A local regulation issued by the Standing Committee of Gansu Provincial People's Congress on September 27, attracted a great deal of media attention and the ears of academics, among others. The directive, called the Draft Legislation Regulation of the Gansu Provincial People's Congress and Its Standing Committee, stipulates that normal people have the right to offer suggestions to legislators.

Specifically, the fourth point of the rule states that all organizations, companies, communities and even individuals can bring forward their legislative suggestions via deputies to the People's Congress, and various special committees and offices of the standing committee.

This is the first time that such a right of the common people has been standardized in the form of regulation. The move has been heralded by some media sources as "the start of a new era of people's legislation."

Yang Xingchang, Director of the Law Committee under the Provincial People's Congress Standing Committee, said that ordinary people now have the right to make suggestions but not bills, which require certain procedures.

Bills should be raised through the following conduits: the presidium of the Provincial People's Congress, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress, the Provincial Government, a delegation or more than ten deputies together to the Provincial People's Congress.

One person, even if he were the Director of the Standing Committee of National People's Congress, cannot put forward a bill, which is the final procedure in formulating a law, according to Yang. Offering a suggestion is the first step of the procedure.

The startling change in legal policy lies in the confirmation that ordinary citizens now have the right to suggest their ideas to legislative organizations. Also, their suggestions are going to wider venues: In the past citizens could not participate in the legislation process until their opinions were solicited concerning a new law draft, but now they can speak directly to the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress concerning ideas of a new law.

The regulation makes it easier for common people to communicate their desires and concerns to the People's Congress.

Two representatives have contributed to Gansu's approach towards a more democratic way of legislation. They are Xu Hui who put forward her law suggestion on pollution control of Gansu's part of Yellow River in September 2002 and Zhang Youliang who are the main drafter of the new regulation.

Xu Hui, now a teacher at the School of Economics, Lanzhou University, raised her idea while still a third year postgraduate law student. As a Lanzhou local she was seriously concerned with the water pollution in Yellow River. Accordingly her graduation thesis focused on the prevention of water pollution through legal alternatives.

Then Xu read a local news report that the Provincial People's Congress Standing Committee was collecting legislative suggestions. She immediately realized that there was a chance for her to incorporate her research findings and make an impact upon local legislation.

She worked on her suggestion for over a month and then sent in her 70-item plus suggestion on the "Regulations on Water Pollution Control of Gansu's Portion of the Yellow River" to the Law Committee of the Gansu Provincial People's Congress.

"It's an excellent document," said Wan Zong, Deputy Director of the Law Committee. Her suggestions were listed in the five-year provincial legislation plans. This was the first time provincial legislation planners had accepted suggestions from an ordinary citizen.

The Law Committee then relegated the legislation project to the Law School of Lanzhou University in 2005; a draft law was formulated in 2006. This draft law passed to the Environment and Recourse Protection Committee of the Provincial People's Congress. After through research the Environment and Recourse Protection Committee considered the draft as good but did not propose it for legislation because the Gansu drainage system was not as developed as the law required. Also, funds to implement this regulation were insufficient.

Wan Zong said, "The draft law could be considered and passed at a proper time or it will be issued as a government mandate, if more difficulties are foreseen."

Zhang Youliang, an associate professor of Lanzhou University of Technology, was also a trailblazer who researched public participation in legislation.

At the end of 2004, Zhang Youliang was invited to attend a symposium on local legislative affairs, at which he criticized the local legislation procedures. Much to his surprise, his criticism gave him an ovation. Zhang was then put in charge of drafting an amendment to the Regulations on Legislative Process of the Gansu People's Congress and its Standing Committee.

"First, we wanted to pursue an effective way to introduce direct democracy into the law-making process," he said. Democracy is definitely a sensitive topic, but he argued that a harmonious society should advocate strong public participation in the field of legislation.

"A representative system is practiced when the public lacks participation awareness and the ability to engage in the legislation process," he explained. "But now, the public has a stronger democratic perceptions and more access to information. These are the necessary factors we need."

The conventional legislation process often begins with soliciting suggestions from governmental departments that often do not represent the public interests.

"I propose to establish a database of public suggestions, among which the most urgent ones can make their way directly onto the table of the legislative committee," Zhang said.

He feels that his amendment on public participation was just a small leap forward, but in fact it brings a bigger percentage of ordinary civilians into the law making process. Although the public suggestions would not be directly taken into consideration before they were submitted to the congressional representatives, such an initiative largely reflected the will of the people.

Zhang didn't know if his groundbreaking proposal had aroused any harsh repercussions. "To be honest, I'm not sure whether the amendment draft will ultimately be approved by the Congress. If it is passed, there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding its implementation."

He also thought public hearings around legal considerations should be held so that common people could contribute their opinions and have their say.

"But it is hard to openly get things done because Congress always proceeds in a closed-door fashion," he added.

Yang Xingchang viewed Zhang's amendment with guarded optimism. He raised concerns about public enthusiasm and their ability to participate.

In response to his concerns, Zhang countered that the first priority to fulfill was to carve a channel specifically for public suggestions.

Another official from the Committee gave a positive reply, giving Yang hope. He said that public suggestions would be woven into the fabric of law. Early in 2000, a staff member from a city-level Agriculture Bureau had offered suggestions on sand prevention and control. Many of his suggestions were written into the ensuing and enacted local law.

Zhang also argued that an incentive factor should be introduced into the framework in order to pool public wisdom.

But the Committee voiced concerns that to set up an incentive mechanism was difficult mainly due to the procedural issues: What are the criteria for defining an eligible person? How should the mechanism work?

(China.org.cn by Chen Lin and He Shan, October 25, 2007)