The Draft Constitution of Communist China

Abstract

SINCE COMING into existence in 1949, the Chinese Communist regime has been operating under a provisional constitution consisting of two articles, namely, The Common Program of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference' and The Organic Law of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China.2 On January 13, 1953, however, the Central People's Government Council at its twentieth meeting passed a measure known as The Resolution Relating to the Convocation of the All-China People's Congress and Local People's Councils on All Levels. Among other things, the Resolution provided the appointment of a twenty-six-member committee with Mao Tse-tung as its Chairman to draft a permanent constitution for the country.8 It was apparently more than one year later that the Constitution Drafting Committee took up its work. On March 23, 1954, Chairman Mao Tse-tung, on behalf of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, submitted a so-called Preliminary Draft to the Committee which, after holding seven formal and a number of informal meetings, passed the draft on June ii, 1954, and immediately submitted it to the Central People's Government Council for action.4 On June 14, 1954, the Council by unanimous vote resolved that