In May 2004, the land of Changting Village in Zhejiang Province was sold to a real estate development company with the approval of the provincial government. However, the local farmers disagreed with this decision. Twelve farmers sued the provincial government and won their lawsuit. They succeeded in reversing a government ruling through legal means.

It is a vital symbol of social progress that the fairness of an administrative decision can be judged by law. However, for the majority of the public, suing the government is not an option that is eagerly pursued. Many people do not know how to use the legal tools to safeguard their interests. Many still resort to the old tradition of petitioning government leaders and high officials.

At the end of 2003, the Supreme People's Court published some interesting statistics. Since the implementation of the Administration Procedure Law in 1990, China's court system has dealt with over 800,000 administration litigation cases with the last six years seeing a sharp increase. The percentage of cases where people withdraw or lose their suits has seen a steady drop while the rate of loss for the government has climbed by nearly four percent.

Ever since the implementation of the Administrative License Law in 2004, which is intended to increase the transparency of administrative affairs and guarantee citizens access to government information, various government officials have now found themselves as defendants in court proceedings. With these new laws, it was only natural that the 12 farmers would challenge the provincial governments ruling in court.

According to a survey by Xinhua News Agency, the public's ignorance of the existence of administrative laws and filing procedures as well as fear of official retaliation are the two major factors which limit their use of these legal weapons.

Thus the priority at this time is the raise the consciousness of the public of their legal rights. It is especially important to help farmers overcome their ignorance of administrative legal procedures. The case of the 12 farmers winning a lawsuit against the provincial government will undoubtedly serve as a good model for people wronged by the government.

(Sources: www.xinhuanet.com and www.cctv.com)