Research on the Scope of Administrative Public Interest Litigation in China

Abstract

With the deepening development of national governance modernization, a structural leap has emerged in the public consciousness of the rule of law. This awakening manifests not only in the strengthening of demands for private rights protection but also in institutional expectations for judicial mechanisms to safeguard public interests. As an institutional innovation transcending the traditional framework of administrative litigation, administrative public interest litigation has achieved preliminary normative construction. However, the scientific delineation of its jurisdictional scope still faces practical dilemmas at the level of legal hermeneutics. Serving as the core category of this system, the jurisdictional scope directly determines the boundary of judicial review over administrative power, thereby influencing the efficacy of judicial remedies for public interests and the institutional tension of administrative regulation. Through typological analysis, this study proposes that the rational construction of the jurisdictional scope should follow a trinity regulatory path encompassing "legal interpretation, categorical enumeration, and procedural safeguards": first, establishing statutory interpretive criteria for public interests; second, constructing a composite legislative paradigm of "abstract norms + concrete enumeration"; third, incorporating procedural mechanisms for public participation; ultimately achieving dynamic equilibrium between public interest remediation and administrative efficiency through professional adjudication by litigants.