Years: 1992-97 (This program was run by the Seidmans, through Boston University.)

Funder: UNDP

Project: to draft 22 priority laws listed in 1989 National Plan, working through the Bureau of Legislative Affairs (BLA-the drafting arm of the State Council, the equivalent of Cabinet) to achieve major institutional change of the economic system as part of Reform and Open Policy.

Bills drafted: Securities Market (passed), Environment Protection, Economic Planning (passed), Wild plant protection (passed), Arbitration, Consumer rights protection (passed), Agricultural Investment, Domestic Investment, Budget Procedures, Foreign Investment for Mining, Regulations on Clearing Accounts of Foreign Investment Enterprises (passed), Agricultural Technology Extension, Enterprise group regulations, Fair competition (passed), Central Banking Law (passed), Commercial Banking Law (passed), Foreign Trade, Education Planning (passed), Revised Provisional Regulations on Procedures for Enactment of Administrative Regulations, Rules for Drafting and Reviewing Bills and Regulations (passed), Nature protection zones (passed), Ground water, Auction law (Commodities Trade Law/Companies Law) Social Insurance Agency, Retirement pension system, Financing Social Insurance, Workers Compensation, Unemployment insurance, Health care insurance reform

Participant number and learning method: 60-70 ministerial staff and BLA at three in-country workshops, 50 came between 92-94 for BU four month course, 6 came to BU four month course in 1995 to draft social security legislation, 2 came as leaders of proposed BLA drafting and research center and to head up in-country training program

Senior level buy-in became instrumental, to some extent, but developed according to own concerns, ratheer than project participants recommendations.

Current Status:

Workshop participants went on to independently organize and lead additional workshops for government training purposes.

High-level government training: Senior level governmental officials agreed that facts and reason should be used to back up draft laws. However, they did not mandate the use of legislative theory and methodology as a drafting guide. A senior drafter took part in the trainings.

Civil Society involvement None.

University courses taught: Ma Huai De, China School of Political Science and Law, (colleague of initial BLA project organizer, Zhao Qing Pei) indicated an interest in developing legislative drafting courses at his university, but apparently has not done so.

Interdisciplinary university-based research centers Discussion regarding the formation of a Center attached to the BLA continued into 1996, with two BLA drafters trained at BU in 1995 on assumption that they would serve as the proposed Center’s administrators. The BU project facilitators recommended that BLA and UNDP begin planning this second phase of the project to ensure institutionalization and consolidation of lessons learned by the BLA and DLAs. The China UNDP leadership felt that as the project remained in incompleted, to begin development of a Center seemed premature.

Training materials BLA published our Chinese language books on drafting, some of which included suggestions from the Chinese trainees and workshops, including increased focus on practical research skills, problem-solving, the use of facts and logic, and the behavioral analysis that comprise part of the legislative theory and methodology put forth by the BU Program. The books also included information on the comparative use of foreign law and descriptions of the 22 priority laws of the project. These materials are used in training in the LAO (?)today. Interested Chinese, including Cao Pei and Zhao Qing Pei, have arranged the translation and publication of the Seidman-Abeyesekera Manual for drafters.

Legislation Passed: See above.

Change in law-making institutions/Law on legislative process In March of 2000 a Law on Legislation was passed to regulate the processes for researching, drafting, enacting and implementing legislation. The law did not, however, require a research report or memorandum of law to justify its contents as the recommended in accord with the project’s legislative theory and methodology.