Research On China’s NPC Budget Monitoring Legal System

Budget monitoring is a kind of supervision powers generated from authorities’(or the legislature, parliament, representative bodies) examination and approval of thegovernment budgeting, and is one of the most important powers and works for theauthorities around the world. In modern democracies, it’s generally stressed thelegislature’s supervisory powers to the financial budget. In China, the NPC budgetaryoversight power is a crucial statutory power and duty of NPC and its StandingCommittee at all levels entrusted by the "Constitution","Budget Law" and other laws,and is also the significant way and form for them to manage state affairs according tolaw.Though China’s National People’s Congress budget monitoring system has madesome achievements since the foundation of the state, such as "Constitution","BudgetLaw" and other laws had made provision for the NPC budgetary powers, there are stillmany issues need to be improved in the system in the mass. In countries withcomprehensive parliamentary budget monitoring systems, they all have adequate andimpeccable budget monitoring laws to support them. They have establishedreasonable budget monitoring modes and configured rational and well arrangedbudgetary oversight powers to construct the scientific budget monitoring modes.However, there are still many problems existed in China’s National People’s Congressbudget monitoring system: China’s laws and regulations are too inflexible;contradictions are existed among various legal areas; NPC’s budget supervisiondepartment has some mechanism constructive problems; the supervision is superficialin NPC’s budget monitoring processes due to the problems of the budget itself; theliability provisions are too formalistic; etc. We should learn from other countries’successful experience of budget monitoring so as to complete our NPC budgetmonitoring system: improve relevant laws and regulations; strengthen and perfect thebudget monitoring mechanisms; improve the legal system in NPC’s budget monitoringprocesses; establish and consummate the budget accountability and liability; etc.