China to Publish Translations of Indian Constitutions

Beijing: Translated versions of the constitutions of India and the UN-member states will be published in Mandarin next month, allowing for the first time the Chinese people to have a glimpse into statutes of other countries.

The project, which included translations of some 12.8 million words, was designed to promote the culture of constitutional law, said Han Dayuan, the president of the Constitutional Law Division under the China Law Society [CLS]. It was jointly launched two years ago by the CLS, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and its affiliated publishing house.

The project demonstrated China's respect for not only its own Constitution, but also the constitutional cultures of the entire humankind, Han was quoted as saying by the Chinese state news agency.

Han also noted that constitutions reflect the social management pattern, social issues and difficulties faced by each country, which could serve as the 'common language' of humankind in pursuing universality and harmony.

The translated versions were necessary, as majority of the Chinese including academics and judicial officials mainly conversant with Mandarin and the translated versions would provide a glimpse into other countries constitutions.

The People's Republic of China enacted its first constitution in 1954, outlining the legal framework in a one-party Communist state. In 1982, the National People's Congress adopted the present constitution, which was amended in 1988, 1993, 1999 and 2004.