As part of the efforts to reform the state supervision system, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) just released the draft Supervision Law (formerly titled as State Supervision Law) for public consultation.

According to the draft, the PRC Supervision Committee is the highest supervision organ. It shall be elected by the National People’s Congress and is responsible for the supervision work nationwide.

Local supervision committees are required to be established from provincial to municipal district levels. They shall be elected by the People’s Congress at their corresponding levels.

All levels of Supervision Committees may send a Supervision Organ or Supervision Specialist to the party organs, state organs, organizations and units administrating public affairs, or administrative areas under their jurisdiction.

The Supervision Organs shall independently exercise supervision power in accordance with law, and no organization or individual may refuse, obstruct or interfere with supervision personnel in carrying out their duties, and any retaliation again them is prohibited.

The Supervision Organs shall conduct supervision of various civil servants as provided for under the law. The main duties of the Supervision Organs are: (1) Protecting the constitution, laws and regulations; (2) lawfully supervising civil servants’ exercise of public power, and investigating illegal and criminal conduct committed during the performance of their duties; and (3) carrying out efforts to build an honest government and anti-corruption work.

The Supervision Organs, when exercising their authority, have the right to gather or collect evidence from relevant units or individuals in accordance with law. The Supervision Organs have the right to conduct an interrogation for those suspected of embezzlement and bribery, and other crimes of abusing public office and also the right to question witnesses.

The adoption of retention in custody measures by Supervision Organs are subject to certain requirements including the requirement to inform the unit or family of the person being investigated within 24 hours after the retention in custody is adopted. The period of retention in custody shall not exceed three months, which may be extended once under special circumstances.

The draft version for consultation was first considered by the NPCSC back in June 2017. The consultation period is from November 7, 2017 to December 6, 2017.