On Wednesday 26 January 2022, the Sino-German Legal Cooperation Programme organized an online-workshop on legislative techniques at the request of the Legal Affairs Commission (LAC) of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. Alongside nearly ten representatives of LAC, a number of professors from the Chinese University of Political Science and Law took part in the half-day event. Participating online as experts in legislative techniques from a German perspective were Prof. Kluth of the University of Halle-Wittenberg, formerly a judge the State Constitutional Court, and Mr Israng, a judge at the at the Social Welfare Court, currently seconded as an expert advisor to the German Ministry of Justice.
Following two brief welcoming addresses from the German and Chinese sides, Prof. Kluth opened the event with a talk on the implementation of federal laws in Germany and the significance of introductory acts. In the second part of his talk, he went on to explain the purpose and the regulatory content of introductory laws. The second presentation focussed on the Manual for Drafting Legislation published by the German Ministry of Justice. Mr Israng presented a brief overview of the types of laws and ordinances that exist in German law-making by explaining and delineating the relevant basic concepts to the Chinese participants and examining various legislative techniques.
As a follow up to both talks, there was a question-and-answer session, in which the Chinese participants asked specific questions about particular passages in the Manual for Drafting Legislation. They also gave the German experts insight into the legal situation in China, and asked questions both on the consequences of disregarding the Manual and on the situation of the delayed enactment of ordinances.