(Weak Courts, Weak Rights: Realising Constitutional Rights in the PRC Courts)

Abstract

Chinese Abstract: 如世界各国宪法之通例，中国宪法（1982年）也列举了公民可享有的基本权利。2004年宪法修正案在第33条增加了一款“国家尊重和保障人权”，就此翻开了中国权利保护的新篇章。然而，中国政府及其官员对公民宪法权利和自由的侵害，司法救济对这种现象制约机制的不足，所有这些在国内外备受诟病。其结果是，权利和自由的实现和保障机制差强人意。紧扣宪法权利条款的落实的主题，本文首先分析现行宪法框架阻碍了循司法解决之途由人民法院直接适用宪法的原因。其次，本文探究人民法院近来所做过的一些尝试，以及其对保护公民权利所产生的深远影响。再次，本文进一步讨论即使在当前法律政策格局下尚无法实现实质的制度性突破的情况下，人民法院作为一个能动的宪法执行者在落实宪法权利问题上仍旧可以扮演一个幅度有限但地位不可替代的重要角色。为实现这一目标，笔者力荐全国人民代表大会常务委员会和人民法院“双轨制”的模式，最大限度地落实公民的宪法权利。English Abstract: Like many other constitutions, the Chinese Constitution (1982) enumerates a list of fundamental rights that citizens can enjoy. The 2004 Constitutional Amendment adds the phrase “The state respects and preserves human rights” to art. 33 and marks a new page in rights protection in China. However the violation of citizens’ constitutional rights and freedoms by the PRC government and its officials and the unavailability of judicial remedies to curb this phenomenon have long been criticized inside China as well as out. As a result, the realization and guarantee of rights and freedom is far from satisfactory. Firstly, focusing on the implementation of constitutional rights clauses, this article analyses why the current constitutional legal framework discourages direct application of the Constitution by/in the courts. Secondly, it examines the attempts made by the PRC courts in the recent past, and discusses their significance in the protection of such rights. Thirdly, it further argues that although there can be no foreseeable, substantial, and institutional breakthroughs in the current context of law and politics, the courts as a positive enforcer of the Constitution can still play a limited but important and irreplaceable role in realizing constitutional rights. To achieve this, this article promotes a “dual-track approach” that involves both the NPCSC and the courts.