Courts get cover over demolition issue

Courts in the country will no longer accept applications from local administrative organs to carry out forced demolitions if these organs have the right to carry them out, according to a legal interpretation issued by the Supreme People's Court (SPC) Tuesday.

Legal experts reached by the Global Times said the interpretation, effective Wednesday, will help maintain the court's independence and neutrality in dealing with lawsuits involving forced demolition.

Gan Chaoying, a professor of law from Peking University, told the Global Times that previously, if the courts themselves are part of the decision-making process for demolitions, their independence and neutrality might be compromised when hearing lawsuits caused by forced demolitions.

"In legal practice, some local administrative organs with compulsory law enforcement rights asked the court's approval for forced demolition, so that they could be favored by the court should a legal dispute with the owners of illegal buildings occur," he said.

Existing laws stipulate that administrative organs can file for application to courts to carry out demolitions within three months if owners of illegal buildings do not appeal, or apply for a review of the demolition order.

The interpretation will help standardize forced demolition decisions made by those organs, and guarantee the neutrality of judicial supervision.

Since the two demolition-related laws took effect, local courts have had different opinions on who should be in charge of forced demolitions and what laws they should follow, according to the SPC, adding some grass-roots courts have seen a backlog of thousands of forced demolition applications filed by administrative organs.

Some legal professionals think administrative organs should directly carry out forced demolitions or file for an application to a court if the owners of illegal houses fail to comply with orders.

If administrative organs do not have the right to compulsory execution, the court should still accept their applications for forced demolition, the interpretation said.