently, Professor Li Lin, Vice-Chairman of China Law Society and Director of CASS Law Institute, discussed the above issues in a lecture given at Shanghai Academy of the Government of Shanghai Municipality. With regard to the nature of the strategy of ruling the country by law, Professor Li pointed out that the advancement of ruling the country by law in an all-round way is not only an important component of the strategic arrangement of the “Four Comprehensives”, but also an important institutional basis and rule of law safeguard of the coordinated advancement of the “Four Comprehensives”. With respect to the direction of future development of the construction of the rule of law in China, Professor Li believed that currently the construction is undergoing following four major transitions: first, the transition of the main task from the establishment of a system of law to the construction of a system of rule of law; second, the transition of the historical mission from building China into a country with a sound legal system to building China into a country with a sound system of the rule of law; third, the transition of the emphasis from legislation to the implementation of the Constitution and laws; and the transition to stage at which the “GDP of the rule of law” will probably become a key link in state governance. With regard to the question of how to further promote ruling the country by law in an all-round way, Professor Li indicated that, in the future, China will still need to solve many problems relating to institutions and mechanisms, including those relating to the comprehensive implementation of the Constitution, further improvement of the system of scientific legislation and the system of law, such as how to better embody the interests of vulnerable groups in legislation, how to realize distributive justice, and how to further promote governance by law and strengthen the construction of a government under the rule of law.