From May 24 to 25, “The Sino-US Seminar on Incidental Review of Regulatory Documents” was successfully held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, by Institute of Public Law and Comparative Law of Zhejiang University, The China Center of Yale Law School, The Legal Research Base of China Law Society assisted by The Center of Cooperative Innovation for Judicial Civilization, and The Guangdong Nantian Judicial Authentication Institution. The Seminar, held every year from 2011, has achieved fruitful result in information and policy disclosure, decision-making disclosure, administrative guidance cases, public-private partnership and so on.
The seminar focused on “The incidental administrative review of regulatory documents”, to promote further, the development of the incidental administrative review system, and the understanding of judicial interpretations from the Supreme People's Court. Mr. Ying Songnian, tenured professor of China University of Political Science and Law, and scholars from universities at home and abroad, together with judges from, The United States Court of the District of Columbia, the Ninth Circuit and representatives of justice, and judges from China attended the seminar.
The seminar was centered on typical cases published by Supreme People's Court, and more specifically on the aspect of the incidental nature of the judicial review of administrative regulatory documents, the judgment of the relationship between administrative regulatory documents and the superior law, and the binding force of the opinions of the administrative regulatory documents making organs.
Prof. Zheng Chunyan, Vice Dean of Guanghua Law School chaired the seminar. Prof. Ying Songnian and Ms. Jamie P. Horsley, researcher from China Centre of Yale Law School, Prof. Zhou Jianghong, Executive ViceDean of Law School delivered their opening speech to affirm the theoretical and practical value of the conference theme.
Centered on the difficulties of judicial review of regulatory documents, Prof. He Haibo from Tsinghua University and Prof. Jeffrey S. Lubbers from Washington College of Law, Chief Law Counsel of Administrative Conference of the United States delivered keynote speech.
Indeed Prof. He Haibo presented a report on incidental review of regulatory documents by China’s court, concerning the purpose, ranges and criteria of judicial review of regulatory documents. And Prof. Jeffrey S. Lubbers reported on establishment and judicial review of American Regulatory Documents.
Thereafter the Associate Prof. Zheng Lei, Assistant Rector of Law School and Associate Prof. Cao Liu from China University of Political Science and Law had a discussion on the review system of regulatory documents, and legal construction in China.
During the seminar scholars had explored further on the issue, focusing on the relation between regulatory documents and a higher law, and legislature’s restrictions formulating body to regulatory documents.
The seminar closed with the conclusion on the study of regulatory document, and the expectation for further research in the future.
Ms. Cai Lixuan
Zhejiang University Guanghua Law School
May 30, 2019
