董必武首倡“按法律办事”

Dong Biwu Was the First to Initiate Handling Affairs According to Law

1954年1月14日,董必武在政务院第202次会议上对1954年政法工作的主要任务作了说明,认为国家已经进入大规模的经济建设时期,治国方略应从搞运动转到“按法律办事”。这是董必武在新中国成立以后第一次郑重提出“按法律办事”,同时,他还提出了“培养群众法律意识”、“教育人民守法,首先要国家机关工作人员守法”等思想,这是他经过多年观察、思考而凝练出的治国良策,是他法学思想的升华。

At the 202nd meeting of the Government Administration Council on January 14, 1954, Dong Biwu made an explanation on the 'Main Tasks in the Field of Politics and Law in 1954' in which he said that the country had now moved into the period of large-scale economic construction and therefore the strategy for running the country must also shift from mass movement to 'handling things according to law.' This was the first time that 'handling things according to law' was initiated seriously after the founding of New China. Meanwhile, he also proposed to 'cultivate the masses with legal ideas' and said that the working staff of the state organs must be models to abide by the law in order to educate the people to observe the law.' These proposals for better government were a condensation of his long years' observation and reflections and distillation of his legal thinking.