Law of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Proceedings

Law of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Proceedings

Order of the President No. 16

April 4, 1989

Passed on April 4, 1989 by the 2nd Session of the 7th National People's Congress

Law of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Proceedings have been promulgated on April 4, 1989 by the 2nd Session of the 7th National People's Congress and will come into effect as of October 1, 1990.

President: Yang Shangkun

Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Scope of Cases Which May Be Accepted
Chapter III Jurisdiction
Chapter IV Parties
Chapter V Evidence
Chapter VI Institutions and Acceptance of Proceedings
Chapter VII Trial and Adjudication
Chapter VIII Enforcement
Chapter IX Tortious Liability
Chapter X Foreign-related Administrative Proceedings
Chapter XI Supplementary Provisions

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 This Law is enacted on the basis of the Constitution in order to ensure the correct and timely hearing of administrative cases by people's courts, to protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations and to safeguard and supervise the exercise of administrative authority according to the law by administrative organs.

Article 2 Where citizens, legal persons or other organizations which consider that specific administrative acts of administrative organs or their personnel have infringed their legitimate rights and interests, they shall have the right to institute proceedings in people's courts according to this Law.

Article 3 People's courts shall exercise their power to hear and adjudicate administrative cases independently and according to the law and shall be free from interference by administrative organs, social organizations and individuals.
People's courts shall establish administrative tribunals to hear administrative cases.

Article 4 People's courts shall hear administrative cases based on the facts of such cases and in accordance with the law.

Article 5 In hearing administrative cases, people's courts shall examine the lawfulness of administrative acts.

Article 6 In hearing administrative cases, people's courts shall implement a collegiate system, a challenge system, a system of public hearings and a system of the court of second instance being the court of last instance according to the law.

Article 7 Parties to administrative proceedings shall be equal in legal status.

Article 8 Citizens of all ethnic groups shall have the right to institute administrative proceedings in the languages and scripts of their own ethnic groups.
People's courts in regions which are inhabited by ethnic minorities or which are inhabited by more than one ethnic groups shall hear and adjudicate cases and issue legal documents in the languages and scripts in common use by the local ethnic groups.
People's courts shall provide translations for those litigants who do not have a good command of the languages and scripts in common use by local ethnic groups.

Article 9 Parties shall have the right to argue their cases during administrative proceedings.

Article 10 People's procuratorates shall have the right to exercise legal supervision over administrative proceedings.

Chapter II Scope of Cases Which May Be Accepted

Article 11 People's courts shall accept proceedings instituted by citizens, legal persons or other organizations that are dissatisfied with the following specific administrative acts (; namely, those who):
1. are dissatisfied with an administrative sanction such as detention, imposition of a fine, revocation of a permit or license, an order to suspend production or business activities or the confiscation of property;
2. are dissatisfied with an administrative coercive measure such as restriction of personal freedom or sealing up, seizing or freezing property;
3. consider that an administrative organ has infringed their statutory autonomy in management prescribed by the law;
4. consider that they satisfy the legal requirements for applying to an administrative organ for a permit or license but that their applications have been rejected or ignored by the administrative organ;
5. have requested an administrative organ to exercise its statutory duty to protect their personal rights and/or property rights but the administrative organ has refused to exercise such duty or ignored (the requests);
6. consider that an administrative organ has not allocated pensions to a disabled person or to the family of a deceased person according to the law;
7. consider a demand by an administrative organ to perform a certain obligation to be in violation of the law; or
8. consider that an administrative organ has infringed upon the personal and/or property rights of others.
In addition to the provisions in the preceding paragraph, people's courts may accept other administrative cases for which proceedings may be instituted under laws and regulations.)>
　
Article 12 People's courts shall not accept the proceedings insittuted by citizens, legal persons or other organizations for the following matters:
1. State actions involving national defense or diplomacy;
2. administrative laws and regulations, or universally binding decisions or orders formulated and promulgated by administrative organs;
3. decisions of administrative organs to reward, punish, appoint or dismiss personnel of administrative organs; or
4. specific administrative acts for which the law provides that final adjudication is to be conducted by administrative organs.)>

Chapter III Jurisdiction
　
Article 13 People's courts at the grass-roots level shall have jurisdiction over the administrative cases of first instance.
　
Article 14 Intermediate people's courts shall have jurisdiction over the following administrative cases of first instance:
1. cases concerning the confirmation of invention patents and cases handled by Customs;
2. proceedings instituted against specific administrative acts of any department under the State Council or the People's Government of a province, Autonomous Region or Centrally Governed Municipality; and
3. major and complicated cases which arise in their areas of jurisdiction.)>
　
Article 19 Jurisdiction over administrative litigation involving real property shall be exercised by the people's court at the place where the real property is located.
　
Article 20 Where two or more people's courts have jurisdiction over a case, the plaintiff may institute proceedings in either or any one of such people's courts.
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