VZCZCXRO0875
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHGH #0279/01 1300806
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 100806Z MAY 07
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5794
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1058
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0622
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 0626
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0604
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0731
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 0500
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 6190

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SHANGHAI 000279 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DOJ FOR OPDAT LEHMANN AND FOR OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 
LATIMER 
STATE PASS FOR USTR STRATFORD, WINTER, MCCARTIN, ALTBACH, READE 
TREAS FOR AMB HOLMER, WRIGHT, TSMITH 
TREAS FOR OASIA - DOHNER/HAARSAGER/CUSHMAN 
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC -  DAS KASOFF, MELCHER, MCQUEEN 
USDOC ALSO FOR OGC -  SULLIVAN, BLANK 
NSC FOR WILDER AND TONG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KJUS PINR CH
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL MEDIATION CONFERENCE HELD IN JIANGSU 
 
 
(U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for dissemination outside 
USG channels; not for Internet distribution. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: On the margins of an April 14-18 American Bar 
Association(ABA)-sponsored administrative law conference in 
Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, Supreme People's Court (SPC) 
Administrative Court Chief Judge Zhao Daguang told FSN Rule of 
Law Coordinator (ROLC) that the SPC soon would issue a judicial 
interpretation that would authorize the use of mediation in 
resolving administrative litigation cases.  Mediation in 
administrative law cases is currently a widely used but not 
specifically authorized practice in China.  Mediation is 
authorized for civil cases or for civil compensation in criminal 
cases.  Most judges and legal academics at the conference 
supported this move, as it would provide judges with more 
flexibility to resolve difficult administrative cases, 
especially those involving mass disputes such as housing 
demolition or relocation cases.  Local governmental 
representatives, however, were less supportive of using 
mediation and worried that it would impinge on the discretionary 
power that agencies had in these cases.  They urged that the SPC 
not issue a judicial interpretation, but rather go through the 
National People's Congress (NPC) to amend the law.  According to 
Zhao, the SPC would go ahead and prepare a draft to the 
Administrative Litigation Law and was considering circulating 
the draft to the U.S. experts for comments.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Jiangsu High Court Administrative Law Project 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) On April 14-15, FSN Rule of Law Coordinator (ROLC) 
attended the International Forum on Mediation in Administrative 
Litigation jointly held by Jiangsu High Court, Suzhou University 
Law School and American Bar Association (ABA) in Suzhou.  (Note: 
ROLC had in fact helped facilitate the conference by letting the 
ABA's Beijing Representative know of the Jiangsu High Court's 
desire to host such a conference.  End note.)  There were about 
40 Chinese national and international attendees at the 
conference.   Chinese attendees included judges from the Supreme 
People's Court (SPC), provincial high courts and municipal 
intermediate courts, academics, and government officials. 
International attendees included the United States Court of 
Federal Claims Judge Eric Bruggink, University of 
Missouri-Columbia Professor Philip Harter, and London-based 
Public Law Project Senior Researcher Varda Bondy. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The conference's focus was the Jiangsu High Court's 
administrative law reform project.  The project examined whether 
mediation should be authorized as a method to resolve property 
disputes.  The SPC had tasked the project to the Jiangsu High 
Court in 2006.  The project was one of 13 legal reform projects 
supported by the Supreme Court and the only project related to 
administrative litigation.  In conversations with ROLC in 2006 
and Spring 2007, Jiangsu Province High Court Administrative 
Court Chief Judge Zhou Rongmeng said that the project focused on 
gathering information in four areas: 1) the influence that 
mediation had on citizens' rights; 2) its effect on the system 
of evidence; 3) its effect on the court's judicial authority; 
and 4) its influence on trial procedures.  The project was 
carried out by three work teams.  One team conducted academic 
research, a second team carried out investigations, and the 
third team drafted a report that had been submitted to the SPC. 
The Jiangsu High Court released its project report and 
suggestions on using mediation in administrative litigation at 
the April conference. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Zhou said that 80 to 90 percent of administrative 
cases in Jiangsu were related to property disputes, such as 
housing demolition and relocation cases.  According to Zhou, 
judges had become increasingly frustrated with these cases 
because they felt that they did not have enough flexibility in 
providing rulings.  In addition, under current law, judges could 
 
SHANGHAI 00000279  002 OF 003 
 
 
only make a decision on whether the local government's conduct 
was lawful or not and could not decide on the level of 
compensation for cases.  Judges also felt that the level 
prescribed by law for compensation was too low, especially in 
the prosperous Jiangsu province.  Finally, judges were not able 
to enforce their rulings since governmental agencies had the 
ability to ignore decisions that were not in their favor. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) To increase the level of compensation and to encourage 
government agencies to cooperate with rulings, many judges had 
started using mediation to settle cases.  Judge Zhou said that 
mediation provided government agencies with a way to save face 
and, thus, be more willing to provide compensation.  According 
to Judge Zhou, one third of all administrative cases in China 
were now settled through mediation.  Courts usually conducted 
mediation after they tried a case but before they rendered a 
verdict.  If mediation was successful, a court dismissed the 
case on the basis that either the plaintiff agreed the case was 
without merit or because the defendant agreed to modify his 
behavior without the entry of formal judgment. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Zhou said the problem now was that it was technically 
illegal to use mediation to settle administrative cases.  He 
added that the SPC was examining the issue and interested in 
preparing a judicial interpretation specifically authorizing the 
use of mediation in administrative cases and prescribing when 
and how mediation should be used.  To help it prepare the 
judicial interpretation, the SPC tasked the Jiangsu High Court 
with implementing a project to collect data on mediation.  On 
the margins of the conference, SPC Administrative Court Chief 
Judge Zhao Daguang told ROLC that the SPC would use this report 
as the basis of a judicial interpretation on mediation, which 
would be published this year.  The SPC was now in the process of 
consulting with the National People's Congress (NPC) and State 
Council on this issue. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The conference was originally scheduled for March 
2007, but organizers delayed the conference because it 
conflicted with a SPC conference on administrative litigation. 
At the SPC conference, which took place on March 29, SPC 
President Xiao Yang reportedly had acknowledged that China's 
administrative courts needed to reform.  He said that China's 
administrative courts experienced a range of problems, including 
outside interference in court decisions.  He called for a broad 
range of reforms to address these problems, such as allowing 
jurisdiction over a particular case to be shifted from a 
tribunal in one locale to another.  Xiao also specifically noted 
the need to adopt new mechanisms to better handle and 
"coordinate" action on administrative litigation disputes, 
particularly those involving "mass administrative disputes" such 
as land seizures.  He also called on the SPC to promptly issue a 
judicial interpretation on the use of mediation in 
administrative litigation proceedings. 
 
---------------------------- 
Government Agencies Disagree 
---------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Although most of the judges and professors at the 
ABA-sponsored conference supported using mediation in 
administrative litigation, local government officials said they 
had serious concerns about the procedure.  Jiangsu Provincial 
People's Government Legal Affairs Office Vice Director Gao 
Jianxin said that according to the law, governmental agencies 
had discretionary power in some aspects of administrative cases. 
 In those aspects, the courts should not force agencies to 
undergo mediation.  While he did not mention an example, one 
argument made by government representatives was that many 
government agencies could levy fines on citizens for breaking 
certain rules.  The amounts for these fines were pre-determined 
by law and, according to Gao, courts had no right to change 
these amounts.  He also worried that government officials would 
be under pressure to agree to mediation to resolve cases.  He 
 
SHANGHAI 00000279  003 OF 003 
 
 
also disagreed with SPC's plan to issue a judicial 
interpretation to legalize the use of mediation and said that 
this issue should be taken up by the NPC which could then amend 
the law. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Jiangsu High Court Report:  Mediation Must Be Transparent And 
Just 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The Jiangsu High Court's report stressed the right of 
citizens to accept or reject mediation.  According to Judge 
Zhou, the court should review whether the decision to accept 
mediation by the plaintiff (common citizen) was made by himself 
willingly without any coercion or threats from the defendant 
(government).  If there was evidence of coercion, the court 
should not hold mediation.  The report also emphasized that 
mediation should be transparent and just.  There should be no 
private mediation and all procedures should be held in the 
courtroom.  Many of the judges that attended the conference also 
stressed the importance of due process in administrative 
litigation. 
 
------------------- 
U.S. Experts Wanted 
------------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) According to SPC Judge Zhao, the SPC still planned to 
change the law through issuing a judicial interpretation, but 
was also going to draft an amendment to the administrative 
litigation law.  He added that the SPC was considering sending 
this draft to U.S. legal experts for comment and asked Beijing 
Legal Advisor, ROLC and ABA's representative for assistance in 
identifying these experts.  Zhao said after getting comments 
from experts, SPC would like to visit the United States and hold 
face-to-face discussions.  He indicated that SPC already had 
funding for this trip.  He said that after 19 years, the 
administrative litigation law should be amended and the SPC 
would play an active role in this process. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Comment: A Breakthrough in Resolving Mass Dispute Cases? 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The conference was an important step in the SPC's and 
Jiangsu High Court's efforts to reform the administrative law. 
It is unusual for Chinese officials to openly disagree at public 
forums in front of foreign experts.  Their comments highlight 
the disagreements within the government and legal community over 
reform issues.  However, if mediation is allowed to be used as a 
means to resolve legal disputes, it could provide a much needed 
safety valve for dealing with housing demolition, relocation and 
other politically sensitive mass dispute cases. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) This message was coordinated with Embassy Beijing. 
JARRETT