Decision of the State Council Regarding the Question of Rehabilitation Through Labour

The following decision regarding the question of rehabilitation through labour is made in accordance with the provisions of Article 100 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and with a view to reforming those persons who are able to work but insist on leading an idle life, violating law and discipline, or will not engage in honest pursuits, into persons who are able to support themselves through their own labour, and to further maintaining public order, thus facilitating socialist construction:

1. Persons falling into the following categories shall be interned for rehabilitation through labour:

(1) those who will not engage in honest pursuits, involve themselves in hooliganism, commit larceny, fraud or other acts for which they are not criminally liable or violate public security rules and refuse to mend their ways despite repeated admonition;

(2) counterrevolutionaries and anti-socialist reactionaries who commit minor offences and are not criminally liable and who have been given sanctions of expulsion by government organs, people's organizations, enterprises or schools, and as a result have difficulty in making a living;

(3) employees of government organs, people's organizations, enterprises and schools who are able-bodied, but have refused to work for a long period, violated discipline or jeopardized public order, and have been given sanctions of expulsion, and as a result have difficulty in making a living; or

(4) persons who refuse to accept the work assigned to them or the arrangement made for their employment and settlement after their demobilization from military service, or who decline to take part in manual labour and production despite persuasion, keep behaving disruptively on purpose, obstruct public officials from performing their duties and refuse to mend their ways despite repeated admonition.

2. Rehabilitation through labour is a measure whereby education and reform are mandatorily imposed on persons who are interned for rehabilitation through labour, and is also a measure to resettle them and provide employment for them.

Persons undergoing rehabilitation through labour shall be appropriately paid with wages according to the actual work they do; a suitable amount may be deducted from their wages for the support of their dependents or to reserved for their own expenses in settling down to a stable life.

Persons undergoing rehabilitation through labour must abide by the discipline prescribed by the organs in charge of rehabilitation through labour. Those who violate discipline shall be given administrative sanctions and those who commit criminal offences shall be punished according to law.

For the education and management of the persons undergoing rehabilitation, the policy of combining labour and production with political education shall be adopted, and disciplinary rules and regulations shall be prescribed for such persons to strictly observe. Help shall be given to them in cultivating their consciousness of loving the country, abiding by law and regarding work as a matter of honour, in learning skills of labour and production, and in fostering a habit of loving manual labour so that they may be turned into working people who take part in socialist construction and who support themselves by their own labour.

3. Petitions for persons to be interned for rehabilitation through labour shall be presented by departments of civil affairs or public security, by the units such persons belong to, which may be government organs, people's organizations, enterprises, schools, etc., or by their parents or guardians and shall be approved by the people's councils of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government or by organs authorized by these people's councils.

4. If, in the course of their rehabilitation, persons undergoing rehabilitation through labour have mended their ways and are qualified for employment, they may be provided with other employments upon the approval of the organs in charge of rehabilitation through labour; if the units, parents or guardians who have previously petitioned for the persons concerned to be interned for rehabilitation through labour present another petition requesting that such persons be turned over to them for education and supervision, the organs in charge of rehabilitation through labour may also approve such petitions according to the actual conditions.

5. Organs in charge of rehabilitation through labour shall be established at the level of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government or established with the approval of the people's councils of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government. The work of the organs in charge of rehabilitation through labour shall be under the joint leadership and administration of the departments of civil affairs and public security.