Excerpt from the full text "People's Republic of China administrative ruling of the Supreme People's Court"

English Translation only for reference

(2024) Supreme Law Xing Shen No.6270

Applicant for retrial (plaintiff of first instance, appellant of second instance): Wei Liyuan, female..., Han nationality, living in Shanghai....

Respondent (defendant of first instance, appellee of second instance): Shanghai Municipal People's Government. Residence: No.200 Renmin Avenue, Shanghai.

Legal representative: Gong Zheng, Shanghai Mayor.

The retrial applicant, Wei Liyuan, was dissatisfied with the administrative ruling of the Shanghai High People's Court (2023) Hu Xing Zhong No.261 and applied to this court for a retrial because of the case of the respondent Shanghai Municipal People's Government's open government information. This court formed a collegial panel in accordance with the law to conduct a review, and the review has now been concluded.

Wei Liyuan applied for a retrial, claiming that the open government information regulations do not stipulate the standards for the number and frequency of information disclosure, and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government did not deal with the applicant's 135 applications for information disclosure in the two years from May2021 to exceed a reasonable range, and issued a notice of being sued, which violated the law. The first- and second-instance rulings found that the facts were unclear, the law was wrongly applied, and the trial procedures were unlawful. Request to revoke the first- and second-instance rulings and retry the case.

After review, this court held that Article 35 of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Open Government Information stipulates that the number and frequency of applicants' applications for disclosure of government information clearly exceed a reasonable range, and administrative organs may require applicants to explain reasons. Where the administrative organ finds that the reasons for the application are unreasonable, inform the applicant that it will not be handled. In this case, since May 2021, Wei Liyuan has submitted 135 requests for disclosure of government information to the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, and the People's Governments of Jing'an District and Hongkou District, Shanghai, regarding information related to Keppel Land Commercial Management(Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and its affiliates. The content of this open government information application is to review the application dossiers submitted when applying for the "People's Republic of China Foreign-Invested Enterprise Approval Certificate" (Shangzihu Hong Wholly Owned Zi (2016) No. 0483) issued by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government to Keppel Property Commercial Management(Shanghai) Co., Ltd.(Shangzi Huhong Wholly Owned Zi (2016) No.0483), and the dossier materials for approval and approval are subject to effective laws and regulations, relevant government approvals and document requirements at that time. The number and frequency of Wei Liyuan's requests for disclosure of government information clearly exceeded a reasonable range. After the Shanghai Municipal People's Government asked him to explain the reasons, it found that the reasons for his application were unreasonable and replied that he would not handle it, which had a factual and legal basis. The first- and second-instance rulings dismissed the lawsuit and complied with the provisions of law. Wei Liyuan's claim for retrial cannot be sustained and should not be supported.

In summary, Wei Liyuan's application for retrial does not meet the circumstances stipulated in Article 91 of the Administrative Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China. In accordance with the provisions of Article 116, Paragraph 2 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Administrative Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the ruling is as follows:

Wei Liyuan's application for retrial was rejected.

The Supreme People's Court of People's Republic of China

20 July 2024