China to revise law to make it easier to sue government

A draft amendment to the Administrative Procedure Law, submitted to China's top legislature for a first reading on Monday, should make it easier for citizens to take the government to court.

The Administrative Procedure Law, which went into effect in October 1990, is a major guarantee of citizens' rights to pursue the government through the courts, and this first revision to the law should alleviate "petition pressure".

While applauding the law has once played an important role in solving disputes, Xin Chunying, deputy director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People' s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee said citizens started to complain of "three difficulties" in making a case against governments: the filing of cases; the hearings of such cases; and enforcement of verdicts which favor citizens.

When citizens, legal persons or other organizations have disputes with governments or governmental staff, governments are unwilling to be defendants and courts are reluctant to accept and hear such cases, leading many citizens to try to solve their disputes through "letter and visit" (petitions), Xin said.

In many parts of the country, citizens have more confidence in petitions than in laws, she said as she explained the draft amendment to Monday's assembly of the bimonthly session of the NPC Standing Committee, which is being held from Dec. 23 to 28.

To smooth the litigation process, the draft amendment stresses the courts' duty to ensure citizens can take authorities to court and underlines the need for courts to accept cases involving governments as defendants. Governments should neither intervene nor obstruct courts from filing and hearing such cases. Governmental defendants should respond to the suits according to law.

The amendment means more rights infringement cases should be accepted by the courts. People's courts will now accept suits in which administrators have infringed citizen's legal ownership or right to use over natural resources such as forests, pasture, mineral reserves, mountains and water.

Courts shall also be required to accept suits of infringement of rural land contract and management rights, illegal fundraising, unlawful collection or requisition of property, or unfairly apportioned fees.

Citizens may bring cases against governments which fail to provide appropriate subsistence allowances or social insurance benefits.