The codes are the first of their kind in China, where criminal law has been laid down in separate, disparate laws. The penal code is divided into general dispositions and specific dispositions which encompass 192 articles in 13 sections. The five chapters of the first part (89 articles) relate to the goals and applications of the criminal code, offenses, penalties, the concrete application of penalties, and laws applicable in territories of national autonomy as well as definitions. The second part (articles 90 to 192) covers counter-revolutionary offenses, violations of public security, offenses against the socialist economic order, offenses against the individual and democratic rights of citizens, property offenses, offenses against public order, offenses against marriage and the family, and breach of duty in public office. The four parts of the code of criminal procedure (164 articles) pertain to general dispositions; elements of the system, inquiries, and public action; the jurisdictions of judgment; and the execution of judgments. Each of the major sections and parts of the codes is divided into further subdivisions. The codes are of special interest because they codify the rules of law in force and simplify the work of citizens and jurists alike without modifying the basic rules instituted at the foundation of the People's Republic of China. After the abuses of the Cultural Revolution and the 'Gang of Four,' the new government is apparently attempting to establish 'socialist legality' firmly through appropriate legislation. In this way, both the inside and the outside world will know that China has laws, however incomplete. The question remains however, how and to what end these laws will be applied. Notes are supplied.