民族自治地方单行条例效力位阶的厘定与适用

Determination and Application of the Normative Hierarchy of Ethnic Autonomous Areas’ Separate Ordinance

民族自治地方单行条例效力位阶的厘定是民族事务治理法治化的迫切需要,也是司法适用过程中的现实问题。长期以来,对于单行条例的效力位阶存在各种不同的解读,究其原因在于单行条例立法程序的特殊性,单行条例的制定机关、报批机关、备案机关、撤销机关分别对应着不同的效力位阶。依据纯粹法学派梅尔克和凯尔森的法律位阶理论中法律规范的效力位阶只受制于使之产生的高级规范,单行条例并非与所有的法律规范都构成位阶关系,单行条例的效力位阶的排序应只限于以宪法为基础,民族区域自治法为主干的民族区域自治法律法规体系内部。对于单行条例相较于其他法律法规的效力位阶的确定,则更多需要结合地方立法的实际情况依据特别法优于一般法的原则来选择适用。

To ensure ethnic affairs under the governance by rule of law,it is urgent to determine the normative hierarchy of ethnic autonomous areas’separate ordinance,which is also a realistic problem in its judicial application.For a long time,there have been various interpretations on the normative hierarchy for separate ordinance.Due to the particularity of legislative procedures for separate ordinance,the normative hierarchy may vary greatly if one adopts criteria of its legislative body,approval organ,record-filing organ,or cancellation organ.In the light of pure jurisprudence represented by Merkl and Kelsen,the hierarchy of a legal norm can only be determined by the superior norm that stipulates the procedure of its formulation,so a separate ordinance’normative hierarchy should not be mixed with other legal norms,but merely within the system of laws and regulations on regional ethnic autonomy based on the constitution and dominated by the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy.Compared with the determination of the normative hierarchy for other laws and regulations,it is more appropriate to decide and apply a separate ordinance’s normative hierarchy according to the principle that the special law is superior to the general law according to the actual situation of local legislation.