order to modernise the Chinese legal system. This stemmed from the German civil law system. After the establishment of the Republic of China in 1911, the Chinese government maintained the civil law system. Although the CCP abolished all legal systems of the ROC after 1949, its legal system was deeply influenced by the legal system of the Soviet Union, which could also be regarded as a civil law system. The development of the current legal system dates from the late 1970s, after the end of the Cultural Revolution. After more than 30 years of endeavour, the People's Republic of China has established, through enactments by the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee, a rather complete legal system with constitution, civil and commercial law, criminal law, administrative law, economic law, procedural law, etc. In the 2000s, the Weiquan movement began in the PRC, seeking to advance citizens' rights partly by petitioning for enforcement of existing laws, and partly through activism. Lawyers in the movement have seen some court victories, but in other cases they and their families have been ostracized and even tortured for their activities. Sources of law The highest and ultimate source of legal norms in the PRC is nominally the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. It establishes the framework and principles of government, and lists the fundamental rights and duties of Chinese citizens. In practice, however, although these "fundamental rights" include "freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration" the enforcement of these rights and other elements of the Constitution are subject to the discretion of the Communist Party's leadership. Unlike some civil law jurisdictions such as Germany, China does not systematically lay down general principles in its constitution which all administrative regulations and rules must follow. The principles of legislation and the validity and priority of law, rule and administrative regulations are instead listed in the Legislation Law, constitutional provisions, basic laws and laws enacted by the National People's Congress and its standing committee, regulations issued by the State Council and its departments, local laws and regulations, autonomous-zone regulations, legal explanations and treaty norms are all in theory incorporated into domestic law immediately upon promulgation. Signed international treaties are in practice automatically incorporated into PRC law, and they are superior to the relevant stipulations of PRC laws. However, the PRC reserves the right to make reservations regarding