Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T00:38:56.165Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Legal Doctrine and Judicial Review of Eminent Domain in China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2021

Wenzheng Mao  and
Shitong Qiao
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Which of the three legal doctrines of public use, just compensation, and due process is the most effective in constraining abuses of eminent domain power? This article addresses this question for the first time and presents the first-ever systematic investigation of the judicial review of eminent domain in China. Our empirical study reveals that Chinese courts focus on eminent domain procedures while rarely supporting claims based on public interest or just compensation. Procedural rules are determinate and therefore easier to enforce than substantial standards of public interest and just compensation. Chinese courts also choose to focus on eminent domain procedures to confine their own judicial review power for the purpose of self-preservation in an authoritarian state that empowers the courts to monitor and control local governments but does not want them to become too powerful. The study calls for a “due process revolution” in eminent domain law and introduces the “judicial politics of legal doctrine” approach to the study of Chinese law, an approach that takes both political institutions and legal doctrines seriously.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Social Inquiry , Volume 46 , Issue 3 , August 2021 , pp. 826 - 859
Copyright
© 2021 American Bar Foundation

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

The authors are grateful for comments and suggestions from four anonymous reviewers and the editor-in-chief of Law & Social Inquiry, Matthew Adler, Omri Ben-Shahar, Yun-chien Chang, Ruoying Chen, Jinhua Cheng, Adam Chilton, Guobin Cui, Haibo He, Rick Hills, William Hubbard, Hongzhen Jiang, Zhuang Liu, Charles Loeffler, Richard McAdams, Susan Rose-Ackerman, Weixing Shen, Kui Shen, Frank Upham, Xixin Wang, Ryan Whalen, Crystal Yang, Taisu Zhang, and participants of the 12th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies, the 2017 Conference on Empirical Legal Studies in Asia, the 2018 Annual Conference of American Law and Economics Association, and the 2018 Chicago-Tsinghua Junior Faculty Forum. Shitong Qiao acknowledges financial support from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (project number: 17612618). All errors are our own.

References

REFERENCES

Alexander, Gregory S. “Eminent Domain and Secondary Rent-Seeking.” NYU Journal of Law & Liberty 1, no. 3 (2005): 958.Google Scholar
Angrist, Joshua D, and Pischke, Jörn-Steffen. Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist’s Companion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, Yun Chien. “An Empirical Study of Court-adjudicated Takings Compensation in New York City: 1990–2003.” Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 8, no. 2 (2011): 384–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, Jie. (程洁). “土地征收征用中 的程序失范与重构” [“The Injustice and Reconstruction of Procedures in the Eminent Domain and Land Acquisition”]. ⟨⟨法学研究⟩⟩ Chinese Legal Science 3, no. 1 (2006): 65–97.Google Scholar
Claeys, Eric R. “That 70’s Show: Eminent Domain Reform and the Administrative Law Revolution.” Santa Clara L. Rev. 46, no. 4 (2006): 867–88.Google Scholar
Clarke, Donald C. “Economic Development and the Rights Hypothesis: The China Problem.” The American Journal of Comparative Law 51, no. 1 (2003): 89–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooter, Robert. The Strategic Constitution. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002.Google Scholar
Dagan, Hanoch. “Property Theory, Essential Resources, and the Global Land Rush.” In Governing Access to Essential Resources. Edited by Pistor, Katharina and De Schutter, Olivier, 81–105. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016.Google Scholar
Fan, Gang, et al. NERI Index of Marketization of China’s Provinces 2016 Report. Beijing: Economic Science Press, 2016.Google Scholar
Fang, Shaokun. “论征收中公共利益界定的程序机制” [“On the Procedural Mechanisms Regarding Definition of Public Interests”]. 法学家 The Jurist 6 (2010): 46–52.Google Scholar
Farber, Daniel A. “Economic Analysis and Just Compensation.” International Review of Law and Economics 12, no. 2 (1992): 125–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geng, Baojian (耿宝建), and Qin, Yin (殷 勤). “集体土地征收与补偿过程中可诉行政行为的 判定与审查 ——兼谈⟨⟨土地管理法⟩⟩修改建议法律适用” [“On the Determination and Examination of Actionable Administrative Acts in the Expropriation and Indemnification of Collective Lands: Also on Suggestions about the Amendment of ‘the Law of Land Administration.’”] 法律适用Journal of Law Application 1 (2019):76–91.Google Scholar
Ginsburg, Tom. “Administrative Law and Judicial Control of Agents in Authoritarian Regimes.” In Rule by Law: The Politics of Courts in Authoritarian Regimes. Edited by Ginsburg, Tom and Moustafa, Tamir, 58–72. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
He, Haibo. “The Dawn of the Due Process Principle in China.” Columbia Journal of Asian Law 22, no. 1 (2008): 57–117.Google Scholar
He, Haibo. “司法判决中的正当程序原则” [“Some Indications of Due Process Principle in Judicial Judgements of China”]. ⟨⟨法学研究⟩⟩ Chinese Legal Science 1 (2009): 124–46.Google Scholar
He, Haibo. “从全国数据看新⟨⟨ 行政诉讼法⟩⟩实施成效” [“The Implementation Effect of the New Administrative Litigation Law”]. ⟨⟨中国法律评论⟩⟩ China Law Review 3 (2016): 145–49.Google Scholar
He, Xin. “Administrative Law as a Mechanism for Political Control in Contemporary China.” In Building Constitutionalism in China. Edited by Balme, Stephanie and Dowdle, Michael, 143–61. New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.Google Scholar
He, Xin. “Maintaining Stability by Law: Protest-Supported Housing Demolition Litigation and Social Change in China.” Law & Social Inquiry 39, no. 4 (2014): 849–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
He, Xin, and Su, Yang. “Do the ‘Haves’ Come Out Ahead in Shanghai Courts?” Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 10, no. 1 (2013): 120–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heller, Michael, and Hills, Roderick. “Land Assembly Districts.” Harvard Law Review 121 (2008): 1465–527.Google Scholar
Hudson, D. Zachary. “Eminent Domain Due Process.” The Yale Law Journal 119 (2010): 1280–327.Google Scholar
Jacobi, Tonja, and Tiller, Emerson H.. “Legal Doctrine and Political Control.” The Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization 23, no. 2 (2007): 326–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiang, Bixin (江必新). “修改⟨⟨土地管理法⟩⟩应当处理好的几对关系” [“Several Relationships in the Revision of ‘The Land Administration Law.’”] 法律适用 Journal of Law Application 7 (2019): 3–11.Google Scholar
Jordão, Eduardo, and Rose-Ackerman, Susan. “Judicial Review of Executive Policymaking in Advanced Democracies: Beyond Rights Review.” Administrative Law Review 66, no. 1 (2014): 1–72.Google Scholar
Kim, Iljoong, Lee, Hojun, and Somin, Ilya, eds. Eminent Domain: A Comparative Perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lax, Jeffrey R. “The New Judicial Politics of Legal Doctrine.” Annual Review of Political Science 14 (2011): 131–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, Brian Angelo. “Just Undercompensation: The Idiosyncratic Premium in Eminent Domain.” Columbia Law Review 113, no. 3 (2013): 593–655.Google Scholar
Li, Ji. “Suing the Leviathan: An Empirical Analysis of the Changing Rate of Administrative Lawsuits in China.” Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 10, no. 4 (2013): 815–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, Ji. “The Power Logic of Justice in China.” The American Journal of Comparative Law 65, no. 1 (2017): 95–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liebman, Benjamin L. “Innovation Through Intimidation: An Empirical Account of Defamation Litigation in China.” Harvard International Law Journal 47, no. 1 (2006): 33–177.Google Scholar
Liebman, Benjamin L.. “Malpractice Mobs: Medical Dispute Resolution in China.” Columbia Law Review 113, no. 1 (2013): 181–264.Google Scholar
Liebman, Benjamin L., et al. “Mass Digitization of Chinese Court Decisions: How to Use Text as Data in the Field of Chinese Law.” Journal of Law and Courts 8, no. 2 (2020).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, Xiangqi (刘祥琪), et al. “ 程序公正先于货币补偿: 农民征地满意度的决定” [“The Procedural Fairness Prior to the Monetary Compensation: The Determinants of the Degree of Farmers’ Satisfaction at Levying their Land”]. ⟨⟨管理世界⟩⟩ Management World 2 (2012): 44–51.Google Scholar
Liu, Guoqian (刘国乾). “⟨⟨土地征收审批的正当程序改革⟩⟩” [“Reforming Examination and Approval on Land Expropriation by Due Process”]. ⟨⟨法学研究⟩⟩ Chinese Legal Science 4 (2012): 126–37.Google Scholar
Liu, Jing, (刘婧). 征收拆迁仍是社会矛盾的集中领域, 仍是司法监督的重点领域 [Supreme People’s Court Issues Second Batch of Approved Expropriation Cases]. 2018. http://rmfyb.chinacourt.org/paper/html/2018-05/16/content_138953.htm?div=-1.Google Scholar
Liu, Ziyang. “裁判文书网 3 年访问量超 52 亿次 法院判决’ 全民目击’” [“More than 5.2 Billion Views on China Judicial Decision Website”]. Xinhua Net, 2017. http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2017-02/04/c_1120410205.htm.Google Scholar
Ma, Chao (马超), et al. “大数据分析:中国司法裁判文书上网公开报告” [“Big Data Analysis: Report on Publicizing Chinese Judicial Decisions on Internet”]. ⟨⟨中国法律评论⟩⟩ China Law Review 4 (2016): 195–246.Google Scholar
Mashaw, Jerry L. “Explaining Administrative Process: Normative, Positive, and Critical Stories of Legal Development.” Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization 6 (1990): 267–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCubbins, Mathew D., Noll, Roger G., and Weingast, Barry R.. “Administrative Procedures as Instruments of Political Control.” Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization 3, no. 2 (1987): 243–77.Google Scholar
Merrill, Thomas W. “The Kelo Decision: Investigating Takings of Homes and Other Private Property before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.” Testimony on Judiciary 121, Sept. 19, 2005.Google Scholar
Merill, Thomas W., and Henry Smith. Property: Principles and Principles. 3 rd ed. St. Paul, MN: Foundation Press, 2017.Google Scholar
Peng, Chun (彭錞). “中国集体土地征收决策机制:现状、由来与前景” [“China’s Collective Land Acquisition: Past, Present, and Future”]. ⟨⟨华东政法大学学报⟩⟩ ECULP Journal 1 (2017): 46–59.Google Scholar
Perenboom, Randall. Judicial Independence in China: Lessons for Global Rule of Law Promotion. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.Google Scholar
Daily Online, People’s. “张渝文: 中国民告官案原告胜诉率从 10 年前 30% 降至 10% 以下” [“Zhang Yuwen: Plaintiff’s Success Rate in Chinese Civil Complaint Cases Dropped from 30% Ten Years Ago to Less than 10%”]. 2014. http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/1105/c1001-25976290.html.Google Scholar
Pritchett, Wendell, and Qiao, Shitong. “Exclusionary Megacities.” Southern California Law Review. 91 (2018): 467–522.Google Scholar
Qiao, Shitong. “Rights-Weakening Federalism.” Minnesota Law Review. 102 (2017): 1671–1702.Google Scholar
Qiao, Shitong, and Upham, Frank. “The Changing Landscape of Chinese Property Law.” In Comparative Property Law: Global Perspectives. Edited by Graziadei, Michele and Smith, Lionel, 311–332. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Somin, Ilya. The Grasping Hand: “Kelo v. City of New London” and the Limits of Eminent Domain. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016.Google Scholar
Wang, Liming (王利明). “论征收制度中的公共利益” [“The Degree of Public Interest in Expropriation”]. ⟨⟨政法论坛⟩⟩ Tribune of Political Science and Law 2 (2009): 22–34.Google Scholar
Wang, Xingyun. “⟨⟨土地征收征用中的程序失范与重构⟩⟩” [“A Study on Compensation to Land Expropriation”]. ⟨⟨法学研究⟩⟩ Chinese Legal Science 3 (2005): 135–43.Google Scholar
Wang, Xixin. “Administrative Procedure Reforms in China’s Rule of Law Context.” Columbia Journal of Asian Law 12, no. 2 (1998): 251–77.Google Scholar
Xinhua News. “杨海, “民告官"胜诉率不到10% 冷漠脸挑战了法律” [“Yang Hai: People’s Chance of Legal Success Is Less than 10%. They Face Indifference in the Law]. Xinhua Net, 2017. http://www.xinhuanet.com//legal/2017-01/11/c_1120285474.htm.Google Scholar
Xinhua News Agency. “China’s Online Court Record Database Now World’s Largest: Official.” 2016. http://www.bjreview.com/Latest_Headlines/201611/t20161118_800071951.html Google Scholar
Zhang, Jiansheng (章剑生). “行政征收程序论——以集体土地征收为例”[“On the Procedure of Administrative Expropriation: Collective Land Expropriation as the Example”]. ⟨⟨东方法学⟩⟩Oriental Law 2 (2009): 22–32.Google Scholar
Zhang, Taisu, and Ginsburg, Tom. “China’s Turn Toward Law.” Virginia Journal of International Law 59, no. 2 (2019): 306–89.Google Scholar
Zhang, Qianfan (张千帆) “‘公正补偿’ 与征收权的宪法限制” [“‘Just Compensation’ and Constitutional Restrictions on Expropriation Rights”]. ⟨⟨法学研究⟩⟩ Chinese Journal of Law 2 (2005): 25–37.Google Scholar
Zhang, Qianfan. “‘公共利益 ’的困境与出路” [“The Dilemma and Solution of ‘Public Interests.’”] ⟨⟨中国法学⟩⟩ China Legal Science 5 (2005): 36–45.Google Scholar
Zhu, Keliang, et al. “The Rural Land Question in China: Analysis and Recommendations Based on a Seventeen-Province Survey.” NYU Journal of International Law & Politics 38 (2005): 761–839.Google Scholar

STATUTES, REGULATIONS, AND JUDICIAL INTERPRETATIONS CITED

National People’s Congress. 中华人民共和国物权法 [Property Law], promulgated on October 1, 2007 Google Scholar
National People’s Congress. 宪法修正案 [2004 Amendment to the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China], promulgated on March 14, 2004.Google Scholar
National People’s Congress Standing Committee. 国家赔偿法 [2010 Amendment to the State Compensation Law], promulgated on April 4, 2010.Google Scholar
National People’s Congress Standing Committee. 中华人民共和国土地管理法 [Land Administration Law], issued on August 28, 2004.Google Scholar
National People’s Congress Standing Committee. 行政诉讼法 [Administrative Litigation Law], promulgated on November 4, 2014.Google Scholar
State Council. 城市房屋拆迁条例 [Regulations on the Demolition of Urban Housing], promulgated on June 4, 2001.Google Scholar
State Council. 国有土地上房屋征收与补偿条例 [Regulations on the Expropriation of Urban Housing], promulgated on January 21, 2011.Google Scholar
State Council. 国务院关于深化改革严格土地管理的决定 [Decision on Deepening Reform of and Tightening Up Land Management], promulgated on October 21, 2004.Google Scholar
Ministry of Land and Resources. 建设用地审查报批管理办法 [2016 Amendment to 1999 Order No. 3 of the Ministry of Land and Resources], promulgated on November 25, 2016.Google Scholar
SPC (Supreme People’s Court). 最高人民法院关于当事人达不成拆迁补偿安置协议就补偿安置争议提起民事诉讼人民法院应否受理问题的批复 [The Reply of the People’s Court on Whether or Not the People’s Court Shall Accept the Civil Litigation on the Dispute over Compensation and Relocation Whereby the Parties Concerned Fail to Reach an Agreement of Compensation and Relocation Regarding House Demolishment and Relocation], August 11, 2005.Google Scholar
SPC (Supreme People’s Court). 最高人民法院关于审理涉及农村集体土地行政案件若干问题的规定 [Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues concerning the Trial of Administrative Cases Involving Rural Collectively Owned Land], September 5, 2011.Google Scholar
SPC (Supreme People’s Court). 最高人民法院关于人民法院在互联网公布裁判文书的规定 [Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court on the Issuance of Judgments on the Internet by the People’s Courts], November 13, 2013.Google Scholar
SPC (Supreme People’s Court). 最高人民法院关于在征收拆迁案件中进一步严格规范司法行为积极推进“ 裁执分离”的通知 [Notice of the Supreme People’s Court on Further Strictly Regulating Judicial Acts and Actively Promoting “Separating Judgment from Enforcement” in the Handling of Cases Concerning Expropriation, Demolition and Relocation], July 22, 2014.Google Scholar
SPC (Supreme People’s Court). 最高人民法院关于人民法院在互联网公布裁判文书的规定 [Provisions on the Issuance of Judgments on the Internet by the People’s Courts], August 29, 2016.Google Scholar