The Supreme People's Court (SPC) and the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) jointly released the third batch of typical administrative public interest litigation cases on Dec 22.
The batch of cases reflected the positive responses of top judicial authorities to the legislative progress on procuratorial public interest litigation.
The seven cases released were carefully selected from administrative public interest litigation cases concluded by the SPC and the SPP between July 2024 and October 2025 — spanning a wide range of fields and exhibiting distinct features.
First, these cases underscore the irreplaceable institutional value of administrative public interest litigation in supporting the country's overall development, and in safeguarding people's pursuit of a better life.
Second, the cases demonstrate a problem-oriented approach and adhere to justiciability standards. In addressing issues such as the "tragedy of the commons" — where public interests may be ignored because of the lack of directly interested parties — procuratorial organs have made the pre-litigation realization of public interest protection a priority.
Where procuratorial recommendations fail to result in effective rectification or public interest harm continues, litigation has proven an effective means to break governance deadlocks.
Third, the cases highlight enhanced collaborative governance and the building of a comprehensive public interest protection framework. They demonstrate that administrative public interest litigation helps build such a framework through multi-party participation and coordinated efforts under the unified leadership of the Communist Party of China and the supervision of the people's congresses.
Leading officials from the relevant departments of the SPC and the SPP emphasized that the formulation of the procuratorial public interest litigation law marks a key opportunity to further enhance the guiding role of typical administrative public interest litigation cases.
Efforts will be made to ensure the consistent application of legal standards and to advance the steady and sustained development of an administrative public interest litigation system with Chinese characteristics.
