The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice has the following primary responsibilities:

1. Conduct policy research on major issues related to comprehensive law-based city governance. Coordinate with relevant parties to provide suggestions for mid- and long-term plans for comprehensive law-based city governance. Supervise major decisions and arrangements related to comprehensive law-based city governance.

2. Promote the establishment of a law-based government. Guide and supervise the implementation of law-based administration by departments of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, district-level governments, and village/town-level governments. Serve as the legal adviser to the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government and support the legality review of major administrative decisions. Facilitate the provision of legal advice by legal administrative organs at all levels of the government.

3. Oversee the overall planning of local legislation. Coordinate with relevant parties to propose suggestions for the local legislation plan and annual legislation plan. Monitor the implementation of legislation work plans in all departments. Strengthen organizational coordination, supervision, and guidance. Conduct research and propose opinions and measures to  legislation with reform decisions. Seek input on legislation projects from the public.

4. Draft or coordinate the drafting of relevant local regulations and rules. Conduct reviews of local regulation and rule drafts submitted to the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government by various departments. Undertake legislative interpretation, post-legislation evaluation, and the compilation of rules and regulations of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government. Coordinate and address disputes and issues related to the formulation and implementation of local rules and regulations. Organize the translation, examination, and approval of official foreign language versions of the rules and regulations of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government. Coordinate and promote the development of administrative normative documents.

5. Supervise administrative law enforcement activities. Provide guidance and supervision for administrative reviews, responses to administrative proceedings, and administrative compensations. Handle administrative review, administrative proceeding response, and administrative compensation cases of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government. Coordinate jurisdictional disputes in administrative reviews. Undertake comprehensive coordination of administrative law enforcement work, manage the qualifications of administrative law enforcement bodies, promote administrative law enforcement system reform, develop and implement administrative law enforcement systems, organize and guide the examination of administrative law enforcement work, and ensure strict, standardized, fair, and civilized law enforcement.

6. Develop comprehensive plans for the construction of a society ruled by law. Formulate plans for legal publicity and education, organize and conduct law popularization and awareness campaigns, and organize international law-related publicity efforts. Guide law-based governance and legal development work. Promote public participation in legal construction, guide mediation work, oversee the selection and appointment of people’s jurors, and manage the selection and appointment of people’s supervisors. Promote the establishment and improvement of justice offices.

7. Manage prisons and oversee the supervision and administration of punishment execution and prisoner re-education.

8. Manage judicial and administrative drug rehabilitation centers. Guide and supervise forced quarantine and drug rehabilitation within this system. Provide guidance, support, and assistance for community-based drug treatment and rehabilitation efforts.

9. Promote the development of the public legal service system. Formulate and guide the implementation of plans for the construction of the public legal service system. Coordinate legal service resources and provide basic public legal services. Provide guidance and supervision for lawyers, legal aid, judicial expertise, notarization, arbitration, and grassroots legal services.

10. Organize and administer the national unified legal profession qualification examination in Shanghai. Manage the issuance of national unified legal profession qualification certificates. Plan and guide orientation training for legal professionals.

11. Engage in foreign cooperation on rule of law. Handle legal affairs related to Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. Facilitate foreign exchanges and cooperation within the legal system.

12. Manage firearms, ammunition, clothing, and police vehicles within the system. Oversee state-owned assets within the system’s jurisdiction, including reviewing, approving, and reporting on investment project plans involving state-owned assets of subordinate units. Guide and supervise fixed-asset investment and management within the prison system. Undertake information technology construction within the system.

13. Plan, coordinate, and guide efforts related to the construction of the legal talent team. Manage the construction of the talent team within the system and handle matters related to retired cadres. Supervise police affairs within the system. Provide assistance in managing leading groups and leading cadres of district-level bureaus of justice.

14. Fulfill any other tasks assigned by the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government.