On March 22, 2004, the State Council issued the "Implementation Outline for Comprehensively Promoting Administration according to Law" (hereinafter referred to as the "Outline"). The "Outline" puts forward six basic requirements for administration according to law, namely legal administration, reasonable administration, proper procedures, efficiency and convenience for the people, honesty and trustworthiness, and unity of powers and responsibilities. These six basic requirements are a summary of my country’s practical experience in administration according to law. They embody the inner essence of administration according to law, which focuses on governing officials and governing power. They highly condense the value goals of administration according to law in pursuit of justice and efficiency, and effectively support the rule of law. It is the basic framework of the government and therefore plays an important role in guiding and regulating administrative agencies and civil servants to administer according to law.

1. Legal administration

Legal administration is the inherent requirement of the principle of administrative legitimacy in the administrative field. Legal administration requires that administrative agencies implement administrative management in accordance with the provisions of laws, regulations, and rules; without the provisions of laws, regulations, and rules, administrative agencies shall not make decisions that affect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons, and other organizations or increase the Obligation decisions.

According to the specific conditions of our country, legal administration should include the following requirements:

First, any administrative power must be based on the grant of law in order to exist;

Third, the granting, entrustment and use of any administrative power must have a legal basis and comply with the gist of the law; fourth, any Administrative activities that violate the above three provisions can be declared "invalid" unless they are subsequently legally recognized.

Legitimate administration requires that the exercise of any administrative power must not violate the law. The use of powers must comply with legal provisions and cannot conflict with them. “Conflict” here includes both substantive and procedural conflicts.

Usually, the delegation and exercise of powers are undertaken by agencies expressly provided for by law. But sometimes, when the law stipulates that administrative agencies can authorize others to perform part or all of their powers, other groups or individuals can also exercise the powers of statutory administrative agencies. However, in accordance with legal administrative requirements, authorization and delegation must have a legal basis and can only follow legal procedures.

We emphasize administration according to law and legal administration, not to passively restrict administrative activities, nor to suppress administrative enthusiasm. In fact, as long as the Constitution or laws do not prohibit it and do not directly affect the specific rights and obligations of citizens, legal persons or other organizations, the administrative subject shall, within the scope of its powers, for the sake of social reform, development and stability, and for the purpose of promoting public security All activities carried out for the sake of interests are in line with the principle of administration according to law. Modern society requires that administrative subjects give full play to their active and dynamic role.

2. Reasonable administration Reasonable administration requires that when implementing administrative management, the administrative counterparts must be treated equally without favoritism or discrimination; the exercise of discretion should be in line with the legal purpose and eliminate interference from irrelevant factors. ;The measures and means taken should be necessary and appropriate.

Rational administration is a necessary supplement to legal administration. Legal administration solves the problem of whether administrative actions are legal or not, while reasonable administration solves the problem of whether administrative actions are appropriate or inappropriate. Reasonable administration must be based on legal administration, that is to say, reasonableness is reasonable within the legal scope, not reasonable outside the legal scope. Any so-called "reasonableness" that violates the law will not be tolerated. Legal administration corresponds to the "restraint behavior" of the administrative district, which mostly presents a "rigid side"; reasonable administration corresponds to "discretionary behavior", which mostly presents a "flexible" side. Because of this, the latter is easy to Discovery and identification; Improper administration is not easy for people to discover and identify. Therefore, in real life, the latter causes greater harm to people and should attract our greater attention in terms of administrative law. The establishment of the principle is related to the existence and development of administrative discretion, as well as the deepening of people's understanding of discretion, especially the enhancement of their awareness of control. Administrative discretion exists objectively and enables administrative management. Necessary requirements for normal development; but at the same time, because administrative discretion is difficult to be constrained, people should also pay attention to the fact that it is often abused, resulting in specific administrative actions that are unjust. Administrative discretion is unjust and incompatible with the principle of administration according to law. Therefore, we must not only recognize the role of discretion, but also strengthen its control. It is under this need that reasonable administration proposes a substantive approach to discretionary behavior. It requires that its content be moderate, appropriate and reasonable. It can be said that rational administration is the product of the development of administration according to law to a higher stage, and it is a higher standard and level of administration according to law.

We. When it comes to reasonable administration, what is the standard of “reasonableness”? To put it simply, there are three aspects: First, administrative actions must be justified. Behaviors must be subjectively motivated by legitimate motives and objectively must conform to legitimate purposes; secondly, administrative behavior must be balanced, that is, when administrative subjects choose to take certain administrative actions, they must pay attention to rights and obligations, personal harm and harm. The balance between the interests of society, personal interests and national (collective) interests; third, administrative actions must be rational, that is, administrative actions must comply with objective laws and be reasonable.

The administrative counterpart cannot be required to assume obligations that it cannot perform or is unreasonable.

3. Procedural due process

Procedural due process requires that the methods, steps, time, sequence, etc. that constitute administrative actions must comply with the law and its spirit. In other words, administrative procedures must be both legal and reasonable.

In modern administrative law, the proportion of procedural laws is increasing; in administrative practice, procedural violations are very serious. There are some specific requirements for due process:

1. Adhere to the principle of openness. Disclosure is a basic requirement for administrative actions. Administrative agencies shall carry out administrative management in an open manner, except when it involves state secrets, business secrets and personal privacy protected in accordance with the law. Administrative regulations, rules, policies and measures, as well as the standards, conditions and procedures for actions taken by administrative agencies that affect the rights and obligations of the counterparty, shall be published in accordance with the law and allowed to be consulted by the counterparty in accordance with the law; the procedures and procedures for administrative actions shall be made public, and shall be made public through public posting or other means. The channels should be published publicly to enable the counterparty to understand; certain administrative actions involving the significant rights and interests of the counterparty should be conducted in a public manner, such as holding hearings, etc., allowing the public to observe. The disclosure of administrative actions is of great significance for improving the work style of administrative agencies and their staff, strengthening the construction of diligent and honest government, preventing the abuse of administrative power and the growth of corruption, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of administrative counterparts.

2． Adhere to the principle of fairness and justice. The original meaning of fairness and impartiality is fairness and integrity, without partiality. This requires administrative agencies and their staff to act fairly, show favoritism, and reasonably consider relevant factors; treat administrative counterparts equally and not discriminate based on the identity, ethnicity, belief, or gender of the counterparty. Specifically,

First, an avoidance system should be established. When administrative agency staff deal with matters involving their own interests, they should voluntarily recuse themselves or recuse themselves at the request of the parties involved;

Second, they should not listen to partial beliefs. The parties should be given equal opportunities to state and defend themselves, and equal opportunities to present evidence;

Third, when deciding on matters that are unfavorable to the parties, the parties should be notified in advance and given the opportunity to express their opinions. This is One of the effective means to prevent arbitrary actions. The principle of fairness and justice is the minimum principle of modern administrative procedures and an inevitable requirement for administrative democratization.

3． Principles of hearing. That is to say, in administrative procedures, it is necessary to ensure that the opposite party expresses opinions on administrative actions, and that such opinions receive due attention. The hearing in the "openness principle" mainly reflects the counterparty's right to "know" about administrative actions; the hearing here mainly reflects the counterparty's "right to". The hearing system is the core of the basic system of modern administrative procedure law. It has the functions of strengthening communication between "officials" and "citizens", promoting political and democratic participation, improving administrative efficiency, preventing abuse of power, and eliminating tyranny of administrative power. It can reflect the role of administrative procedures as fair and The deep value of efficiency integration.

4. Sequence principle. Various systems that require administrative procedures show a certain sequence. If the prescribed sequence is violated, it is illegal or improper administration. The principle of sequence is one of the manifestations and requirements of the timeliness of administrative procedures. Its essence is to ensure the reasonable use of administrative procedures and prevent infringement or damage to the counterparty due to differences in time.

5. efficiency principle. This is another manifestation of the timeliness of administrative procedures. In order to ensure the high efficiency of administrative activities, all aspects of administrative procedures should have time limits, which is the so-called statute of limitations. If it exceeds the statutory time, it will constitute a violation. Without prejudice to other purposes, administrative procedures should be simple and easy to implement. The principle of efficiency also includes the formatting of certain procedures. In particular, various administrative legal documents such as records and rulings should have unified format provisions. This is a necessary guarantee to ensure that the parties enjoy equal rights and is also conducive to improving administrative efficiency.

4. To implement administrative management with high efficiency and convenience, administrative agencies should abide by statutory time limits, actively perform statutory duties, improve efficiency and quality, and provide convenience to citizens, legal persons and other organizations to the greatest extent. The principles of convenience and efficiency are important principles of our country's administrative legal system. It requires administrative agencies to effectively implement administrative management while trying to avoid cumbersomeness and create conditions as much as possible to facilitate the parties and the people, including simplifying procedures, reducing links, saving time, cost and energy, etc., in order to be legal, accurate, simple and easy to implement , efficient and flexible way to achieve the purpose of administrative management. The principle of high efficiency and convenience for the people is a concrete manifestation of the important thought of "Three Represents", an objective requirement for governing the country according to law and building a socialist country under the rule of law, and the essence of the people's government governing for the people. Only when administrative agencies unify the performance of their duties with the convenience and benefit of the people can they fulfill their duties in the true sense.

5. Honesty and trustworthiness

Social credit is the benchmark for a country’s civilization. It should be a top priority to establish and improve a national credit system that is organically composed of government, enterprise and personal credit. In the process of establishing this system, the government should take the lead and set an example.

First of all, the government must be honest and impartial, ensure the seriousness and uniformity of policies and regulations, and implement orders and prohibitions. It must not break its promises, let alone go back on its promises or change orders overnight. At present, in managing economic and social affairs, the government generally has laws to abide by and must abide by the laws. However, it cannot be denied that in some places there are still phenomena of inconsistent and arbitrary law enforcement. If some laws and regulations are seriously localized and departmentalized, they will seriously affect the unity of the legal system.

Some laws, regulations, and policy measures lack stability and continuity, leaving people at a loss as to what to do and affecting the government's credit and credibility. Maintaining the stability and continuity of policies, keeping promises, and gaining the trust of the people are the basic tasks for establishing an honest government.

Secondly, policies and information must be open and transparent and cannot be operated in secret. The government should establish an information disclosure system to enable people to equally enjoy housing resources. Otherwise, non-disclosure of information, non-transparency, or unequal treatment will violate the principle of administrative integrity.

Third, establish the concept of "people-oriented" and abandon the idea of ??"official-oriented". The power of the government is given by the people. The relationship between the rights and obligations between the government and the people should be balanced and cannot be overstepped. Otherwise, it will be a "breach of contract" and a breach of trust. The government should establish a people-oriented concept, so as to establish prestige and a good image, so as to truly win the trust of the people.

Fourth, establish and implement the “trust protection principle”. The basis of the principle of trust protection is the public's trust in government power. This trust is the basic premise for the public's sense of security and clear expectations for their work and life behaviors. If this trust is not well protected or even damaged, the public's personal rights, public interests, and even the entire economic and social development will be unstable and discontinuous. Therefore, the administrative actions of administrative agencies should be credible, and the trust of citizens, legal persons and other organizations in the decisions of administrative agencies should be protected. Administrative agencies shall not revoke or change an administrative decision that has taken effect except for statutory reasons and through legal procedures; if it is necessary to withdraw or change an administrative decision due to national interests, public interests or other legal reasons, it shall be done in accordance with legal authority and procedures. The administrative counterparties shall be compensated for the property losses suffered thereby in accordance with the law.

Legal basis:

"Administrative Penalty Law of the People's Republic of China"

Article 1 is to regulate the establishment and implementation of administrative penalties and ensure This law is formulated in accordance with the Constitution and supervises the effective implementation of administrative management by administrative agencies, safeguards public interests and social order, and protects the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons or other organizations.

Article 2 Administrative punishment refers to the behavior of administrative agencies in accordance with the law to punish citizens, legal persons or other organizations that violate administrative order by reducing their rights and interests or increasing their obligations.