Notice on Implementation of the Newly Revised "PRC Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests" to Truly Protect Women's Rights and Interests

Promulgation Date: 2023-3-3
Title: Notice on Implementation of the Newly Revised "PRC Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests" to Truly Protect Women's Rights and Interests 
Document Number:
Expiration date: 
Promulgating Entities: Supreme People's Procuratorate 
Source of text: https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/xwfbh/wsfbt/202303/t20230306_606337.shtml#2

People's procuratorates of all provinces, autonomous regions and directly governed municipalities; people's liberation army military procuratorates and the people's procuratorate for the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:

Revisions to the PRC Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women (Hereinafter “Women’s Protection Law”) were passed at the 37th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress and took effect on January 1, 2023. Notice of the following is hereby given so as to fully perform procuratorial duties, to comprehensively strengthen the judicial protection of women’s rights and interests, and to maintain the uniform implementation of law.

I. Fully recognize the importance of implementing the newly revised Women’s Protection Law.

Since the 18th Party Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as its core has made a series of important arrangements for the protection of women’s lawful rights and interests and promotion of the overall development of women, starting from the overall development of Party and state affairs. The 20th Party Congress emphasized adherence to basic national policies such as the equality of men and women, to protect women and children’s lawful rights and interests. The revisions to the Women’s Protection Law are an important legislative measure for fully implementing Xi Jinping’s Thought on the Rule of Law and the Party Central Committees Major Decisions and Allocations, and is our nation’s special legal norm for the protection of women and an important component of our nation’s system of human rights protections.

All levels of procuratorate should adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, earnestly study and implement the spirit of the 20th Party Congress, and thoroughly implement Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law; fully recognize the importance of the Women’s Protection Law in advancing the equality of men and women and the overall development of women, in giving full play to the role of women in fully establishing a modernized socialist nation, and in carrying forward the Core Socialist Values; enhance the sense of mission and responsibility, actively perform duties in accordance with law, and truly make efforts to strengthen the protection of women’s rights and interests in the new era.

II. Fully implement the provisions of the Women’s Protection Law

The newly revised Women’s Protection Law clearly provides the duties of the procuratorate and puts forward new and higher requirements. All levels of procuratorate should fully grasp and perform their duties, and complete all efforts such as supporting litigation, administrative examination, public interest litigation, punishing crime, judicial aid, and governance of the causes of litigation.

(1) Increase the extent of support for litigation

The Women’s Protection Law has added a system for supporting litigation. Based on their legal supervision duties, all levels of procuratorate should comply with the requirements of guidance on procuratorates’ efforts in support of civil litigation to lawfully use methods such as providing legal consultation, assisting in the collection of evidence, submitting comments in support of litigation, and coordinating the provision of legal aid, to provide assistance to women victims initiating litigation and increase the efficacy of efforts support civil litigation.

(2) Strengthen procuratorate oversight of administration

All levels of procuratorate should focus on preserving women’s rights and interests in areas such as labor and social security, property, their person, marriage, and family; and increase the degree of oversight in administrative litigation, and non-litigation administrative cases, involving the lawful rights and interests of women. Where it is discovered during the performance of duties that the illegal exercise of authority or a failure to exercise authority by administrative organs has infringed on women’s lawful rights and interests, means such as procuratorial suggestions are to be employed to urge the administrative organs to perform their duties in accordance with law.

(3) Fully perform procuratorate functions in public interest litigation

The Women’s Protection Law has added new articles on public interest litigation by the procuratorate in the area of protecting women’s rights and interests, clearly listing the specific circumstances for oversight for the first time. All levels of people's procuratorate should fully understand the legal provisions, have a correct grasp of the case filing standards, refer to the example cases published by the Supreme People's Procuratorate and All-China Women’s Federation in November of 2022, and strengthen precision supervision and special protections in accordance with law and norms. Focussing on situations clearly authorized by law, use means such as pre-litigation consultation, pre-litigation procuratorial recommendations, and administrative litigation to urge administrative organs with regulatory responsibility to perform their duties in accordance with law; and where necessary, initiate civil public interest litigation against civil entities that have violated the law.

(4) Sternly punish crimes that infringe on women’s rights and interests in accordance with law

The Women’s Protection Law clarifies protections for women’s rights and interests in their persons and personality. Procuratorate functions should be considered to severely punish crimes that injure women’s lives and health, physical liberty, and personal dignity in accordance with law. Persist in implementing the Party Central Committee’s major decisions and allocations on combatting the crime of trafficking women and children, severely punish the crime of trafficking women and children in accordance with law, and lawfully and severely punish the crime of purchasing women and children as well as crimes that occur after the purchase, such as rape, intention harm, illegal imprisionment, insult, and abuse; lawfully and severely punish crimes of sexual assault such as rape, forcibile indecency, and insult, especially for sexual assaults of minors; improve the handling of crimes such as abuse, intentional harm, and intentional homicide that inolve domestic violence or marriage and romantic factors; proactively apply new requirements for personality protection in the new era, such as regarding women’s reputations, privacy, and personal information, to correctly asses the seriousness and degree of vile social impact where information networks are used to insult or defame women, and where the requirement of Criminal Law article 246 paragraph 2 “serious endangerment of social order and national interests” is met, it may be pursued in accordance with public prosecution procedures.

(5) Thoroughly carry out judicial aid for women involved in cases

The Women’s Protection Law provides for remedial channels when women’s lawful rights and interests are violated, including judicial aid. During the course of handling cases, all levels of procuratorate should actively provide aid and support to women that are experiencing difficulty as a result of the case, and ensure that eligible women promptly receive judicial aid; judicial aid may be carried out jointly by higher and lower-level procuratorates for women who have suffered especially large harms cause by violations or that have especially serious troubles at home; where women receiving aid are raising minor children, judicial aid is to be carried out for them as well; increase the extent of judicial aid for female minors that have been harmed by crime; and promote the completion of mechanisms linking judicial and societal aid.

(6) Strengthen the comprehensive governance of protections for women’s rights and interests

All levels of procuratorates should thoroughly analyze the deeper reasons for violations of women’s rights and interests in judicial case-handling, and promote governance at the sources of litigation. Comprehensively use systems and procedures such as mediation, substantive resolution of administrative disputes, criminal settlement, and open hearings to improve the conflict resolution and promote social stability; persist in combining the handling of individual cases and oversight of similar cases, blending criminal punishment and governance, and integrating front-end and preventative treatment into procuratorate duties; fully implement the system for popular legal education in which “all who enforce the law teach the law”, using diverse forms for legal publicity, strive to enhance women’s legal awareness and ability to protect their rights, and actively create a positive atmosphere in which the entire society respects and cares for women.

III. Relevant Work Requirements

(1) Place great emphasis on strengthening organizational leadership. All levels of procuratorate should place great emphasis on efforts to protect women’s rights and interests, earnestly implement the Women’s Protection Law, consider procuratorial functions, and draft forceful measures to ensure that related requirements are put in place and implemented.

(2) Strengthen cooperation and give play to synergies. All levels of procuratorate should strengthen links and cooperation in the “4 major examinations” and the “10 operations”, strengthen joint action and cooperation with other organs and organizations, act together to jointly advance the implementation of work mechanisms for the protection of women’s rights and interests in which the government leads, all sides coordinate, and society participates.

(3) Emphasize collecting, summarizing, and prompt reporting All levels of procuratorate should emphasize the collection and summarization of example cases, experiences, and methods on the protection of women’s rights and interests in procuratorate work, as well as law and policy issues encountered during efforts, and promptly report them to the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Supreme People's Procuratorate

2023/3/3