End legal black hole

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) has scheduled the first reading of the proposed law on correction of illegal acts for its 30th meeting in October.

The proposed law first appeared on the 10th NPC Standing Committee's agenda in 2005. Back then, the lawmakers underestimated the complexities of such a law.

Although there was a general consensus on the need for a law to replace the half-century-old reeducation-through-labor system, its delivery has been bogged down in disputes.