Research On The Improvement Of The Civil Protest System In China

The Civil Protest System of China was established on the basis of the civilsupervision and prosecution system, drawing on the theory of the inspection andsupervision of former Soviet Union. Its main purpose is to maintain uniformity of law,promote judicial justice and safeguard judicial authority. Since its establishment, theCivil Protest System of China has experienced a tortuous route; there were even someheated discussions on the abolition of civil protest system in the academia. As a matter offact, in the study of foreign judicial system, the western countries rarely set upprocuratorial organs of civil protest right. However, the fact that Western countries do nothave the legal system does not necessary mean the same situation is duly expected inChina. Chinese Civil Protest System enjoys a unique political foundation anddevelopment environment, which are closely linked to China’s political system.According to China’s constitutional allocation of the power of the procuratorial andlegislatorial organs, the procuratorial organ bears supervisory duties over the rightfulexercise of the judicial authority exercising oversight responsibilities. Civil protest rightsare an important component of the supervisory powers, an important means for theprocuratorial organs to fulfill their legal supervisory duties.The principle of "Seeking truth from facts, mistakes must be corrected" is crucial inthe operation of our civil protest system. However, due to imperfections in the legislationand different understandings in inspection and legislation, contradictions and problemshave arisen from actual practices. This became most evident in handling the relationshipamong the right of protest, judicial authority and the right of litigant punishment, wherescholars have been dedicated to the study of how to maintain the balance between publicand individual rights. However, it is undeniable that the modern concept of law isgradually emerging forward in the direction to the protection of individual rights. Withthe constant improvement of the socialist rule of law, civil protest system is alsoself-perfecting. It is worth noticing that at the end of2011, the NPC Standing Committeeannounced the draft of amendment of the Civil Procedure Law. Although the amendmentis under discussion, the government’s determination to modify the procuratorial supervision system can be seen from the contents of the draft. In the meantime, it isapparent that the focus of the supervision of civil prosecution change is shifting towardsafeguarding national interests and public interests. The legislature is making efforts tocoordinate the relationship between the procuratorial supervision rights and the rights ofindividual citizens, maximizing the protection of individual rights, respecting citizens’autonomy as well as increasing the human rights protection on the basis of effectivemaintenance to ensure the uniformity of law and national and public interests. Therefore,China’s procuratorial protest system should adhere to the principle of "seeking truth fromfacts, mistakes must be corrected" on the basis of the appropriate changes in the conceptof focusing on prosecutorial power and other social relations. This thesis provides ademonstration of the necessity and rationality of the existence of Civil Protest Systemthrough studying the history of the development of China’s, and a further illustration ofthe major principles China’s civil protest system under the current situation. Sinceunavoidably, there are certain problems and loopholes existing in the system of China’sCivil Protest System regarding the cause of protest, the range of protest, as well as thesafeguarding of proper retrial procedure of protest cases, there will be a detailedconception of the perfecting of China’s Civil Protest System provided at the end of thethesis.