Citizens Petition NPC Standing Committee for Review of Conflicting Legal Provisions on Marriage Registration

Two private citizens have petitioned the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) to resolve an apparent contradiction between national and local legal requirements related to marriage registration, according to an article in the Procuratorate Daily. In July 2005, Heilongjiang provincial officials amended a local rule to require couples to submit evidence of a medical examination before they may obtain a marriage license. Although the rule is consistent with the 1994 Law on Mother and Infant Health Care, which requires evidence of such exams to be presented before authorities register a marriage, it conflicts with the State Council Marriage Registration Regulations issued in 2003, which specifically abolish such compulsory medical examinations.

Under China’s Legislation Law, the NPCSC is responsible for resolving conflicts between national laws, national regulations, and local rules. Article 90 of the Legislation Law gives citizens the right to petition the NPCSC for a review of conflicting legal provisions, but the NPCSC has not fulfilled its review function in practice. In 2004, however, the NPCSC opened a new office to review such legal conflicts, and NPC members publicly confirmed that citizens have the right to petition.

In requesting review of the Heilongjiang rule, the two citizen petitioners indicated that they hope to prompt the NPCSC office to take its first formal action on conflicting legal provisions. "Through our specific action, we also hope to reduce the phenomenon of conflicts between regulations and law," they write, "and to promote the completion of China’s legal review system."