The "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Veterans" (hereinafter referred to as the "Law on the Protection of Veterans") was voted and passed at the 23rd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress on November 11, 2020, and since January 1, 2021 It will come into effect today.
As my country's first special law on veterans, it has promulgated and promulgated in compliance with the development requirements of the new era, and provided legal guarantees for strengthening the foundation of the army and maintaining social security and stability.
Conform to the development requirements of national defense construction in the new era
The "Law on the Protection of Veterans" effectively promotes the modernization of the governance system and governance capabilities for veterans' affairs.
With the promulgation and implementation of the new law, a legal system for protecting veterans from horizontal to side and vertical to the bottom has been initially formed.
1. Establish four pillars and eight pillars, optimize the relief mechanism, and promote the systemization of laws and regulations for the protection of veterans.
The promulgation and implementation of the "Law on the Protection of Veterans" changed the use of the "Regulations on Compensation and Preferential Treatment for Soldiers" as the core basis for carrying out preferential treatment.
In the past, in practice, because the regulations were too vague and there were no supporting laws, some special regulations were often issued to refine the content of the "Regulations."
However, the legal effects of the special regulations are so low that they cannot form a substantial complementarity.
The promulgation of the "Law on the Protection of Veterans" has improved the status of relevant laws and regulations, clarified the objects of special care and placement and specific resettlement measures, refined the legal provisions of special care and placement, reduced the principled and obscure regulations, and promoted the laws and regulations for veterans. Relevant regulations have shifted from fragmented to systematic, which has enabled the protection of rights and interests to gradually embark on a legal and standardized track.
The "Law on the Protection of Veterans" adheres to scientific management, implements the requirements of military policy and system reforms, improves the legal aid mechanism for relieving the rights of veterans, helps veterans use legal weapons to protect their rights, and smoothly expresses appeals, coordination of interests, and protection of rights and interests of veterans Channels to provide powerful legal guarantees and high-quality legal services for advancing the modernization of the governance system and governance capabilities in the field of veterans affairs.
Among them, it is clearly stipulated that the competent departments for the work of veterans of the people's governments at or above the county level shall establish and improve the protection mechanism for the rights and interests of veterans, unblock the channels for expressing their appeals, and provide support and assistance for veterans to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.
It is emphasized that the infringement of the lawful rights and interests of veterans shall be resolved in accordance with the law; the relevant public legal service agencies shall provide legal aid and other necessary assistance to veterans in accordance with the law.
2. Improve the supervision mechanism, strengthen legal responsibilities, and enhance the level of legalization of rights protection.
Although my country's National Defense Law stipulates that local people's governments at all levels have the right to govern the placement of veterans in accordance with the law, it does not stipulate the responsibilities of local governments.
Under the conditions of a market economy, the demands for the rights of veterans have been continuously increasing.
The "Law on the Protection of Veterans" clarifies the supervision and reporting channels for the protection of veterans, and emphasizes the strengthening of social supervision, which fully guarantees the full coverage of the rights and interests of veterans in the form of law.
The "Law on the Protection of Veterans" establishes that the country implements a responsibility system and an evaluation system for the protection of veterans, incorporates the work situation into the government's assessment content, and takes the assessment as an important content to measure the leadership ability of the responsible person.
In addition, Chapter 9 of the Law on the Protection of Veterans stipulates legal responsibilities, clarifies violations of relevant regulations, and disciplinary conditions for directly in charge and responsible personnel.
It clearly stipulates that the relevant agencies and departments shall deal with the reporting and accusation of violations of this law in the protection of veterans in a timely manner in accordance with the law, and inform the informant and accuser of the results of the handling.
The transfer, storage, and use of archives of retired soldiers are also clarified.
3. Ensure policy convergence, clarify the scope of transition, and highlight the effective convergence of supporting policies and regulations.
In order to implement the decision and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on the work of veterans, on November 6, 2020, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs carried out a unified review of relevant policy documents, decided to abolish 105 policy documents and announced 115 policy documents Invalidate.
On November 11, the "Veterans Protection Law" was reviewed and passed.
The abolition of a large number of policy documents and the review and approval of special laws have ensured the effective connection between policies and laws and regulations for the work of veterans in the new era, clearing obstacles to the smooth development of follow-up work.
The "Law on the Protection of Veterans" adheres to the principle of "the old method for the elderly" on the issue of "independent job selection" and "retired" cadre protection, and clearly stipulates that before the implementation of the "Law on the Protection of Veterans", veterans and officers who have been placed in an independent job selection method Retirement and recuperation and the protection of remuneration for officers at or above the military level after retirement shall be implemented in accordance with the relevant regulations of the State Council and the Central Military Commission.
These transitional provisions provide a basis for service guarantee and ensure the stability and authority of policies and regulations.
4. Broaden support methods, enhance honor incentives, and improve the quality of service support for veterans.
The "Law on Protection of Veterans" establishes the principles of people-oriented, classified protection, service priority, and legal management.
Persist in doing what you can.
Broaden the way for enterprises, social organizations, and individuals to participate in guarantees through legal establishment of funds and voluntary services.
Require public human resource service agencies to provide free services such as job introduction and entrepreneurship guidance for veterans.
It is emphasized that the state shall establish a support and assistance mechanism for veterans, and provide assistance and assistance to veterans who have difficulties in life in terms of pension, medical care, and housing in accordance with relevant state regulations.
These user-friendly service guarantee clauses fully reflect the "temperature" of the Veterans Protection Law.
The Law on the Protection of Veterans specifies for the first time that the state establishes a special preferential treatment mechanism for veterans participating in the war and an honor incentive mechanism for veterans.
It is stipulated that the people's government of the place where the veterans are placed shall hold a welcome ceremony when receiving veterans.
When the state, localities, and military hold major celebrations, representatives of retired military personnel should be invited to participate.
It clarified the circumstances under which the corresponding honor obtained during the service should be included in the local chronicles.
Emphasize that military medical institutions and public medical institutions should provide preferential services for veterans to seek medical treatment, and give preferential treatment to veterans who participated in the war and disabled veterans.
Promote service guarantee for veterans to a new level
The protection of veterans in the new era adopts a diversified legislative model, with the Constitution as the core, the Veterans’ Protection Law as the mainstay, the Military Compensation and Preferential Treatment Regulations as the main body, and local government regulations and rules. A supplementary legal system of rights protection.
This has promoted the service guarantee for our country’s veterans to a new level.
1. The Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core is an important manifestation of caring for veterans.
On July 30, 2020, President Xi Jinping emphasized in the collective study of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee that the central and state agencies, and local party committees and governments at all levels should strengthen national defense awareness.
Actively solve problems in the areas of military employment, children’s enrollment in nursery schools, implementation of special care policies, and protection for veterans.
Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Chairman Xi Jinping has issued important instructions on many occasions and put forward clear requirements, which has provided fundamental follow-up for the protection of veterans.
The promulgation and implementation of the Veterans Protection Law is a grand strategy personally deployed and promoted by President Xi Jinping; it is a major decision made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core to coordinate the domestic and international situations, focusing on the integration and development of economic and national defense construction; it is to promote national defense The major strategic measures for military and military building fully demonstrate the Party Central Committee’s care and love for veterans.
2. An important measure to promote the modernization of the governance system and governance capabilities in the field of veterans affairs.
The modernization of governance cannot be separated from the rule of law.
As an important part of improving the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics, the promulgation and implementation of the "Veterans Guarantee Law" is related to the level of rule of law in national defense and army building.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, a series of supporting measures have been introduced. On August 1, 2019, the newly revised "Martyrs' Commendation Regulations" have provided a legal basis for incorporating the protection of heroes and martyrs into the party and the country's meritorious recognition system.
On December 16, 2019, the newly revised "Administrative Measures for Disability Compensation" further clarified the scope and identification of the recipients of the compensation.
At present, the formulation and revision of laws and regulations such as the "Regulations on the Placement of Veterans", "Regulations on Compensation and Preferential Treatment for Soldiers", "Regulations on Commendation of Martyrs", "Methods on Martyrs' Public Sacrifice" and "Administrative Measures of the Glory Institute" are being carried out in an orderly manner.
3. Carry out the inevitable requirement of implementing Jinping's thought of strengthening the army and realizing national defense and army modernization.
The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasized that it is necessary to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of military members and make them a profession respected by the whole society.
As an important "wealth" of veterans who have received special training and can mobilize for war at any time, coupled with their high comprehensive quality and strong organizational and management capabilities, they can greatly promote the construction and development of the country.
Whether veterans can successfully re-socialize and gain universal respect from society will directly affect citizens’ enthusiasm for dedication to national defense, as well as the formation of military morale and combat effectiveness.
Therefore, serving veterans well will help strengthen the national combat effectiveness, demonstrate a strong national defense force, and achieve the general goal of strengthening the army.
As a major livelihood project, the promulgation of the "Law on Protection of Veterans" is an indispensable part of realizing national defense and military modernization. It is an important legal basis for stabilizing the military's mind and resolving the worries of military personnel. Its implementation is conducive to motivating and mobilizing military personnel. Work enthusiasm is also conducive to the long-term stability of the country.
The order must be believed, and the law must be fulfilled.
The implementation of the "Veterans Protection Law" is directly related to the loyalty and dedication of active servicemen and the enthusiasm of youth of the right age to join the army.
In the face of major changes in the world unseen in a century, the work of veterans also faces new opportunities and challenges.
In the concrete implementation, on the one hand, we should recognize my country’s actual achievements and the superiority of the system, on the other hand, we must always keep in mind the earnest entrustment of President Xi Jinping and do good things well.
It needs to be pointed out that the work of veterans’ affairs involves a wide range of issues and the difficulty of tackling tough problems. One law cannot solve all specific problems. We should speed up the construction of a legal system for veterans with Chinese characteristics to build a strong national defense and realize the "two hundred years." "Strive goals provide a solid guarantee of the rule of law.
(Author's unit: National Defense University School of Political Science Xi'an Campus)
Source: China Social Science Net-China Social Science News
Author: Bo Qi doorpost