Local regulations should never infringe on people's legal rights

A gavel in a court. [Photo/IC]

Fenggang county government in Southwest China's Guizhou province has reportedly issued a draft regulation on local wedding banquets, forbidding those who remarry from holding celebratory feasts. Rednet.cn attributes Fenggang government's move to a lack of legal awareness and calls for the legal authorities to play a bigger role in local governance.

In Fenggang's case, what is even more noteworthy than the local government's flawed regulation is that the legal affairs office has been marginalized.

Much-criticized local regulations, such as Fenggang's ban on celebratory banquets being held by remarried couples, points to the fact that local legal affairs authorities are often excluded from decision-making.

That explains why some local governments overreach their authority and, without even consulting residents, make unwise decisions under the name of opposing "extravagance and waste".

Unlike some corrupt officials who brazenly violate relevant laws and Party regulations for illicit gains, the highhanded decision-makers can always manage to walk away with impunity, claiming that their decisions are made for the sake of residents' well-being, about which they are very much concerned.

However, such an attitude reveals another sort of incompetence. Against the backdrop of the ongoing nationwide promotion of the rule of law, that some governments still push for ill-considered regulations has a lot to do with their flawed operating mechanism, in which local legal affairs offices have a limited role.

To make sure governments exercise their power properly and protect the legal rights of residents from being infringed upon, the legal affairs officials should not only participate in but also help streamline the decision-making process.