The Three Supremes () is a doctrine first articulated by

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party The general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ( zh, s=中国共产党中央委员会总书记, p=Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zǒngshūjì) is the leader of the Chinese Communist Part ...

Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese retired politician who served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the president of China from 2003 to 2013, and chairman of the Central Military Comm ...

in December 2007, which requires the judiciary to subordinate the written law to the interests of the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP) and the maintenance of "social stability." As

put it during the National Conference on Political-Legal Work, "In their work, the grand judges and grand procurators shall always regard as supreme the party's cause, the people's interest and the constitution and laws." The “Three Supremes” are as follows: # Supremacy of the business of the CCP (党的事业至上) # Supremacy of the interests of the people (人民利益至上) # Supremacy of the Constitution and the laws (宪法法律至上) In March 2008, CCP functionary Wang Shengjun was confirmed as the president of the

Supreme People's Court The Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China (SPC) is the highest court of the People's Republic of China. It hears appeals of cases from the high people's courts and is the trial court for cases about matters of national ...

(SPC). Unlike predecessors who had placed emphasis on legal training, the tenure of Wang Shengjun (who has no formal legal training himself) has been defined by mandating the study of the Three Supremes theory, and by his emphasis on the need to uphold the leadership of the CCP. The launch of the Three Supremes, and corresponding appointment of Wang Shengjun to the SPC, has been viewed by some legal scholars as an example of

backsliding Backsliding, also known as falling away or described as "committing apostasy", is a term used within Christianity to describe a process by which an individual who has converted to Christianity reverts to pre- conversion habits and/or lapses or ...

in the development of an independent, autonomous, and competent legal community. Many legal scholars in China believe that the Three Supremes serves to "enshrine the notion that the law must serve the basic strategic interests of the CCP by taking into primary consideration the CCP’s own notion of pressing national priorities, interests and realities."

References

{{reflist Ideology of the Chinese Communist Party Law of the People's Republic of China Chinese political catchphrases