法律案合宪性审查的程序、事项与方法

法律案的合宪性审查是立法机关在立法过程中对法律案是否符合宪法进行的自我、事前控制形式,是我国合宪性审查机制的重要组成部分。在不存在根本性制度障碍的前提下,先行激活法律案的合宪性审查对于提升宪法实施和宪法监督水平,维护宪法的权威性具有非常重要的实践意义。《立法法》设定的审议程序(包括“前置性”审议程序与正式审议程序)蕴含着对法律案进行合宪性审查的契机。立法机关可以根据我国宪法在内容构造上的特点,立足于本国立法的现实需要并借鉴其他国家的合宪性审查经验,将合宪性审查的对象锁定在法律草案在内容上最有可能涉及违宪的某些具体事项上,如此才能提高审查效率;针对较为具体的审查事项,立法机关需要创造性运用“抽象公益条款的禁止”“平等原则的过滤”以及“比例原则的审视”等方法,有效地排除法律草案中的违宪情形,稳健地推进与我国国情相适应的合宪性审查工作。

Constitutional Review of Bills: Procedures,Matters and Methods

The constitutional review of bill is a form of ex-ante self-control of the constitutionality of bills by legislative organs in the legislative process.It is an important part of the constitutional review mechanism in China.In the absence of fundamental institutional barriers,activating the constitutional review of bills in advance is of great practical significance to improving constitutional implementation and supervision and upholding the authority of the Constitution.The deliberation procedure established by the Legislation Law(including the prior deliberation procedure and the formal deliberation procedure)contains the opportunity of constitutional review of bills.In light of the characteristics of the content and structure of the Chinese Constitution,legislative organs in China should base themselves on the practical needs of China,draw on the experiences of other countries,and focus constitutional review on certain concrete matters in draft laws that most likely to involve the issue of constitutionality,so as to improve the efficiency of the review.With respect to the more concrete matters of review,legislative organs needs to creatively use such methods as“prohibition of abstract public welfare clauses”,“screening by the principle of equality”and“scrutiny by the principle of proportionality”to effectively eliminate unconstitutionalities in draft laws and steadily advance the development of a constitutional review system compatible with China’s national conditions.