On June 28, 2020, the Jing¡¯an District People¡¯s Court of Shanghai (hereinafter referred to as the ¡°Shanghai Jing¡¯an Court¡±) held a meeting to release the White Paper on Administrative Trials (2019). Zhang Bin, member of Party Group and Vice President of the Shanghai High People¡¯s Court (SHPC), Song Zhen, Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Jing¡¯an District People¡¯s Congress, Wang Xinling, Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Pudong New Area People¡¯s Congress, Li Yaping, Deputy Head of Yangpu District, Fu Jun, Deputy Head of Jiading District, Jiang Hao, Vice President of the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People¡¯s Court, Qu Furong, Vice President of the Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People¡¯s Court, Lin Xiaonie, Vice President of the Shanghai Financial Court, and relevant personnel from Jiading District Administration for Market Regulation, Yangpu District Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, Pudong New Area Political and Legal Affairs Commission, Pudong New Area Construction and Communications Commission, etc. participated in the meeting. Sun Peijiang, Party Secretary and President of the Shanghai Jing¡¯an Court, chaired the meeting. Wang Xiang, Vice President of the Shanghai Jing¡¯an Court, briefed about the judicial review of the administrative cases in the jurisdiction in 2019. Sun Peijiang distributed the White Paper on Administrative Trials to the government under the jurisdiction of Shanghai Jing¡¯an Court.

Zhang Bin fully affirmed the administrative trial work of Shanghai Jing¡¯an Court and made three requirements for the next-stage work: First, it is necessary to fully understand the importance of the rule of law. We must fully understand the important role played by the rule of law in promoting economic and social development, and demonstrate the advantages of the system in the rule of law. The rule of law is not only a prerequisite and guarantee for economic and social development, but also a sign of governance capacity and ability. Law-based administration and fair justice are the main content of the rule of law, and administrative litigation works as a ¡°bellwether¡± and a ¡°sensor¡± in law enforcement and justice. Second, it is necessary to fully understand the importance of the responsible person of an administrative organ¡¯s appearance in court. The recent judicial interpretations issued by the Supreme Court have placed new requirements on the heads of administrative organs to appear in court. The person in charge of an administrative organ attending the court is helpful to understand its level of administrative law enforcement and raise the level of law-based administration. Third, it is necessary to fully understand the importance of resolving administrative disputes. The primary function of litigation is to resolve disputes. It is necessary to enhance the concept of serving the people and governing for the people. Through the appearances in court of the responsible persons of the administrative organs, the communication and exchange between the administrative organs and the administrative counterparts will be promoted, advancing the substantive resolution of administrative disputes. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen collaboration with the jurisdictional government and jointly resolve administrative disputes through the establishment of a non-litigation administrative dispute resolution mechanism and other systems.

According to the white paper, in 2019, the Shanghai Jing¡¯an Court accepted 1,043 administrative cases of first instance, of which 1,033 were concluded. Among the cases accepted, 578 involved the administrative organs of Pudong New Area; 188 involved the administrative organs of Yangpu District; 118 involved the administrative organs of Jiading District; and 134 involved the Shanghai municipal administrative organs. From the types of administrative acts under litigation, government information disclosure remains the main type, followed by administrative punishment, performance of legal duties, dismantling illegal buildings, etc.

In order to properly resolve administrative disputes, the Shanghai Jing¡¯an Court has been actively building a judicial and administrative interactive channel and establishing a diversified dispute resolution mechanism: 1. The responsible persons of administrative organs has been active in appearing in court. Among the administrative cases concluded by the Shanghai Jing¡¯an Court in 2019, the responsible persons of administrative organs appeared in 376 cases, accounting for 50.88% of the total number of court cases. 2. The substantive resolution of administrative disputes has achieved initial results. In order to better achieve the substantive resolution of administrative disputes, the Shanghai Jing¡¯an Court took a multi-pronged approach and established a multi-disciplinary mediation center for administrative disputes to give full play to the three-in-one model of lawyer mediation, expert mediation and commissioner mediation. Relying on multi-disciplinary mediation center for administrative disputes and the mediation mechanism in litigation, in the administrative cases concluded by the court in 2019, 325 administrative disputes were resolved through mediation, accounting for 31.46%. 3. Diversified communication has formed the joint force of the system. The Shanghai Jing¡¯an Court actively communicated with the executive heads of administrative organs at all levels and the legal department to form a regular mechanism to assist administrative organs to enhance their ability to respond to complaints and improve the law enforcement process. In 2019, the Shanghai Jing¡¯an Court issued a total of 10 judicial recommendations to various administrative organs, and issued a special white paper on the trials of public security cases. In September 2019, the court and the East China University of Political Science and Law jointly organized a seminar on rule of administrative law regarding the reforms ¡°to delegate power, streamline administration and optimize government services,¡± inviting responsible people, experts and scholars of the administrative organs to conduct in-depth discussions on the transformation of administrative functions and judicial responses in the reform of commercial registration, deepening the theoretical recognition and practical understanding of administrative activities in the commercial field in the context of reform .

The white paper sorted out and analyzed the problems identified in administrative law enforcement. In order to further promote administration according to law and enhance the construction of a law-based government, the Shanghai Jing¡¯an Court made relevant suggestions: First, to strengthen the procedure awareness and pay attention to sufficient evidence. It is necessary to enforce law in accordance with the procedures clearly set by laws and regulations, correctly place the burden of proof, and deepen the study of laws and regulations such as administrative penalties and administrative coercion. For cases involving government information disclosure, we must pay attention to sufficient evidence and strengthen the study and understanding of the new content and regulations in the new ¡°Regulations on Government Information Disclosure.¡± Second, to improve the ability to respond to complaints and actively respond to the new situation of law-based administration. Through various methods such as thematic study and business training, the respondents of administrative organs should be familiar with and accurately know the time limit and content of proof-providing for administrative organs clearly stipulated in the Administrative Procedure Law and the related judicial interpretations. Strict standards should be adopted for the selection of consultants and lawyers of relevant organs to ensure that they have strong ability to respond to complaints and professional capabilities. Third, to actively implement the system of the responsible person of an administrative organ to appear in court. The responsible person must not only appear in court, but also speak out, so that the system can be truly effective. Fourth, to deepen the interaction between administrative law enforcement and administrative litigation. It is recommended that administrative organs continue to play the role of existing communication platforms to strengthen the synergy between administrative law enforcement and administrative litigation. Strengthening the unified and centralized litigation contact mechanism in each district will not only help the court improve the level of judicial services and guarantee, but also facilitate the proper settlement of administrative disputes.