Citizens get new support from SPC

In order to cope with the unprecedented wave of citizens' law suits against officials and government agencies, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) has introduced two new judicial practices.

According to SPC Chief Justice Xiao Yang, between 2000 and 2006, courts nationwide handled 639,736 administrative trials (those in which the administration was either the accused or the plaintiff). There were an additional 34,581 cases in which administrative compensations were awarded to citizen victims.

The sharpest rises in citizens' law suits have concentrated on areas of urban and rural land acquisition and relocation programs, rural levies, corporate restructuring, labor relations and social security issues, and protection of natural resources and the environment, said the senior justice official.