The National People's Coalition's approval of the new amendment to Administrative Procedure Law empowers private citizens to sue the government. (Photo : Reuters)
The National People's Congress (NPC) approved the amended Administrative Procedure Law, which now empowers private citizens and organizations to sue the government. Although the revised law is yet to take effect on May 1, Chinese courts have already put the amendment into their legal practice.
February this year marks a new legal precedent in China's laws as a Guangzhou court released a verdict favoring a private enterprise who sued a government agency for administrative abuses and monopoly. The verdict is by far the first ever to happen in China.
China's Supreme People's Court held the first-ever live training via video streaming last March on a nationwide level to serve as training for judges on the newly amended policies. Courts across China have streamed the video for the benefit of their constituents. Most judges and lawyers attended the training.
Sheng Jiemin, director of economic law research office at Peking University, told the press: "The Guangzhou court's verdict is a milestone. This case is a small case but has huge significance in China."
Sheng added: "A private enterprise brought suit against a government agency for administrative abuses and monopoly--two of the key obstacles to the smooth functioning of a market economy--and won the case. Government intervention into normal market activities might disturb the market's own adjustment."
However, not everyone is confident with the amendment. Wu Xiaoling, vice-chairwoman of the Financial and Economic Committee of the NPC, said in an NPC deliberation that "the Administrative Procedure Law is meant to allow citizens and private parties to sue the government. But for what should suits be allowed, and for what should they not be allowed? There should be clear definitions."
