China Youth Daily Reports on Plaintiff Success Rate in Administrative Lawsuits

According to a November 18 article in the China Youth Daily, plaintiffs achieved success in 21.37% of administrative cases filed against government departments in the first nine months of 2004. The article implies that the plaintiff success rate should be higher, noting that most citizens are very cautious about suing officials and that administrative departments use their power to resist the law and harass the courts. It also highlights the efforts of Daming county, Hebei, which reportedly had a plaintiff success rate of over 80% during the same period. Daming courts have apparently instituted expedited filing, notice, and hearing procedures to reduce the amount of time that government department have to interfere with the court before administrative cases are accepted and processed.