The National People's Congress (NPC) should assume more power in overseeing the work of governmental and judicial bodies, deputies to the ongoing NPC session said.

But to do so, it needs a clearer system of rules and a specialist body to assist in the task, said deputies and legal professionals.

"Local people's congresses have initiated some effective supervisory practices," said Dai Lili, an NPC deputy and vice-chairman of the People's Congress of Yichang, a city in Central China's Hubei Province.

Deputies to Yichang People's Congress have gone beyond the drafting of ordinances and reading of government and court work reports.

They began to grade the work of major local government offices last year, setting deadlines for poor performers to improve their operations, according to Dai.

"Such measures are essential to reining in officials and others who wield power, and we hope they can be written into law," she said.

China's Constitution defines the NPC as the country's supreme power, able to make laws and oversee administrative, judicial and military bodies. Local congresses have a similar mandate in local governance.

Congress deputies are also entitled to oppose or raise questions about government and judicial reports.

However, a lack of detailed rules on NPC review functions has weakened congressional supervision.

"Suppose a work report is vetoed by congress deputies: should someone resign for this or not? The law does not tell us," said Hu Jinguang, a law professor at Renmin University of China.

He said it is imperative to clarify the NPC's role to make it a more powerful supervisor.

"Citizens cannot sue the government or the court for actions which are unconstitutional but are not targeted at individual persons," Hu said. "Congressional interference is therefore vital to upholding justice."

But others point out that the NPC may also need a professional body if it is to expand its supervisory role.

"Under the NPC Standing Committee there are several special committees handling issues in their respective fields such as finance, education, and ethnic affairs," said Fan Yi, an NPC deputy from East China's Zhejiang Province.

"I think now we need a new one to deal with constitutional affairs and supervision, which are quite professional jobs," he said.

China's NPC deputies have shown increasing understanding of their supervisory powers in recent years as they learnt more about the legal system.

In early 2001, the People's Congress of Shenyang in the Northeast province of Liaoning took the unprecedented step of rejecting the work report of the local court.

NPC Standing Committee Chairman Li Peng, in his report to deputies on Monday, said the NPC Standing Committee considers supervision "of equal importance" to legislation.

The NPC Standing Committee began to review a draft code on congressional supervision last August.

(China Daily)