法律草案说明中的宪法判断

Constitutional Judgments in the Explanation of Law Draft

法律草案的起草活动应当受到宪法的拘束,这是“依宪立法”和“依法立法”的应有之义。法律草案说明是重要的立法背景资料,其中包含了大量的宪法判断。起草部门在法律草案说明中援用宪法论证法律草案的合宪性是宪法影响法律起草活动的集中体现。经验研究发现,法律草案说明中的宪法判断发挥了确认立法权来源、明确法律草案内容的宪法依据、宣示法律草案整体合宪性的功能。起草部门在法律草案说明中对特定的宪法问题进行阐述,有助于强调法律草案的合宪性,推动相关宪法问题的讨论,揭示和消除法律草案中可能存在的宪法争议。虽然法律草案说明不具有法律上的拘束力,但全国人大宪法和法律委员会应当遵循党中央在草案说明中作出的宪法判断,充分尊重委员长会议在法律草案中作出的宪法判断,认真考虑全国人大其他专门委员会作出的宪法判断。

Based on the principle of“legislation according to the constitution”and“legislation according to law”,activities of drafting laws should be bound by the constitution.The explanation of law draft is part of the legislative history and contains plenty of constitutional judgments.The drafter prefers to use the constitution to demonstrate the constitutionality of the draft in the explanation.It shows that the constitution influences the drafting of laws in three ways.Firstly,it confirms the specific source of legislative power;secondly,it serves as the constitutional basis of the drafts;thirdly,the drafter may declare the draft as a whole is constitutional.The elaboration of specific constitutional issues in the explanation helps to highlight the constitutionality of the draft,promote the constitutional dialogue,then reveal and eliminate potential constitutional disputes in the draft.Although the judgments in the explanation is not legally binding,the Constitution and Law Committee of National People's Congress shall follow the constitutional judgments made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China,fully respect the constitutional judgments made by the Council of Chairpersons,and consider the constitutional judgments made by other special committees of the National People's Congress in a careful way.