On the morning of 22 February, the first lecture of the Frontier Lecture Series on the topic of global engineering legal system was held at the Law School of Southeast University. The lecture was hosted by Ji Yang, Vice Dean of the Law School of Southeast University, and Gu Zhendong, the second grade inspector of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, was invited as the main speaker, while Fang Xueyan, the deputy director of the Regulations Division of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and Xing Chenxi and Chang Tengyuan from the Engineering Law Department of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, served as the talkers.
With the theme of ‘Outline of China's Engineering Law and Research Path’, the lecturer introduced the contents of ‘Outline of China's Engineering Construction Regulations’ and ‘Research Path of Engineering Law’ from the practical point of view. The topic of ‘Outline of Chinese Engineering Construction Regulations’ and ‘Research Path of Engineering Law’ was introduced.
In ‘Outline of China's engineering construction regulations’, the lecturer started from the practical frontier of ‘Reform of the approval system of engineering construction projects in Jiangsu Province’, and introduced the list of approval matters, the composition of engineering construction management regulations, the system of regulations on building construction and municipal infrastructure, and its characteristics. The speaker introduced the list of approval matters, the composition of engineering construction management regulations, and the system of building construction and municipal infrastructure regulations and their characteristics.
In the part of the list of approval matters, the speaker explains the reasons for the implementation of this reform, the current progress and problems, and gives an in-depth explanation and analysis of the laws and regulations based on the list of approval matters and the composition of the approval process.
In the part of the regulatory system of engineering construction management, the speaker showed the basic structure of the regulatory system related to engineering construction, which is composed of laws, administrative regulations, local regulations, departmental rules, government regulations, normative documents and standards.
In the part of building construction and municipal infrastructure project management regulations, the speaker focused on the ‘Construction Law’ as the basis, the ‘Construction Engineering Quality Management Regulations’, ‘Construction Engineering Safety Management Regulations’ and other administrative regulations as the skeleton, the State Council departmental rules and regulations of the State Council and local laws and regulations, regulations, normative documents, standard norms and standards supporting the construction of housing and building construction projects, such as the supervision of the industry, enterprise qualification, personnel qualification, market behaviour, procedural management and so on. The system of laws and regulations on the management of housing construction and municipal infrastructure projects, which is complemented by standard norms, demonstrates the specialisation and complexity of engineering law in this specialised category.
In the main features of the regulatory system of housing construction and municipal infrastructure project management, the speaker outlined that the scope of adjustment of the existing regulations is limited to from the commencement of the project to its completion, but not for the whole life cycle of the project; the system of regulations is complicated and numerous; the administrative and civil affairs are intertwined, and the management problems co-exist with the technology; and there are differences in the management of construction and municipal engineering and specialised engineering such as traffic, water conservancy, energy, railway, etc. The existing regulatory system has the characteristics of modernity and complexity; Established regulations and systems are characterised by their epochal and unique nature and other aspects.
In terms of the research path of engineering law, the presenter put forward suggestions on research in four dimensions: research principles, contents, methods and the latest developments that need to be paid attention to.
In terms of research principles, the presenter emphasised that engineering law research should adhere to Xi Jinping's thought on the rule of law, and be guided by adherence to the road of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, and adherence to the construction of a socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics.
In terms of research content, the presenter suggested that research can be carried out from different perspectives, such as the engineering law system, comparisons between China and foreign countries and ancient and modern times, the relationship between related legal systems, and specialised issues.
In terms of research methodology, the presenter suggested that engineering construction projects should be taken as the object, and in-depth research should be carried out around the complete cycle of planning, design, construction, maintenance, renewal and extinction, with the engineering construction procedures as the main line, drawings as the core, designers as the main body, and contracts as the entry point.
In terms of the latest developments, the speaker introduced the latest requirements of the state deployment related to engineering law, such as the ‘four good’ construction, the digitalisation of the whole life cycle of housing, historical and cultural preservation and inheritance, the construction of smart and resilient cities, urban renewal, etc. He hoped that the research on engineering law could keep up with the new situation, meet the new requirements and empower the new tasks.
Finally, the lecturer called that engineering law research needs to respect the law, respect the market, respect talents, respect innovation, and constantly promote China's engineering law research to go broad, wide, precise and accurate.
Vice President Ji Yang summarised the lecture. He pointed out that the content of the lecture systematically introduces the current situation of engineering law from a practical point of view, with both depth of practice and breadth of thinking; the issue of engineering law is not only related to specific rules and standards, but also an indispensable and important part of the modernisation of national governance, touching on the core of the concept of the rule of law; the content of the lecture broadens the horizon of engineering law research and enhances the depth of the research of engineering law; Vice President Jiyang also Taking the complexity of judicial interpretation of criminal law as an example, he reminded legal workers that they should maintain a positive attitude and avoid falling into the trap of inert thinking, and called for a profound reflection on legal culture and architectural culture.
In the talk session, Deputy Director Fang Xueyan shared her inspiring views on the content of the lectures and her own work experience. She recalled the confusion and challenges she faced when she first stepped into a new field and faced the discrepancy between theoretical knowledge and practical application. She hoped that law students could have a broad vision combining historical wisdom and practical insight to better predict future trends and grasp the pulse of the times; and that the research process could be used as an excellent platform to cultivate an advanced way of thinking, an efficient working method and the ability to understand the reality profoundly. She encouraged students to be good at identifying problems and learning with problems in the learning process to enhance the learning efficiency, and dare to think about and question the existing system to continuously explore a more reasonable and forward-looking system design. On the basis of the speaker's suggestion that interdisciplinary research should pursue ‘depth, breadth and precision’, he further added the importance of ‘height’ and ‘solidity’.
Mr Xing Chenxi commented that the content of the lecture outlined the basic picture of engineering law in an in-depth manner, and the outline of the discussion made everyone in the audience gain a lot. The speaker integrated the theoretical framework with practical experience, and took the ‘Reform of the Approval System for Engineering and Construction Projects in Jiangsu Province’ as the starting point to systematically share the systematic structure of engineering and construction management laws and regulations, and shared the ‘one-stop’ engineering law research path; at the same time, he kept up with the latest work dynamics and encouraged us to learn more about engineering law, and to learn more about the latest work trends. At the same time, he followed the latest work dynamics and encouraged us to deepen the research of engineering law from practical problems, which provided valuable insights for teaching and scientific research. In addition, Mr Xing also discussed and exchanged views on the career development space for engineering law students in civil service positions in the construction industry, the impact of AI technology on the rule of law in engineering construction and the new challenges posed to the students, and so on.
Mr Chang Tengyuan said that he benefited a lot from the lecture, especially the ‘six-one’ research method put forward by the speaker, which pointed out the key elements of engineering law research; ‘resilience’, ‘digitalisation’ and other elements pointed out in the lecture are not only the key elements of engineering law research, but also the key elements of engineering law research, which are the key elements of engineering law research, which are the key elements of engineering law research. In the lecture, he pointed out that ‘resilience’, ‘digitalisation’ and other contents are not only the hotspots of the engineering industry in the past ten years, but also have far-reaching impact on the quality and safety management of the engineering industry in the future. Mr Chang emphasised that as the state and enterprises accelerate the development of AI technology, he hoped that students could actively explore new research fields while consolidating their basic path learning.
In the communication and interaction part of the lecture, the teachers and students who participated in the lecture spoke enthusiastically, and the lecturer answered them one by one, and everyone expressed their own views, the lecture had a strong academic atmosphere and a warm response on the spot.
The lecture not only deepened the participants' understanding of China's engineering law, provided new ideas and directions for the reform and development of the engineering construction field, but also stimulated the teachers and students of Southeast University's strong enthusiasm and passion for academic research on engineering law.
Looking ahead, the course ‘Topics of Global Engineering Legal System’ will invite more experts and scholars to join hands with the teachers and students of Southeast University to explore the engineering legal system of various countries, and to contribute the wisdom and strength of Southeast University to the improvement and development of China's engineering legal system.
(Chen Yue, Wang Zhengchao)