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Since 1979, China has revised its legal system, adding numerous clauses concerning state compensation into the Chinese laws and administrative regulations, including:
·General Principles of the Civil Law
·Regulations on Administrative Penalties for public Security
·Trademark Law
·Forestry Law
·Regulations Concerning Requisition of Land for State Construction
·Interim Regulations Concerning Seaport Administration
·Administrative Procedure Law
One such example is found in Article 121 of the General Principles of the Civil Law, which states that
]f a state organ or its personnel, while executing its duties, encroaches upon the lawful rights and interests of a citizen or legal person and causes damage, it shall bear civil liability. Another is located in Article 42 of the Regulations on Administrative Penalties for public Security which provides that the public security organs shall admit their errors to those who are punished by mistake and shall return fines and confiscated property to those wrongfully punished.
It is noteworthy that the Administrative Procedure Law, promulgated on April 4, 1989, contains a chapter relevant to the administrative organ’s liability for compensation of those rights which have been infringed. Article 67 of this law provides that citizens, legal persons or any other organizations suffering damage as a result of infringement upon lawful rights and interests, shall have the right to claim compensation. Meanwhile, provisions on administrative compensation liability, conditions of bearing compensation duty, organs for compensatory obligations, procedure of compensation and expenses of compensation, have all been included in the chapter.
In order to ensure the implementation of administrative Procedure Law, and further perfect the socialist legal system, the Commission of the Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), initiated the drafting of the State Compensation Law. On the basis of comprehensive investigation, and summarization of the legislative experience of foreign countries, as well as solicitation of opinions from all sides, a committee composed of legal experts drafted the State Compensation Law and submitted the draft to the Standing Committee of the NPC for deliberation. On May 12, 1994, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on State Compensation (hereinafter compensation law), was adopted in the Seventh Session of the Standing Committee, of the Eighth NPC, and promulgated by Order No. 23 of the President of the People’s Republic of China. Thus, the first State Compensation Law in Chinese history was created.
Ⅱ. Content of China''s State Compensation Law
The State Compensation Law of China consists of 6 chapters and 35 articles. Generally, it can be divided into five parts: general principles; administrative compensation; criminal compensation; methods of compensation and calculation standards; and supplementary provisions which provide the principle of imputation, ingredients of compensation liability, scope of compensation, claimant for compensation, organ for compensatory obligation, methods of compensation and calculation standards.
Principle Imputation
Currently, the imputative principle of compensation liability carried out in the countries of the world has established that the state compensation system can be divided into three categories: the imputative principles of fault liability, risk responsibility, and infraction of law. Article 2 of the compensation law stipulates that:
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