Administrative Law and the Chinese Legal System: Some Issues on Judicial Review of Administration Activity

Abstract

This chapter explains how, in the current phase of development in the Chinese legal system, administrative law has emerged. China is undergoing a process of subjecting power to the rules which, for administrative law, concern the relationship between state and citizen, and more generally that between state and society. The current evolution is particularly rapid and favoured by changes to the economic structure in recent years, and this explains the fact that administrative law in China is on the eve of great expansion. The chapter examines some theoretical issues relating to judicial review of the exercise of administrative activity, an area which has seen the manifestation of the process of legalization of administrative power, as has happened in Western legal systems. Over the last few years, the development and interpretation of the instruments available has progressed while the availability of instruments has tended to broaden, even if currently legal protection is still in its early stages. However, all this will naturally require a long period of settling, as in Western countries; hence the evident need for gradual change as the fruit of a realistic approach.