《中国人民共和国行政处罚法》已于1996年3月17日四届全国人大四次会议审议通过,将于同年10月1日开始实施。该法对行政处罚的设定、实施机关、程序等问题作了全面规定,是中国关于行政处罚方面的一部基本法律。近年来,中国的立法活动大范围、多层次地展开,在该法颁布之前,法规、规章以及其他规范性文件都规定了一些行政处罚,其中有许多规定不符 The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Administrative Punishment was reviewed and approved by the Fourth Session of the Fourth National People’s Congress on March 17, 1996 and will be implemented on October 1 of the same year. This law fully sets forth the provisions on the establishment of administrative punishment, the organs for implementation and the procedures, and is a basic law on administrative penalties in China. In recent years, China’s legislative activities have been conducted in a large-scale and multi-level manner. Before the promulgation of the law, some administrative penalties were stipulated in laws, regulations and other normative documents, many of which were inconsistent