The Annual Conference and Academic Seminar of the Constitutional Law Research Committee and the Legislative Law Research Committee of Beijing Law Society were held at China University of Political Science and Law on December 5, 2018. The conference and the seminar, which took “Revision of the Constitution and the Implementation of the Constitution in a New Era” and “the Constitutional Review of the Legislative System” as their themes, were attended by about 30 experts and scholars from Beijing Law Society, China University of Political Science and Law, CASS Law Institute, CASS Institute of International Law, Renmin University of China, CASS University, People's Public Security University of China, Minzu University of China, Tsinghua University, Beijing Normal University, Central University of Finance and Economics, and Beijing Union University.

At the conference, Professor Li Shuzhong, Chairman of the Constitutional Law Research Committee of Beijing Law Society and Vice Chairman of China University of Political Science and Law, gave a keynote speech entitled “Revision of the Constitution and the Implementation of the Constitution in a New Era”. The speech was a part of “One Hundred Lectures by One Hundred Jurists” Campaign for the Publicity of the Rule of Law, organized by Beijing Law Society.

Next, Professor Zhang Baogui, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the Constitutional Law Research Committee, and Professor Zhai Guoqiang, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the Legislative Law Research Committee, each gave a report in which they summarized the main work carried out by their respective research committees in legal research and in the construction of the rule of law in Beijing in the year 2018 and introduced the main work to be carried out by the research committees in the year 2019.

The academic seminar consisted of two parts. In the first part, Professor Chen Yunsheng from CASS Law Institute, Professor Xiong Wenzhao from Minzu University of China, Professor Yu Wenhao from Central University of Finance and Economics, Professor Ma Ling from CASS University, Professor Cong Wensheng from China University of Political Science and Law, Professor Cheng Jie from Tinghua University and Professor Tian Feilong from Beihang University each gave a keynote speech, in which they discussed such issues as the relationship between the reform and the constitution, the evolution of constitutional arrangements for state organs, ways of advancing the work of constitutional review, the understanding of the functions of the Constitution and Law Committee of the National People's Congress, and the constitutional review in the field of military legislation.

In the second part of the seminar, Professor Liu Xiaomei from CASS Institute of International Law, Professor Chen Zheng from China University of Political Science and Law, Professor Liu Jianlong from CASS University, and Dr. Zhu Xuelei and Dr. Liu Zhixin, two post-doctoral researchers at CASS Institute of International Law each gave a speech and carried out deep-going discussions with other participants on such topics as the mechanism for and the scope of constitutional review from the perspective of legislative system, the relationship between the constitution and branch laws against the background of constitutional review, the judgment petition system of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, the system of weak judicial review and its possible implication for the implementation of the Constitution in China, and three ways of interpreting Article 67 (1) of the Chinese Constitution.