Interview with the Director of the Seventh Procuratorate of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate by The Beijing News： Breaking the ＂Idle Procedure＂ has helped to settle the case.

Interview with Zhang Xiangjun, Director of the Seventh Procuratorate of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate;

Cracking the "program idling" and promoting the settlement of the case

Zhang Xiangjun, Director of the Seventh Procuratorate of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate

In view of the outstanding problems of some administrative cases, such as "the case can’t be closed and the procedure is idling", the procuratorial organs have launched a special campaign to "promote the substantive resolution of administrative disputes", and so far more than 15 thousand administrative disputes have been substantially resolved.

Zhang Xiangjun, director of the Seventh Procuratorate of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, said that these cases are "hard bones", but solving administrative disputes is related to social harmony and stability and the vital interests of the people. This year, the procuratorial organs will continue to focus on escorting people’s livelihood and people’s interests. Grasp the substantive resolution of administrative disputes.

On the effectiveness of work

Administrative disputes for more than 20 years

Resolve more than 150 pieces

Beijing News: Why do some administrative disputes need to be substantially resolved? What is the process of resolving administrative disputes substantively?

Zhang Xiangjun:In performing the duties of administrative procuratorial supervision, we found that the problem of "unfinished cases and idle procedures" in some administrative cases was prominent, and they were repeatedly entangled in whether the court should accept and file a case. After the first trial, second trial and retrial, some of them were sent back for retrial, and the legitimate demands of the parties were not paid attention to and satisfied, which became an urgent problem for the people.

Resolving administrative disputes is related to the vital interests of the people and social harmony and stability. The substantive resolution of administrative disputes by procuratorial organs means that people’s procuratorates handle administrative procuratorial supervision cases, implement the legislative purpose of "resolving administrative disputes" in the Administrative Procedure Law, practice the people-centered judicial concept, strengthen investigation and verification, clarify the basic facts arising from administrative disputes and the applicant’s substantive demands, and comprehensively use protest, procuratorial suggestions, public hearings, judicial assistance, interpretation and reasoning to resolve administrative disputes legally, fairly and effectively.

Beijing News: What achievements have been made in substantively resolving administrative disputes?

Zhang Xiangjun:In October 2019, the national procuratorial organs deployed a special activity of "strengthening administrative procuratorial supervision and promoting substantive resolution of administrative disputes" for one year and two months, and achieved remarkable results. In 2021, in the study and education of party history, the procuratorial organs took the normalization of substantive resolution of administrative disputes as an important part of the practical activities of "I do practical things for the masses", and focused on solving the worries, worries and worries of a group of people with the goal of settling the case.

So far, procuratorial organs across the country have substantially resolved more than 15,000 administrative disputes, many of which are old cases, including more than 150 administrative disputes over 20 years and more than 630 administrative disputes over 10 years, which have enhanced the people’s sense of acquisition, happiness and security.

Talking about the characteristics of work

Substantially resolve administrative disputes

The test for prosecutors is enormous.

Beijing News: Compared with hundreds of thousands and millions of cases handled by other procuratorial services every year, the number of cases handled in two years is not large. What are the characteristics of these cases that substantially resolve administrative disputes?

Zhang Xiangjun:These cases are "hard bones". Most cases go through many legal links, and the disputes take a long time to form and are difficult to handle. There are also some administrative disputes, which are difficult to be solved in administrative litigation procedures, which is often referred to as "procedural idling" cases. Although administrative litigation plays an important role in solving administrative disputes in theory and system design, it cannot solve all administrative disputes. In some administrative litigation, there will be a phenomenon that the object of the court’s examination is to examine the legality of administrative actions and the substantive demands of the parties. For example, in some administrative disputes caused by house demolition and land expropriation, the parties think that the compensation amount is too low or the resettlement conditions are too poor, and the main purpose of the litigation is to win more compensation or better resettlement conditions. In this case, the administrative litigation can only be divided in law, but not stopped in fact.

Beijing News: What do these characteristics mean to procuratorial organs?

Zhang Xiangjun:Resolving administrative disputes substantively puts forward higher requirements for prosecutors’ working ability. The supervisory power of procuratorial organs belongs to "procedural", and it cannot directly dispose of the rights and obligations in the case, nor can it directly change the administrative behavior of administrative organs. Procuratorial organs, while supervising the impartial administration of justice by people’s courts and the administration by administrative organs according to law through rigid means such as protest, mainly adopt flexible ways such as procuratorial suggestions, public hearings, reconciliation, judicial assistance and interpretation of laws and reasoning. Because many administrative disputes take a long time, and procuratorial supervision is the last link for the parties to seek relief within the track of the rule of law, we should not only take care of the emotions of the parties, but also face the situation that the relevant handlers and main responsible persons of the administrative organs may change greatly, and "the new officials don’t understand the old debts". How to use political wisdom, legal wisdom and supervision wisdom to solve these problems, win the support of the administrative organs and the trust of the parties, and finally promote the substantive solution of the problem?

On the concept of handling cases

Penetrating supervision

Achieve win-win, win-win and win-win

Beijing News: Why should procuratorial organs participate in the substantive resolution of administrative disputes?

Zhang Xiangjun:Compared with the people’s courts, procuratorial organs have stronger initiative to resolve disputes. Compared with administrative organs, procuratorial organs have more advantages in investigation and verification. In addition, the procuratorial organ, as the legal supervision organ of the country, not only has the advantage of professional review, but also is in an objective and neutral position in resolving disputes, and is more likely to be recognized and trusted by all parties concerned.

Beijing News: What changes in the concept of handling cases are reflected in the substantive resolution of administrative disputes?

Zhang Xiangjun:Resolving administrative disputes substantively embodies a series of new handling concepts of procuratorial organs after judicial reform.

For example, the concept of "penetrating supervision". In the past, the administrative litigation supervision of procuratorial organs focused on supervising the trial activities of the people’s courts. Now, administrative procuratorial work is "one-handed", which not only supervises the administrative trial and execution activities of the people’s courts, but also promotes the administrative organs to perform their duties according to law and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons or other organizations. Now, more emphasis is placed on the procuratorial organs to perform their duties actively according to law, not only to promote the administrative organs to correct relevant illegal acts through individual cases, but also to put forward procuratorial suggestions to the administrative organs from similar cases and systems, and to play a more active role in promoting the construction of a government ruled by law.

Another example is the concept of "win-win, win-win and win-win". Traditionally, "supervision" means that the supervised object is "wrong", so it is easy to produce resistance. In the substantive settlement of administrative disputes, the relationship between procuratorial organs and supervised objects is more manifested as a kind of "supervision+cooperation". The administrative disputes resolved by the procuratorial link are not absolutely "black and white" or "you are right and wrong" for either party. The process of resolving disputes is not only to solve the administrative disputes strongly reflected by the people, but also to solve the problems that the administrative organs have been trying to solve for a long time. Through administrative procuratorial supervision, it is conducive to bridging the differences between the two sides, eliminating social hostility, planting the political foundation of the party’s governance, and achieving win-win and win-win results.

Talk about future plans

Increase the resolution of cases in the field of people’s livelihood and clean up accumulated cases.

The Beijing News: The substantive resolution of administrative disputes has been carried out for more than two years. How can procuratorial organs resolve administrative disputes better and faster?

Zhang Xiangjun:In the past two years, the procuratorial organs have gradually standardized and promoted the standardization, rule of law and systematization of this work in the process of normalizing the substantive resolution of administrative disputes, and formed a set of effective handling mechanisms and practices, which have pointed out the direction for the procuratorial organs throughout the country to carry out this work, clarified the boundaries and standardized the procedures. While carrying out substantive resolution of administrative disputes in a normal way, we will promote the standardization of substantive resolution of administrative disputes. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen cooperation and improve the system and mechanism.

Beijing News: What measures will the procuratorial organs take to better and substantially resolve administrative disputes?

Zhang Xiangjun:This year, in the deployment of the special activities of "comprehensively deepening administrative procuratorial supervision and escorting people’s livelihood and interests according to law", procuratorial organs should take the substantive resolution of administrative disputes as the traction, increase the resolution of cases in the field of people’s livelihood and clean up the accumulated cases, effectively solve the problems of people’s urgent difficulties and worries, and create a social environment for the party’s twentieth victory.

The quality and efficiency of substantive resolution of administrative disputes should also be continuously improved. Through education and training, business competition, case evaluation, case return visit, etc., we urge all localities to implement the system of "three investigations in one case", public hearing, judicial assistance, leadership package, integrated case handling, etc., to ensure quality and efficiency. At the same time, cooperate with relevant departments to strengthen legislative research and promote the improvement of procuratorial organs’ legislation on substantive resolution of administrative disputes.

In the aspect of litigation source management, we should actively perform our duties according to law, serve the overall situation and serve the people, actively integrate into the comprehensive mechanism of multiple prevention, mediation and resolution of social contradictions and disputes, tackle the root causes of administrative disputes, promote administrative organs to strictly enforce the law and administer according to law, and promote the reduction of administrative disputes from the source.

In the future, the procuratorial organs will respond to the new needs and expectations of the people, handle the "small cases" around the people with more care and affection, continue to deepen the substantive resolution of administrative disputes, solve the problems of the people in a normal way, and let the people really feel that fairness and justice are around.