Administrative law in the People's Republic of China, 1990 - 1998 : a process of justice

Abstract

This dissertation examines the system for redress of administrative grievances in China that was established by the Administrative Litigation Law in April1989. The law added a new dimension to state-society relations that enabled ordinary people to use the legal system to challenge administrative decisions of administrative organs. The process of making an administrative appeal is examined, beginning with the imposition of an administrative penalty by an administrative organ, progressing through administrative review which is a departmental procedure, and ending with administrative litigation by the courts and possibly an appeal for compensation. The subject matter is explored with reference to three types of administrative organs: public security, land administration, and industry and commerce organs. The roles of the players such as the applicants, the administrative organs, the courts and lawyers are canvassed. And the characteristics of administrative appeals in the context of political campaigns are assessed. In terms of academic disciplines, this study straddles the fields of politics and its subfield of public administration/public policy, and law. The primary thesis explored is political in nature. The dissertation argues that the system of administrative law as it operated throughout the 1990s is a genuine attempt to offer limited redress to plaintiffs while further developing the justice and legality of the administrative process. The system is not an empty claim to legitimacy, or a shabby attempt by the state to strengthen its waning control over society. The system provides measurable redress for some plaintiffs, although these cases are usually selected carefully from the range of appeals and tend to support the state's political or economic goals. In the final summation, however, the system tends to reinforce the power of administrative organs.