The Supervisory Commission; China's political-administrative institution for combating corruption

The issue of combating corruption has been a long-standing concern for Chinese statesmen, ultimately leading to the establishment of an institution known as the National Supervisory Commission. Understanding the true nature of this institution within the framework of liberal concepts, which dominate the constitutional law literature, is not possible and presents an incomplete picture. In this research, by adopting the analytical constitutional framework of Jiang Shigong, a Chinese political and legal theorist, an attempt has been made to clarify the nature of this institution within China's constitutional order. According to this new framework, to comprehend China's constitutional order, one must look beyond the written legal texts. In this regard, Jiang Shigong considers the role of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as central to the constitutional legal order and regards the Party's leadership as the supreme principle of China's constitutional law. From his perspective, the Party is not merely a political reality but a fundamental norm that underpins the entire legal system. He views the Party as the custodian of political affairs and the state as the custodian of administrative affairs. Based on Jiang Shigong's analysis, as well as an examination of the process of establishing this institution and its relationship with the National People's Congress, it can be argued that this newly established institution has a political-administrative nature. Due to this dual nature, it is considered the highest supervisory and anti-corruption body in China. Furthermore, this indicates that, in the minds of the founders of this institution—namely, the Party—corruption and the fight against it are not purely administrative matters; if they were, this responsibility would have been delegated to the government as the custodian of administrative affairs.