No. 431 Regulations on Letters and Visits, adopted at the 76th Executive Meeting of the State Council on January 5, 2005, are hereby promulgated and shall be effective as of May 1, 2005. Premier Wen Jiabao |
Regulations on Letters and Visits (Adopted at the 76th Executive Meeting of the State Council on January 5, 2005, promulgated by Decree No. 431 of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China on January 10, and effective as of May 1, 2005) Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 These Regulations are formulated for the purposes of enhancing relations between the people’s governments at all levels and the people, protecting the lawful rights and interests of letter-writers and visitors, and maintaining a good order in letter-writing and visiting. Article 2 The term “letters and visits” in these Regulations means that citizens, legal persons or other organizations give information, make comments or suggestions or lodge complaints to the people’s governments at all levels and the relevant departments of the people’s governments at or above the county level through correspondence, E-mails, faxes, phone calls, visits, and so on, which are dealt with by the relevant administrative departments according to law. A citizen, legal person or any other organization that gives information, makes comments or suggestions or lodges complaints by such means as prescribed in the preceding paragraph is defined as a letter-writer or visitor. Article 3 The people’s governments at all levels and the relevant departments of the people’s governments at or above the county level shall effectively handle letters and visits by conscientiously dealing with letters, receiving visitors, heeding people’s comments, suggestions and complaints and accepting their supervision, so that the people’s interests are best served. The people’s governments at all levels and the relevant departments
of the people’s governments at or above the county level shall
keep free-flowing channels for letter-writers and visitors and provide
convenience for the letter-writers or visitors who give information,
make comments or suggestions, or lodge complaints by such means as prescribed
in these Regulations. Article 4 The work regarding letters and visits shall be done under the leadership of the people’s governments at all levels and in adherence to the principles of territorial jurisdiction, responsibilities assumed at different levels, the department in charge being the department responsible and combination of the need to solve problems lawfully, timely and locally with persuasion. Article 5 The people’s governments at all levels and the relevant departments of the people’s governments at or above the county level shall make policy decisions in a scientific and democratic manner, perform their duties according to law and prevent contradictions and disputes at source from leading to letters and visits. Any people’s government at or above the county level shall establish a work pattern for letters and visits characterized by unified leadership, coordination among different departments, overall planning and all-round consideration, seeking both temporary and permanent solution, each assuming its own responsibilities and joining efforts with others for the common goal, and it shall resolve contradictions and disputes in a timely manner by holding joint meetings and setting up a mechanism for making investigation and coordination and handling letters and visits and a working system of supervision in this respect. Responsible persons of the people’s governments at all levels and the relevant departments of the people’s governments at or above the county level shall read letters for important issues and give written instructions on them, receive visitors for important issues, listen to reports on the work regarding letters and visits, and study and solve overriding problems in such work. Article 6 Any people’s government at or above the county level shall set up a department for letters and visits. The relevant department of the people’s government at or above the county level and the people’s government of the town or township shall, according to the principles of facilitating work and creating convenience for letter-writers and visitors, respectively assign a unit responsible for the work regarding letters and visits (hereinafter referred to as the unit for letters and visits) or individuals the specific reasonability for work in this field. The department for letters and visits of the people’s government
at or above the county level is the administrative department of the
people’s government at the corresponding level which is responsible
for the work regarding letters and visits and performs the following
duties: Article 7 The people’s governments at all levels shall establish and improve the responsibility system for letters and visits, and shall, in strict accordance with the provisions of the relevant laws, administrative regulations and these Regulations, investigate the individuals who are responsible for malfeasance or dereliction of duty committed in the work regarding letters and visits and circulate a notice of the matter within an appropriate scope. The people’s governments at all levels shall incorporate the achievements scored in the work regarding letters and visits into the performance assessment of public servants. Article 8 The relevant administrative organ or unit shall give rewards to the letter-writer or visitor who, by giving information or presenting comments or suggestions in its letter or visit, has made contributions to the national economic and social development, and to the improvement of the work of State organs and the protection of public interests. The relevant administrative organ shall give rewards to the unit or individual that has scored outstanding achievements in the work regarding letters and visits. Chapter II Channels for Letters and Visits Article 9 The people’s governments at all levels and the relevant
departments of the people’s governments at or above the county
level shall make known to the public such matters as the correspondence
and E-mail addresses, telephone numbers for complaints, time and places
for receiving letters and visitors, methods of inquiring about the progress
and results of the letter-or-visit matters handled. Chapter III Presenting Letter-or-visit Matters Article 14 Where a letter-writer or visitor gives information or makes
comments or suggestions on the performance of duties by the following
organizations or individuals, or is not satisfied with the performance
of duties by the following organizations or individuals, it may present
letter-or-visit matters to the relevant administrative organs: With regard to the complaints that shall be handled according to law through litigation, arbitration, administrative reconsideration or other statutory means, the letter-writer or visitor shall present them to the relevant organs according to the procedures as provided for by the relevant laws and administrative regulations. Article 15 With regard to a letter-or-visit matter that falls within the scope of the functions and powers of the people’s congresses at all levels, the standing committee of the people’s congress at or above the county level, the people’s court or the people’s procuratorate, the letter-writer or visitor shall present it to the people’s congress, its standing committee, people’s court or people’s procuratorate respectively and abide by the provisions of Articles 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 of these Regulations. Article 16 Where a letter-writer or visitor intends to present a letter-or-visit matter through visit, it shall present the letter-or-visit matter to the organ at the corresponding level or the next higher level that, according to law, has the power to handle the letter-or-visit matter. If a letter-or-visit matter has been accepted or is in the process of being handled and the letter-writer or visitor, before the expiration of the time limit, presents the same letter-or-visit matter to the organ at the higher level of the organ that has accepted and is handling the letter-or-visit matter, the former shall not accept the letter-or-visit matter. Article 17 A letter-writer or visitor shall, in general, present a letter-or-visit matter through correspondence, E-mail, fax or any other written form. Where it lodges a complaint, it shall, in addition, state clearly its name (title), address, requests, the facts and reasons. With regard to the oral presentation of a complaint, the relevant organ shall record the name (title) and address of the letter-writer or visitor, its requests, the facts and reasons. Article 18 Where a letter-writer or visitor who intends to present a letter-or-visit matter through visit, it shall go to the reception place established or designated by the organ concerned. Where two or more letter-writers or visitors intend to present the same letter-or-visit matter through visit, they shall choose representatives, and the number of representatives shall not exceed five. Article 19 A letter-writer or visitor shall be objective in presenting letter-or-visit matters, the letter-or-visit matters presented shall be true to facts, and it shall be responsible for the truthfulness of the contents of the materials it provides. It shall not make up stories, distort facts, frame or bring a false charge against others. Article 20 Letter-writers and visitors shall, in the course of writing
letters or making visits, abide by laws and regulations, shall not harm
the interests of the State, society or the collective or infringe upon
the lawful rights of other citizens, shall conscientiously maintain
public order and the order in handling letters and visits, and shall
not commit any of the following acts: Chapter IV Accepting Letter-or-visit Matters Article 21 The department for letters and visits of the people’s government at or above the county level shall, upon receiving a letter or visit, register the letter-or-visit matter presented and handle it on the merits of each case within 15 days in the following ways: (1) With regard to a letter-or-visit matter specified in Article 15 of these Regulations, notify the letter-writer or visitor that it presents such matter to the people’s congresses or its standing committee, people’s court or people’s procuratorate respectively; and reject the matter which has been or shall be handled according to law through litigation, arbitration, administrative reconsideration or any other statutory means, while notifying the letter-writer or visitor that it presents the matter to the organ concerned according to the procedures as provided for by the relevant laws or administrative regulations. (2) With regard to a letter-or-visit matter which shall be handled and decided on by the people’s government at the corresponding level or the department thereof according to their statutory functions and duties, transfer such matter to the administrative organ which has the power to handle it; or make timely suggestions and submit such matter to the people’s government at the corresponding level for decision in case of any important or urgent matter. (3) With regard to a letter-or-visit matter which involves an administrative organ at a lower level or its staff members, directly transfer such matter to the administrative organ which has the power to handle it according to the principles of territorial jurisdiction, responsibilities assumed at different levels, and the department in charge being the department responsible, and send a copy of the matter to the department or unit for letters and visits of the people’s government at the next lower level. The department for letters and visits of the people’s government at or above the county level shall notify such department or unit of the people’s government at the next lower level of the matter transferred regularly, and the department or unit for letters and visits of the people’s government at a lower level shall report to such department of the people’s government at the next higher level about the handling of the transferred matter regularly. (4) With regard to any important matter among the letter-or-visit matters transferred and feedback on the results of the handling of which is required, send it directly to the administrative organ which has the power to handle it, and ask the organ to feed back the results within the designated time limit for handling it and submit reports on the results of the handling. Within 15 days from the date the letter-or-visit matter is transferred or assigned thereto according to the provisions of Items (2) to (4) of the preceding paragraph, the administrative organ concerned shall decide whether to accept the matter and notify the letter-writer or visitor of the decision in writing, and inform the department or unit for letters and visits of its decision as required. Article 22 With regard to a letter-or-visit matter which is directly presented to the administrative organ other than the departments or unit for letters and visits of the people’s governments at different levels by a letter-writer or visitor according to the provisions of these Regulations, the administrative organ concerned shall register such matter. A letter-or-visit matter that conforms to the provisions of the first paragraph of Article 14 of these Regulations and falls within the scope of the statutory functions and powers of the said organ shall be accepted by it; and it shall not shift the responsibility onto other organs, take a perfunctory attitude or delay handling the matter. If a letter-or-visit matter does not fall within the scope of the functions and powers of the said organ, it shall notify the letter-writer or visitor that it presents the matter to the organ which has the power to handle the matter. Where, upon receiving a letter-or-visit matter, the administrative organ concerned can, on the spot, decide whether to accept it, the said organ shall do so in writing. If such decision can not be made on the spot, the said organ shall, within 15 days from the date of receipt of the matter, notify the letter-writer or visitor in writing, unless the name (title) or address of the letter-writer or visitor is unclear. Relevant administrative organs shall notify each other of the letter-or-visit matters they have accepted. Article 23 The administrative organ and its staff members shall not divulge or transmit the materials of accusation or exposure or the relevant information provided by a letter-writer or visitor to the individual or department accused or exposed. Article 24 Where a letter-or-visit matter involves two or more administrative organs, it shall be handled by them through consultation. If disagreement arises in handling of the matter, their common administrative organ at the next higher level shall decide on which organ handles the matter. Article 25 Where an administrative organ is split up, merges with another or is dissolved, the letter-or-visit matters on which it shall make a decision shall be handled by the administrative organ which continues to perform its functions and powers. If the functions and duties are unclear, the people’s government at the corresponding level or the organ designated by such government shall handle the matter. Article 26 When a citizen, legal person or any other organization discovers an important or urgent letter-or-visit matter or information which may exert an influence on society, it may report the matter to the relevant administrative organ nearby. After receiving such report, the local people’s governments at different levels shall immediately report to the people’s government at the next higher level and, if necessary, circulate a notice of such matter among the competent departments. After receiving the report, the relevant department of the local people’s government at or above the county level shall immediately report to the people’s government at the corresponding level and to the competent department at the next higher level and, if necessary, circulate a notice of such matter among the competent departments. After receiving the report, the relevant department of the State Council shall immediately report to the State Council and, if necessary, circulate a notice among the competent departments. The administrative organ shall not conceal, give a false report about or delay reporting any important or urgent letter-or-visit matter and information or incite others to do so. Article 27 With regard to important or urgent letter-or-visit matters and information which may exert an influence on society, the administrative organ concerned shall, within the scope of its functions and duties and according to law, take timely measures to prevent the occurrence and extension of adverse influence. Chapter V Handling, and Supervising and Urging
the Handling of Letter-or-visit Matters Article 28 In handling the letter-or-visit matters presented by a letter-writer
or visitor, the administrative organ and its staff members shall perform
their duties whole-heartedly, handle the matters impartially, ascertain
the facts, clearly distinguish the responsibilities, publicize the legal
system, conduct persuasion and handle the matter properly in a timely
manner, and they shall not shift the responsibility onto others, take
a perfunctory attitude or delay handling the matters. The review organ may, according to the second paragraph of Article 31 of these Regulations, hold a hearing, and the review decision made through hearing may be made known to the public according to law. The time needed for hearing shall not be calculated in the time limit prescribed in the preceding paragraph. Where the letter-writer or visitor is not satisfied with the review
decision and continues to lodge a complaint on the basis of the same
facts and reasons, the departments or units for letters and visits of
the people’s governments at all levels and other administrative
organs shall no longer accept the compliant. Upon receiving the suggestions for improvements, the administrative organ shall, within 30 days, give a feedback in writing on the improvements it has made. If the organ refuses to accept the suggestions, it shall explain the reasons. Article 37 With regard to any policy problem raised by a letter-writer or visitor, the department for letters and visits of the people’s government at or above the county level shall report it to the people’s government at the corresponding level in a timely manner and make suggestions as to how to improve the policy and solve the problem. Article 38 With regard to the staff members of an administrative organ who, in the work regarding letters and visits, cause serious consequences by shifting their responsibilities onto others, taking a perfunctory attitude, delaying handling of matters or practicing fraud, the department for letters and visits of the people’s government at or above the county level may make suggestions to the administrative organ concerned to give them administrative sanctions. Article 39 The department for letters and visits of the people’s
government at or above the county level shall, regularly, submit analytical
reports on letters and visits to the people’s government at the
corresponding level with regard to the following matters: Chapter VI Legal Liability Article 40 Where one of the following circumstances leads to the presentation
of a letter-or-visit matter, which causes serious consequences, the
individual directly in charge and the other individuals directly responsible
therefor shall be given an administrative sanction according to the
provisions of the relevant laws or administrative regulations; if the
act constitutes a crime, they shall be investigated for criminal liability
according to law: Article 41 Where the department for letters and visits of the people’s government at or above the county level fails to register the letter-or-visit matter, transfer the matter to another organ or assign another organ to handle the matter as required by regulations, or fails to perform the duties of supervising and urging the handling of the matter as it shall have done, the administrative organ at higher levels shall order it to make corrections; if serious consequences are caused, the individual directly in charge and the other individuals directly responsible therefor shall be given an administrative sanction according to law. Article 42 Where the administrative organ responsible for accepting
letter-or-visit matters, in violation of the provisions of these Regulations,
comes under any of the following circumstances in accepting a letter-or-visit
matter, the administrative organ at a higher level shall order it to
make corrections; if serious consequences are caused, the individual
directly in charge and the other individuals directly responsible therefor
shall be given an administrative sanction according to law: Article 43 Where the administrative organ which has the power to handle
letter-or-visit matters, in violation of the provisions of these Regulations,
commits any of the following acts in handling a letter-or-visit matter,
the administrative organ at a higher level shall order it to make corrections;
if serious consequences are caused, the individual directly in charge
and the other individuals directly responsible therefor shall be given
an administrative sanction according to law: Article 44 Where the staff member of an administrative organ, in violation of the provisions of these Regulations, divulges or transmits the materials of accusation or exposure and relevant information provided by a letter-writer or visitor to the individual or unit accused or exposed, he shall be given an administrative sanction according to law. Where the staff member of an administrative organ, in handling a letter-or-visit matter , is rude in his style of work, thus intensifying contradictions and causing serious consequences, he shall be given an administrative sanction according to law. Article 45 Where an administrative organ and its staff members, in violation of the provisions of Article 26 of these Regulations, conceal, make a false report of or delay reporting the important or urgent letter-or-visit matters or information which may exert an influence on society, or incite another individual to do so, thus causing serious consequences, the individual directly in charge and the other individuals directly responsible therefor shall be given an administrative sanction according to law; if the act constitutes a crime, they shall be investigated for criminal liability according to law. Article 46 Whoever retaliates against a letter-writer or visitor, thus constituting a crime, shall be investigated for criminal liability according to law; if the act is not serious enough to constitute a crime, he shall be given an administrative or disciplinary sanction according to law. Article 47 Where a letter-writer or visitor violates the provisions of Article 18 or 20 of these Regulations, the staff member of the State organ concerned shall dissuade, criticize or educate him. If such dissuasion, criticism or education fails, the public security organ shall warn or admonish the letter-writer or visitor or stop its act. If the letter-writer or visitor violates the laws or administrative regulations on assemblies, processions and demonstrations or if its act constitutes a violation of public security administration, the public security organ shall, according to law, take necessary measures to deal with the case on the spot and impose thereupon an administrative penalty for public security. If the act constitutes a crime, it shall be investigated for criminal liability according to law. Article 48 Where a letter-writer or visitor makes up a story or distorts facts in an attempt to frame or bring a false charge against another individual, which constitutes a crime, he shall be investigated for criminal liability according to law. If the act is not serious enough to constitute a crime, the public security organ shall impose thereupon an administrative penalty for public security according to law. Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions Article 49 Social organizations, enterprises and institutions shall handle letters and visits with reference to these Regulations. Article 50 The letter-or-visit matters presented by foreigners, stateless individuals or foreign organizations shall be handled with reference to these Regulations. Article 51 These Regulations shall be effective as of May 1, 2005.
The Regulations on Letters and Calls promulgated by the State Council
on October 28, 1995 shall be repealed simultaneously.
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