tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4070126256373578912.post1757365895436247966..comments2024-03-20T17:53:33.153-04:00Comments on Global Military Justice Reform: Latest developments in Chinese military legal reformEugene R. Fidellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14694139458443207131noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4070126256373578912.post-43543760028757511972016-06-04T19:40:34.340-04:002016-06-04T19:40:34.340-04:00Peter, thanks, some of what you mention is set out...Peter, thanks, some of what you mention is set out in Article 103 of the amended Legislation Law. It is likely that that the policy statement is meant to clarify the successor institutions. I would expect that the Regulation on Military Regulations and Rules will be amended, but in the mean time these institutions need to legislate. I'll amend the text, thoughSusan Finderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04713694794299486807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4070126256373578912.post-7522304427548412242016-06-04T11:29:45.692-04:002016-06-04T11:29:45.692-04:00Both Art.13(5) of the Law on National Defense of 1...Both Art.13(5) of the Law on National Defense of 1997 and Art.93 of the Legislation Law passed in 2000 give the CMC the authority to make military regulations (fagui) in accordance with the Constitution and the law. Acting under this authority in 2003 the CMC made the Regulations on Military Regulations and Rules (RMR&R) with a view to clarifying the authority, and standardizing the process, for rule-making across the Chinese armed forces. Art 1 specifies the purposes of the RMR&R to be "...to regulate the formulation, amendment and repeal of military regulations and military rules, guarantee the quality of military regulations and military rules, and promote the governance of armed forces in accordance with law..."<br /><br />Under Art.93 of the Legislation Law and Art.9 of the RMR&R, the four Headquarters General Departments of the PLA (zongbu) - the General Staff Headquarters, the General Political Department, the General Logistics Department and the General Armaments Department - may make rules (guizhang) known as "rules of the headquarters" that apply to the whole of the armed forces. But with the reorganization of the CMC announced in February of this year the four Headquarters Departments no longer exist and have been replaced by 15 "functional departments" of the greatly enlarged CMC.<br /><br />The question is, what body can now exercise the rule-making authority that formerly belonged to the four Headquarters Departments? Or, are amendments to the Legislation Law and the Regulation on Military Regulations and Rules required before the successors of these subordinate rule-making authorities can act?<br /><br />These kinds of questions would not arise under a system of government where large-scale organizational change, of the kind now being implemented by the PLA, is accomplished by statute. The Chinese preference for a series of policy statements of greater or lesser authority over, say, a National Defense Re-Organization Act creates large problems for any system of government that purports to follow the rule of law.Peter Lamonthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04101695906357410280noreply@blogger.com