A growing number of Chinese citizens are turning to the courts
to settle disputes with government agencies, and up to 75 per cent
are winning their claims.
Yesterday, Supreme People's Court President Xiao
Yang announced that from January to November, nearly 108,000
administrative lawsuits went before the courts. That was an
increase of about 6 per cent over the previous year. Most cases
involved public security, resource disputes, requisition of land,
the resettlement of displaced people and an increasing amount of
cases involving economic issues.
The increase in cases overall is significant because in the
past, Chinese tended to be weary of official government
institutions. And more citizens are winning their cases compared to
the early 1990s when only 40 per cent of cases were successful.
"People used to be afraid of the government or were unwilling to
sue the government," said lawyer Qiao Zhanxiang, who is best known
for bringing a case against the Ministry of Railways in 2001 for
raising railway ticket prices during the Spring Festival
period.
"Others resorted to revenge or often went to extremes to seek
justice," he said.
"But today, more and more people know that they have to turn
towards the law to defend their legitimate rights and interests,"
said Qiao. Ultimately the lawyer lost the case against the
ministry, but it resulted in a public hearing in 2002 on railway
transportation reforms.
Yesterday, Qiao launched a court case, on behalf of a group of
farmers in Jinzhou of Hebei Province, against local and provincial
governments for their role in allegedly taking over 80 hectares of
crop fields illegally from the group. According to law, only the
State Council is authorized to seize land up to 35 hectares.
Despite these ground-breaking cases, local judges say some
Chinese citizens are still reticent to turn to the law if their
rights have been infringed by the government.
"They are fearful and also cannot afford the complicated
procedures," said Jing Wei, a judge from the Supreme People's Court
of Henan Province. Government officials involved in policing
regulations urgently need to become more aware of the rights of
citizens, said Qiao.
And in some regions, the situation is more pressing.
In Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou Province, the behaviour of
government agencies is more satisfactory than in the western part
of the country. In addition, people in other areas still lack the
awareness to defend their rights.
China promulgated the Administrative Procedure law in 1991 that
stipulates citizens can sue all levels of government.
Since then, more than 800,000 cases have been brought before the
country's courts.
(China Daily December 15, 2003)