Study On The Scope Of Administrative Public Interest Litigation

In 2007,The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has amended the Administrative Procedure Law,which made the procuratorial organ initiating administrative public interest litigation a formal legal institution.Nevertheless,the debates have not ended.In the scope of accepting cases,people comment on the area and the understanding of the “public interest”.The Administrative Procedure Law describes the field of cases “ecosystem and resource protection,food and drug safety,protection of state-owned property,and transfer of rights of use of state-owned land”.There are usually two kinds of understandings of the word “etc”,each of which has its drawbacks.According to the explanation of the former,the scope is too cramped to meet the practical demands.The latter may cause risks such as improper intervention in administrative power,waste of judicial resources,and loss of legal certainty.By examining the use of the word "etc." and the usage habits in the law,we can find that the word “etc” has a third interpretation space,that is,it is not limited to enumeration but the field of expansion should be similar to the enumerated field.The concept of public interest is uncertain,mainly manifested in two aspects: the content and the object.Public interest in administrative public interest litigation can be divided into national interests and social public interests according to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Law.National interests include state property?national security?national sovereignty?territorial integrity and so on.The national interests protected in administrative public interest litigation should be understood as state property.There are two categories of social public interests,one is the collection of the personal interests of the majority,and the other is the common interest of the majority.From the perspective of interest content,the social public interest in administrative public interest litigation is not limited to a specific kind,the personal and property interests,the health and safety of the social and economic order,the maintenance of public morals,etc.can be included.In addition to the interpretation word "etc." and the understanding of "public interest",there are other issues in the scope of administrative public interest litigation: the presence of people with direct interest?the understanding of “Performance of duties”?abstract administrative act and the presence of actual damage.