Instructions concerning Abolishing the Six Codes of the Guomindang and Determining Judicial Principles for the Liberated Areas

(1) The understanding of the Six Codes of the Guomindang, among a good number of our judicial cadres, is mistaken and confused. There are not only a number of people who have studied old laws, revere them as sacred, and stress that they can also be used in the liberated areas; even among political cadres with relatively high responsibilities, there are people who believe that the Six Codes agree with the interests of the broad people, and that only a part of them, not the essence, does not conform with the interests of the broad people. In “How to Build Judicial Work”, published by the Northeast Press, all sorts of viewpoints concerning the Six Codes are raised, which is only one clear case in point.

(2) Law is the so-called national ideology that the ruling class openly enforces with arms. Laws and states are the same, they are only tools to guarantee the interests of a certain ruling class. The Six Codes of the Guomindang and ordinary bourgeois laws are the same, they appear by concealing their class nature, but in fact, as there are no states without classes, it is impossible that there are laws that transcend class. The Six Codes and ordinary bourgeois laws and the same, they present themselves with a facade that everyone is equal before the law, etc., but in fact, between the ruling class and the ruled class, between the exploiting class and the exploited class, between those with and without properties, between creditors and debtors, there are no real common benefits and losses, and consequently, there cannot be truly equal legal rights. Because of this, all Guomindang laws can only be tools to maintain the reactionary rule of landlords, compradors and bureaucratic capital, and weapons to suppress and constrain the broad popular masses. Exactly for this reason, did Chiang Kai-shek, in his cry to be saved from death and his call for peace at New Year, demand the maintenance of the sham Constitution and the sham legal system, this was a demand to maintain the continued effect of the Six Codes of the Guomindang, because of this, the Six Codes of the Guomindang can absolutely not be the law in both the regions controlled by Jiang and the liberated regions.

(3) Any reactionary laws – and this is the same for the Six Codes of the Guomindang – cannot but include a number of articles that protect the so-called interests of the entire body of the people, this is the same with states themselves, they are the outcome and manifestation of the irreconcilable class struggle; this means that the purpose of the ruling class is guaranteeing its own basic class interest (property and political power), and this cannot but be present in some articles of its laws. On the one hand, it considers some interests of its allies or the allies it wants to obtain, scheming to consolidate its ruling position in this way; on the other hand, it cannot but perfunctorily deal with its fundamental enemies – the working people, scheming to mitigate and oppose their class struggle in this way. Because of this, we cannot see the Six Codes as a law that only partially and not fundamentally discords with the interests of the broad people because they speciously protect the so-called interests of the whole body of the people, rather, we should see it as a law that basically discords with the interest of the people.

(4) During the period in which we resisted Japan, the articles in Guomindang laws that benefit the people have been used from time to time in a few base areas to protect or realize the people’s interest, under reactionary rule, we have also often used the few articles in reactionary law that benefit the masses to protect or fight for the masses’ interest, and so we have exposed the fundamental reactionary nature of reactionary law to the people. Undoubtedly, it was correct to do so. But we cannot understand these acts based on the strategy of that time as a fundamental recognition by us of reactionary Guomindang law, or believe that the old reactionary laws of the Guomindang can be basically adopted under the New Democratic regime.

(5) Under the people’s democratic dictatorship, led by the proletariat and with the alliance between workers and peasants at the core, the Six Codes of the Guomindang should be abolished. People’s judicial work can no longer be based on the Six Codes of the Guomindang, but should be based on new laws of the people. Until new people’s laws have been systematically promulgated, it should be based on the policies of the Communist Party, as well as all programmes, laws, regulations and resolutions published by People’s Governments and the People’s Liberation Army. At present, under the circumstances that the people’s laws are not yet complete, the principles for judicial organs’ handling affairs should be: where there are programmes, laws, decrees, regulations or regulations, following the provisions of programmes, laws, decrees, regulations and resolutions; where there are no programmes, laws, decrees, regulations, or resolutions, following the policies of New Democracy. At the same time, judicial organs should regularly, with a spirit of scorning and criticising the Six Codes and all other reactionary Guomindang laws, with a spirit of scorning and criticising all anti-people laws and decrees in the capitalist countries of Europe, America and Japan, and with the method of studying and grasping the view of the state and view of law in Marxism and Mao Zedong Thought, as well as the New Democracy’s policies, programmes, laws, decrees, regulations and resolutions, educate and reform judicial cadres. Only in this way is it possible to ensure that our judicial work truly becomes a component part of the organic structure of the people’s democratic political work, only in this way is it possible to raise the theoretical understanding, policy understanding and legal understanding of our judicial cadres, as well as their work abilities, only in this way is it possible to thoroughly shatter the mistakes and harmful thoughts of those people who have studied the old laws by swallowing these old things without digesting them, and ensure that they cast off the burden of the past, lay down their nauseating air, become willing to accept the role of primary school pupils, and start to learn again through Marxism, Mao Zedong Thought and our policies, programmes, decrees, regulations and resolutions, and transform themselves into judicial cadres of the people under the New Democratic regime. Only in this way can they become able to serve the people, and can they become judicial cadres who work together with one heart in our revolution, and its it possible to eliminate the bad phenomenon that new and old judicial cadres do not unite, or that old judicial personnel venerate the Six Codes of the Guomindang, and remain self-important and arrogant.

(6) Please discuss these opinions of ours with government and judicial cadres, and report the results of the discussion to us.

中共中央关于废除国民党的六法全书与确定解放区的司法原则的指示

(一)对国民党六法全书的认识，在我们好些司法干部中，是错误的，模糊的。不仅有些学过旧法律的人，把它奉为神圣，强调它在解放区也能运用；甚至在较负责的政权干部中，也有人认为六法全书是合乎广大人民利益的，只有一部分而不是基本上是不合乎广大人民利益的。东北印行的“怎样建设司法工作”中所提到的对六法全书的各种观点，不过是一部分明显的例证。
(二)法律是统治阶级公开以武装强制执行的所谓国家意识形态。法律和国家一样，只是保证一定统治阶级利益的工具。国民党的六法全书和一般资产阶级法律一样，以掩盖阶级本质的形式出现，但实际上既然没有超阶级的国家，当然也不能有超阶级的法律六法全书和一般资产阶级法律一样，以所谓人人在法律方面一律平等的面貌出现，但是实际上在统治阶级与被统治阶级之间，剥削阶级与被剥削阶级之间，有产者与无产者之间，债权人与债务人之间，没有真正共同的利害，因而也不能有真正平等的法权。因此，国民党全部法律只能是保护地主与买办官僚资产阶级反动统治的工具，是镇压与束缚广大人民群众的武器。正因为如此，所以蒋介石在元旦救死求和的哀鸣中，还求要保留伪宪法，伪法统，也就是要求保留国民党的六法全书继续有效，因此，六法全书绝不能是蒋管区与解放区均能适用的法律。
(三)任何反动法律－－国民党的六法全书也是一样－－不能不多少包括某些所谓保护全体人民利益的条款，这正和国家本身一样，恰是阶级斗争不可调和的产物和表现；即反动统治阶级为保障其基本的阶级利益(财产与政权)的安全起见，不能不在其法律的某些条文中，一方面，照顾一下它的同盟者或它试图争取的同盟者的某些部分利益。企图以此来巩固其阶级统治；另一方面，不能不敷衍一下它的根本敌人－－劳动人民，企图以此来缓和反对它的阶级斗争。因此，不能因国民党的六法全书有某些似是而非的所谓保护全体人民利益的条款，便把它看作只是一部分而不是在基本上不合乎广大人民利益的法律，而应把它看作是基本上不合乎人民利益的法律。
(四)我们在抗日时期，有各根据地曾经个别地利用过国民党法律中有利于人民的条文来保护或实现人民的利益，在反动统治下，我们也常常利用反动法律中个别有利于群众的条文来保护与争取群众的利益，并向群众揭露反动法律的本质上的反动性。无疑的，这样做是正确的。但不能把我们这种一时的策略上的行动，解释为我们在基本上承认国民党的反动法律，或者认为在新民主主义政权下能够在基本上采用国民党的反动的旧法律。
(五)在无产阶级领导的工农联盟为主体的人民民主专政政权下，国民党的六法全书应该废除。人民的司法工作，不能再以国民党的六法全书为依据，而应该以人民的新的法律作依据。在人民新的法律还没有系统地发布以前，应该以共产党政策以及人民政府与人民解放军所已发布的各种纲领、法律、条例、决议作依据。目前，在人民的法律还不完备的情况下，司法机关的办事原则，应该是：有纲领、法律、命令、条例、决议规定者，从纲领、法律、命令、条例、决议之规定；无纲领、法律、命令、条例、决议规定者，从新民主主义的政策。同时，司法机关应该经常以蔑视和批判六法全书及国民党其他一切反动的法律法令的精神，以蔑视和批判欧美日本资本主义国家一切反人民法律、法令的精神，以学习和掌握马列主义－－毛泽东思想的国家观、法律观及新民主主义的政策、纲领、法律、命令、条例、决议的办法，来教育和改造司法干部。只有这样做，才能使我们的司法工作真正成为人民民主政权工作的有机构成部分，只有这样做才能提高我们司法干部的理论知识、政策知识与法律知识的水平和工作能力，只有这样做，才能彻底粉碎那些学过旧法律而食古不化的人的错误的和有害的思想，使他们丢下旧包袱，放下臭架子，甘当小学生，重新从马列主义——毛泽东思想及我们的政策、纲领、命令、条例、决议学起，把自己改造成为新民主主义政权下的人民的司法干部。只有这样，他们才能够为人民服务，才能与我们的革命的司法干部和衷共济，消除所谓新旧司法干部不团结或旧司法人员炫耀国民党的六法全书和自高自大的恶劣现象。
(六)请你们与政府及司法干部讨论我们这些意见，并把讨论结果报告我们。