Guangdong acts to align administrative rules with Civil Code

In an effort to guarantee the implementation of China's first Civil Code that will take effect on Jan 1, 2021, the judicial department of South China's Guangdong province recently issued a guideline examining the compliance of the province's administrative rules with the code. 

The guideline singled out 85 administrative affairs which the code touches on, citing relevant articles of the code to expound on their relationship with administrative departments. It expects administrative departments to take the code as an important basis for performance of their daily duties and decision-making. 

It also identifies 138 administrative affairs over which the legislative power belongs to the State, prohibiting local authorities from creating rules for them. By doing so, it clarifies the limits of the relevant powers of local authorities. 

To avoid inconsistencies between local rules and the code, the guideline summarizes 107 administrative affairs in which local legislation often contradicts the code. 

To avoid situations where local rules violate the code or infringe upon civil rights, the guideline requires local authorities to respect the basic principles of equality, free will, fairness, and eco-friendliness for civil activities and bear the code in mind when making administrative decisions. 

It instructs local authorities to strictly abide by the limit of their statutory power, and not to issue rules for the basic systems regarding such civil matters as qualification of civil subjects, property rights and creditor's rights or to formulate rules on matters that are within the jurisdiction of the State according to the code. 

It also provides that local authorities must pay attention to compatibility between the code and other civil laws to avoid the issuance of local rules that contradict existing civil legislation. 

Meanwhile, the guideline encourages local authorities to establish and improve supporting systems and mechanisms that are conducive to the implementation of the code, and requires them to gather opinions from the public, self-governing organizations, and industry associations. 

It also urges local governments and departments to sort out, revise and abolish rules that violate the code.