Research on the legal issues of administrative penalty power of townships in China based on Article 24 of the administrative penalty law of the People's Republic of China
Keywords:
Administrative Penalty Power, Township Governments, Devolution of Power, Power AllocationAbstract
The administrative penalty power of Chinese townships is undergoing a dynamic reform process from legal empowerment to practical adjustment. Article 24 of the Administrative Penalty Law revised in 2021 establishes the legal framework for provincial governments to delegate administrative penalty authority, providing a system foundation for the downward shift of the law enforcement focus. However, the legislative provisions are rather vague, and multiple obstacles have been encountered in specific practical implementation, such as insufficient empowerment effectiveness, shortage of law enforcement resources, poor coordination in law enforcement, lack of professional law enforcement personnel, and imperfect supervision mechanisms, which have seriously affected the law enforcement efficiency and weakened the credibility of township law enforcement. To thoroughly analyze the causes of the aforementioned problems and explore paths to resolve these dilemmas, this study comprehensively adopts methods such as data statistics, textual analysis, and field research to measure the relevant indicators of the administrative law enforcement powers of township people's governments. Meanwhile, it conducts differentiated analyses from multiple dimensions including law enforcement support, case-handling quality, and law enforcement effectiveness, so as to ensure the objectivity and validity of the research findings. Finally, the researcher intends to propose relevant countermeasures from aspects such as improving the legal system, constructing a refined administrative penalty power operation mechanism, enhancing the law enforcement capacity and level of townships, and reshaping the law enforcement supervision system, providing theoretical support and practical suggestions for improving the administrative law enforcement system at the grassroots level in China.
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