Administrative Review of the UK and Its Inspirations: On a New Path for the Reform of Administrative Reconsideration of China

Abstract

In the Chinese academia of administrative law, it is widely held that tribunal of the UK is equivalent to administrative reconsideration of China. A judicialization reform of administrative reconsideration of China, therefore, was launched based on the judicialization of tribunal of the UK. After examining the administrative dispute resolution system of the UK, this article suggests that what is equivalent to administrative reconsideration of China is administrative review of the UK, instead of its tribunal. The judicialization of tribunal, therefore, fails to provide any support for the judicialization reform of administrative reconsideration of China from the perspective of comparative law. On the contrary, administrative review is more exemplary for its non-judicial character. It resolves most of the straightforward disputes at low cost, leaving the ordinary disputes to tribunal and the most complex disputes to administrative court. Thus, the administrative dispute resolution system of the UK, which consists of the three parts above, embodies the concept of proportionate dispute resolution. Especially, administrative review allows most of the disputes to be resolved within the administrative agencies, facilitating the establishment of feedback mechanism to improve the original administrative service and to reduce the total number of administrative disputes. As a result, administrative review also embodies the ideas of “right first time” and learning organization, which are the guidelines for administrative reforms in many countries. It is inspiring for China that the judicialization approach is not the only path to reform administrative reconsideration. As administrative review of the UK, supplemented by the introduction of administrative merits to the spheres where administrative disputes are commonly seen, a non-judicialization reform of administrative reconsideration can be considered as well to fulfil the role of administrative reconsideration as the “main channel of administrative dispute resolution” in China.