Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Revising the Administrative Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China
Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Revising the Administrative Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China
Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Revising the Administrative Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China
Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No.15
November 1, 2014
The Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Revising the Administrative Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision"), adopted at the 11th Session of the 12th Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on November 1, 2014, is hereby issued and shall come into force as of May 1, 2015.
Xi Jinping President of the People's Republic of China
Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Revising the Administrative Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China
(Adopted at the 11th Session of the 12th Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on November 1, 2014)
The 11th Session of the 12th Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has decided to revise the Administrative Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China as follows:
I. Revise Article 1 to read: "The Administrative Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Law") is enacted on the basis of the Constitution in order to ensure the impartial and timely hearing of administrative cases and settlement of administrative disputes by people's courts, to protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations and to supervise the exercise of functions in accordance with the law by administrative organs."
II. Add one paragraph to Article 2 as Paragraph 2 which reads: "For the purpose of the preceding paragraph, administrative acts include administrative acts made by the organizations empowered by laws, regulations, and rules."
III. Add one article as Article 3 which reads: "A people's court shall guarantee the rights of citizens, legal persons and other organizations to file a lawsuit and shall accept an administrative case that shall be accepted in accordance with the law.
"Administrative organs and their personnel shall not intervene or hamper the acceptance of administrative cases by a people's court.
"The responsible person of the administrative organ being sued shall appear in court. If he fails to appear in court, he shall appoint the corresponding personnel of the administration organ to appear in court."
IV. Renumber Article 11 as Article 12, and revise Paragraph 1 thereof to read: "A people's court shall accept the following types of proceedings instituted by citizens, legal persons or other organizations that:
"1. are dissatisfied with an administrative penalty such as administrative detention, suspension or revocation of a permit or license, an order to suspend production or business activities, confiscation of illegal gains or property, imposition of a fine and warning;
"2. are dissatisfied with an administrative coercive measure or administrative execution such as restriction of personal freedom or sealing up, seizing or freezing property;
"3. in case of an application for administrative licensing, are dissatisfied with the administrative organs' refusal to accept or failure to respond to the application within a legal time limit, or with other decisions made by the administrative organs on administrative licensing;
"4. are dissatisfied with the decisions made by the administrative organs on the ownerships or use rights of land, mineral resources, water, forests, mountain ridges, prairies, wastelands, intertidal zones, sea areas and other natural resources;
"5. are dissatisfied with the decisions on expropriation, requisition and compensation therefor;
"6. in case of an application for performance of the statutory duties to protect the personal right and property right as well as other legitimate rights and interests by the administrative organs, are dissatisfied with the administrative organs' refusal to perform or failure to respond to the application;
"7. consider that the administrative organs have infringed their autonomy in management or rural land contractual management right and rural land management right;
"8. consider that the administrative organs abuse administrative powers to eliminate or limit competition;
"9. consider that the administrative organs raise funds, amortize expenses or require them to perform other obligations in an illegal way;
"10. consider that the administrative organs fail to pay pensions, the subsistence allowances or social insurance benefits in accordance with the law;
"11. consider that the administrative organs fail to perform in accordance with the law or the agreement, or illegally change or terminate government franchise agreements, agreements on land and house expropriation and compensation and other agreements; or
"12. consider that the administrative organs have infringed other legitimate rights and interests such as personal rights and property rights."
V. Renumber Article 14 as Article 15 and revise it to read: "Intermediate people's courts shall have jurisdiction over the following administrative cases of first instance:
"1. proceedings instituted against the administrative acts of any department under the State Council or the people's government at county level or above;
"2. cases handled by the customs;
"3. major and complicated cases which arise in their area of jurisdiction; and
"4. other cases under the jurisdiction of the intermediate people's court as specified by law."
VI. Renumber Article 17 as Article 18 and revise it to read: "Jurisdiction over administrative cases shall be exercised by the people's court at the place where the administrative organ which originally performed the administrative act (from which the case arose) is located. For cases which have been reconsidered, jurisdiction over such cases may be exercised by the people's court at the place where such reconsideration organ is located.
"Upon the approval of the Supreme People's Court, a higher people's court may, according to the actual situation of the trial, determine several people's courts to have cross-regional jurisdiction over administrative cases."
VII. Renumber Article 20 as Article 21 and revise it to read: "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. Where the plaintiff institutes proceedings in two or more people's courts with jurisdiction, the people's court that first places the case on its trial docket shall have jurisdiction."
VIII. Renumber Article 21 as Article 22 and revise it to read: "Where a people's court discovers that a case which it has accepted does not fall within its jurisdiction, such people's court shall transfer the case to a people's court which has jurisdiction over the case. The people's court to which a case has been transferred shall accept the case. In the case that the people's court to which a case has been transferred considers the case transferred is not under its jurisdiction in accordance with the relevant provisions, it shall apply to a higher-level people's court for designation of jurisdiction and shall not retransfer such case on its own initiative."
IX. Renumber Article 23 as Article 24 and revise it to read: "Higher-level people's courts shall have the power to hear administrative cases of first instance which are within the jurisdiction of lower-level people's courts.
"Where a lower-level people's court considers that an administrative case of first instance within its jurisdiction shall be tried by or subject to a jurisdiction designated by a higher-level people's court, the lower-level people's court may report the case to a higher-level people's court for decision."
X. Renumber Article 24 as Article 25 and revise Paragraph 1 thereof to read: "The concerned person to an administrative act and other citizens, legal persons or other organizations that have an interest in the administrative act are entitled to institute proceedings."
XI. Renumber Article 25 as Article 26, and revise Paragraph 2 thereof to read: "For cases which have been reconsidered, where the reconsideration organ decides to uphold the original decision, the co-defendants shall be the administrative organ which performed the original administrative action and the reconsideration organ. Where the reconsideration organ orders the amendment of the original administrative act, the defendant shall be such reconsideration organ."
Add one paragraph thereto as Paragraph 3 which reads: "Where a reconsideration organ fails to make a reconsideration decision within the statutory period, and citizens, legal persons or other organizations sue the original administrative action, the defendant is the administrative organ which performed the original administrative act; where the reconsideration organ is accused of dereliction of duty, the defendant shall be such reconsideration organ."
Paragraph 4 becomes Paragraph 5, which is revised to reads: "Where the administrative act is performed by an organization entrusted by an administrative organ, such organ shall be the defendant."
Paragraph 5 becomes Paragraph 6, which is revised to read: "Where an administrative organ is dissolved or its functions and powers are changed, the administrative organ which continues to exercise the original organ's functions and powers shall be the defendant."
XII. Renumber Article 26 as Article 27 and revise it to read: "Administrative cases arising from the same or similar administrative act shall be deemed to be cases of joint litigation where one or both parties (to such cases) consist of two or more persons, the people's court considers that the cases can be jointly heard and the parties concerned agree."
XIII.
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