CCP Accountability Provisions

Title: CCP Accountability Provisions
Promulgating Entities: The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
Reference number: 
Promulgation Date: 2016-7-17
Expiration date: 
Source of text: http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2016-07/17/c_1119232150.htm

CCP Accountability Provisions

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

Article 1: These Regulations are drafted on the Basis of the Constitution of the Communist Party, so as to strictly govern the Party, and to regulate and strengthen Party accountability efforts.

Article 2: The Parties work on accountability is guided by Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong thought, Deng Xiaoping theory, the important thought of the three represents, and the scientific outlook on development; thoroughly implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's series of important speeches, and rotating around coordinating the advancement of the strategic blueprint of the "four comprehensives; upholding the Party leaderhip, strengthening the Party establishment, Comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, so that there must be responsibility where there is power, where responsibility is borne and accountability pursued for breaches of duty; making it so that the party organizations have the political responsibility to manage and govern the Party, and to urge the Party's leading cadres to act with loyalty, integrity, and courage.

Article 3: The principles that shall be upheld in the Party's accountability work: follow rules and discipline, seek truth from facts, responsibility must be pursued where duty is breached, learn from the past with an eye to the future, curing the illness to save the patient, tiered responsibility in place at all levels.

Article 4: Party accountability efforts are party organizations following the scope of their responsibility to look into the entity responsibility, supervisory responsibility and leadership responsibility of party organizations and leading Party cadres that have breached duty or responsibility in Party establishment and Party affairs.

The targets of accountability are all levels of party committee (Party groups), Party work departments and their leading members, all levels of disciplinary commission (discipline inspection group) and their leading members, focussing on the principle responsible persons.

Article 5: Accountability shall clearly distinguish responsibilities. Party organizations' leading bodies bear full responsibility for leadership within the scope of their duties, the principle responsible person of the leading body and members with direct management responsibility bear principle leadership responsibility, and other members of the bodies that participate in decision make and work bear important leadership responsibility.

Article 6: In any of the following circumstances, Party organizations and Party leading cadres that violate the Party Constitution and other internal Party rules, or do not perform or correctly perform their duties, shall be held accountable:

(1) Party leadership has weakened, and the Party theory, line, directives and policies, and the deployment of major decisions of the Party Central Committee, have not been effectively implemented, and leadership has been ineffective in advancing economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, social construction, or ecological cultural construction, or in major issues occurring in that region, department, or unit, so that major errors have manifested, causing major harms to the Party's affairs and the People's interests, and producing a vile impact;

(2) Flaws in the Party establishment with abnormalities in the internal political life of the Party; unsteady organizational life, Party organizations weak and undisciplined; weak Party education,particularly education on the tenant of idealist faith; the spirit of the Central Party Commissions' 8 point provisions not being put in place, lifestyle establishment reduced to formality; outstanding problems in the selection, appointment, and use of cadres; strong reaction from the inner-Party public; harming the Party's image, and weakening the Party's power and foundation for governance;

(3) Weakness on full and strict Party governance, no implementing entity responsibility and supervisory responsibility, Party management and governance failing do to indulgence and permissiveness with friendlessness dominating; an atmosphere of comraderie, but lacking in responsibility and initiative; internal Party supervision lacking force, so that problems which should be discovered are not, and where problems are discovered they are not reported or handled, with no corrections or accountability, causing serious consequences;

(4) Weakness in preserving Party political discipline, organizational discipline, integrity discipline, mass discipline, work discipline, or lifestyle discipline; causing frequent violations of rules and discipline, especially dereliction of duty in preserving political discipline and political rules, with non-performance of orders within one's jurisdiction, not complying with prohibitions, with serious issues of forming gangs or internal factions, causing a vile impact.

(5) Not resolutely or firmly advancing the establishment of Party integrity, clean governance, and anti-corruption efforts; not effectively stopping the spread of corruption in the jurisdiction, with problems of bad practices and corruption becoming prominent and harming the public's interests.

(6) Other situations of where accountability shall be pursued for breach of duty.

Article 7: Accountability methods for party organizations include:

(1) Inspection. Those with lackluster performance of duties, where the circumstances are minor, shall be ordered to make a written inspection and make real corrections.

(2) Circulation of notices. Where duties are weakly performed and the circumstances are more serious, corrections shall be ordered, and a notice circulated within a limited scope.

(3) Re-organization. Where dereliction of duty and irresponsibility seriously violating Party discipline cannot be corrected internally, there shall be a re-organization.

Methods for holding Party leading cadres accountable include:

(1) Circulation of a bulletin. Those that perform their duties inadequately shall be sternly criticized, corrected in accordance with rules, and having a bulletin circulated within a fixed scope.

(2) Admonishment. Those who breach duty or responsibility where the circumstances are more minor, shall be given oral or written admonishments.

(3) organizational adjustments or organizational disposition. Those who breach duty or responsibility where the circumstances are more serious, and are unsuited to serve in there current post, shall be suspended and investigated, have duties adjusted, be ordered to resign, be demoted, be dismissed, or be given other such measures based on the situation.

(4) Disciplinary sanctions. Where duty or responsibility are breached and a disciplinary sanction shall be given, follow the "Communist Party of China Disciplinary Sanction Regulations" to pursue disciplinary responsibility.

They accountability measures described above may be used independently and may also be used in combination.

Article 8: Accountability decisions shall be made by the Party Central Committee or Party organizations with management authority. Of these, discipline committees (discipline inspection groups) and Party work departments have the right to pursue accountability of leading Party cadres through means such as reports and admonishments; the right to submit suggestions for organizational adjustments or organizational disposition; and the right to employ disciplinary sanctions, to be carried out in accordance with the authority and procedures provided by the Party constitution and relevant internal party regulations.

Article 9: After an accountability decision is made, it shall be promptly announced to the Party organizations, or Party leading cadres and the Party organization they are in, and enforcement will be urged. The accountability situation shall be reported to the organizational department, and the organizational department shall place the accountability decision materials into the file of the leading cadres who have been held accountable, and report this up to organizational department at the level above to be filed for the record; where organizational adjustments or organizational dispositions are involved, the corresponding formalities shall be completed within one month.

Leading party cadres that have been held accountable shall submit a written self-criticism to the organ that made the accountability decision, and make a deep examination at democratic life meetings or other Party meetings. Establish and complete systems for reporting and exposing typical issues in accountability, employing methods of accountability such as organizational adjustment or organizational disposition and disciplinary sanctions, and generally disclose these to the public.

Article 10: Carry out lifetime accountability; strict accountability shall be had for breaches of duty or responsibility that are of a heinous nature or have serious consequences, regardless of whether the responsible person has been transferred, promoted, or retired.

Article 11: All provincial, autonomous region, or directly governed municipality's Party committees, central ministries and commissions, Party groups (party committees) of each ministry and commission of central state organs, may draft implementation measures based on these Regulations.

The Central Military Commission may formulate relevant provisions on the basis of the provisions of this ordinance.

Article 12: The Central Discipline and Inspection Committee is responsible for the interpretation of these Regulations.

Article 13: These Regulations take effect on July 8, 2016. Where previously released provisions on accountability are inconsistent with these Regulations, act in accordance with these Regulations.