Study On The Legal Issues Of China's Letters And Visits System

The petition system is a system of relief with Chinese characteristics."Letters and visits"is defined by the current regulations as,"citizens,legal persons or other organizations could use letters,e-mails,faxes,telephone calls,visits and other forms,to report their situations to the people's government at all levels,as well as government departments at county level and above,putting forward suggestions,opinions or complaints,in order to have these issues handled by relevant administrative organizations according to law".There is no doubt that letters and visits can help to understand social conditions and public feelings,closely link the relationship between the Party and the masses,suppress corruption and maintain social fairness and justice.However,with the continuous economic development of the Chinese society,the multi-level social conflicts have been constantly highlighted.The words "letters and visits" have been distorted by a small portion of the masses,and the negative influence have widely concerned and even been exaggerated by the media.This has seriously deviated from the original intention to establish the letters and visits system in China,in addition to the great difficulties in the operation of the system.On one hand,China's socialist democracy has been continuously progressing,and the construction of law in letters and visits system has been paid more attention.In October 1995,the country launched the first "Letters and Visits Regulations"(referred to as "the Regulations" hereafter),which standardizes the work flow and work mode of government at all levels in letters and visit,marking a new era of China's letters and visits system.10 years later,the State Council revised the 1995 Regulations to further strengthen and improve the letters and visits system,which has achieved remarkable results.At present,the Regulations are the highest level of legislation in the field of letters and visits,being merely administrative regulations.There also have been some problems in practical operation.On the other hand,the masses demand for higher quality of service from the government.They have urgent needs to participate in government administration and local governance affairs,hoping to maintain social fairness and justice of the whole society through their own efforts.For a long time,under the leadership of the Communist Party of China,the letters and visits system has worked with other government departments,conscientiously fulfilling their obligations,actively dealing with the problems raised by the letters and visitors,working hard to maintain the order of letters and visits,adjusting the negative emotions of the visitors,and contributing to resolve social contradictions and maintaining social stability.However,due to the complexity and diversity of contradictions in the period of social transformation in China,the current petition system has not adequately adapted to the development of society.For example,letters and visits may have been fruitless for years,and some petitioners may also complain and disturb social order without justified reasons.Through the analysis of the social phenomena mentioned above,it is not difficult to find the institutional problems behind-the-scene of the system.This dissertation,taking the legal issues of the letters and visits system as the breakthrough point,through the analysis of the current letters and visits system in China,summarizing the successful experience of similar foreign systems,perfecting our current system of letters and visits,as well as strengthening the construction of of law in this field,clearing the legal function of the system,in order to make the petition system run smoothly on the track of legal construction.