NCJ Number
208357
Journal
International Journal of Police Science & Management Volume: 6 Issue: 4 Dated: Winter 2004 Pages: 199-218
Date Published
2004
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article reports on police law reform efforts in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since 1978.
Abstract
During the 1978 third plenary session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCCP), the leadership embraced a reform movement designed to modernize China through economic reforms and market opening. Public security, or gongan, is a part of the transformation process. There are three main sections to this article, which is the first of two articles on police reforms in China. The first section focuses on the erosion of police legitimacy in China as a causal factor in the need for police legal reform. The second section reviews police legal developments in China since 1949, focusing on four distinct historical phases: the early construction phase (1949 through 1954), the development phase (1954 through 1962), the lawlessness era (1966 through 1976), and the rule of law phase (1976 through to the present). The intellectual roots of police law reform are also examined. The final section introduces the Chinese doctrine of yifa zhijing, which underpins the current police law reform movement. The second article in this series, which is not included in this journal issue, describes how the concept of yifa zhijing has been implemented to affect police law reform. Notes, references