New powers for the People’s Procuratorates: Civil and administrative public interest litigation

Abstract

After a two-year pilot phase, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress established a legal basis for the people’s procuratorates’ public interest litigation by enacting Art. 55 para. 2 Civil Litigation Law and Art. 25 para. 4 Administrative Litigation Law on 27 June 2017. The actual core of this reform project is the supervisory mechanism of administrative public interest litigation. At present, the mechanism is restricted to selected fields. Whether public interest litigation will be gradually extended to general supervision of the local administration or whether it will turn into a mere adhesion proceeding depends on how the Supreme People’s Procuratorate handles the challenges of implementing the reform project.