Interim Measures of Tianjin Municipality on Accountability

The Interim Measures of Tianjin Municipality on Accountability for Administrative Licensing Irregularities was adopted at the 68th Executive Meeting of the Municipal People’s Government on 20 March 2006 and is hereby promulgated. These Measures shall go into effect as from 1 July 2006.

Dai Xianglong, Mayor

28 March 2006

Interim Measures of Tianjin Municipality on Accountability for Administrative Licensing Irregularities

Article 1 These Measures are enacted in accordance with the Administrative Licensing Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Administrative Supervision Law of the People’s Republic of China and other laws, regulations and the actual situation of this Municipality with a view to standardizing administrative licensing acts, improving the accountability system for administrative licensing irregularities, strengthening supervision over administrative licensing and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations.

Article 2 The term “accountability for administrative licensing irregularities” refers to the administrative responsibility the administrative institution and its functionaries shall bear for causing damage or loss in property to or adverse social impact on citizens, legal persons or other organizations in the course of establishing and implementing an administrative licence or of exercising supervision over the administrative counterpart in violation of laws, regulations and other relevant stipulations.

Article 3 These Measures apply to the administrative institution and its functionaries in this Municipality that shall be held accountable for administrative responsibilities for administrative licensing irregularities because of establishing administrative licences in violation of laws, of implementing administrative licences in violation of laws or of failure to implement supervision responsibilities according to the law or of inefficiency in supervision.

Article 4 The principles of seeking truth from facts, meting out punishment based on law and evidence, timely correction of errors, punishment matching responsibility, and combination of education with punishment shall be adhered to in investigating accountability for irregularities in administrative licensing.

Article 5 Responsibilities for administrative licensing irregularity are categorized into direct responsibility, the responsibility of the major leader and the responsibility of the top leader.

Article 6 Where the departments under the Municipal People’s Government, or the district or county people’s government and its affiliated departments or the township or town people’s government and its affiliated departments establish administrative licences in violation of laws and regulations, the approver shall bear the responsibility of the major leader.

Article 7 The undertaker of administrative licences that commits any of the following acts shall bear the direct responsibility for implementing the administrative licence in violation of laws:

(1) Directly granting administrative licences without the approval of the examiner and the approver with the result that these administrative licensed acts violate laws, regulations and relevant rules;

(2) Fabricating and falsifying documents, practicing irregularity for personal gains with the result that the examiner and approver fail to properly carry out the responsibility and duty of examination and approval and the administrative licensed acts violate laws, regulations and related rules; and

(3) The undertaker, in spite of having passed the examination of the examiner and obtained the approval of the approver, fails to implement the administrative licensed act on the approved matter with the result that the administrative licensed acts violate laws, regulations and related rules.

Where the plans or suggestions put forward by the undertaker are erroneous but the examiner and approver fail to discover the error that should have been discovered, or fail to make corrections in spite of the fact that the error has been discovered with the result that the administrative licensed act violates laws, regulations and rules, the undertaker shall bear direct responsibility, the examiner shall bear the responsibility of the major leader and the approver shall bear the responsibility of the top leader.

Article 8 Where the examiner, with the approval of the approver, fails to accept or changes the correct ideas of the undertaker with the result that the administrative licensed acts violate laws, regulations and related rules, the examiner shall bear direct responsibility, and the approver shall bear the responsibility of the major leader.

Where the examiner directly makes a decision without the approval of the approver, with the result that the administrative licensed acts violate laws, regulations and related rules, the examiner shall bear direct responsibility.

Article 9 Where the approver fails to accept or changes the correct ideas of the undertaker or the examiner with the result that the administrative licensed acts violate laws, regulations and related rules, the approver shall bear direct responsibility

Where the approver makes a decision directly without the involvement of the undertaker and the examination of the examiner, with the result that the administrative licensed acts violate laws, regulations and related rules, the approver shall bear direct responsibility.

Article 10 The responsible person of an administrative institution orders and interferes, with the result that the administrative licensed acts violate laws, regulations and related rules, the responsible person that orders or interferes shall bear direct responsibility.

Where the administrative licensed act decided on by an administrative institution through collective discussion results in violation of the accountability stipulated by the State and Municipal regulations, the decision maker shall bear the responsibility of the major leader. Other persons that aired correct ideas at the discussion shall bear no responsibility.

Article 11 Where two or more persons implement an administrative licensed act in violation of laws, regulations and other related regulations, the responsibility shall be delegated proportionally to each person in accordance with the role he played in the process of implementing the administrative licensed act.

Article 12 Where an administrative institution fails to perform its duty of supervision and checkup according to the law or shows inefficiency in supervision or checkup, resulting in grave consequences, the administrative institution of the next higher level or the monitoring institution shall order it to make corrections and mete out administrative sanctions against the administrator in direct charge and other responsible persons according to the law. Where the offence is serious enough to constitute a crime the person concerned shall be investigated for criminal responsibilities.

Article 13 The measures employed for accountability for administrative licensing irregularities fall into the following categories:

(1) Ordering the person concerned to make a written self-criticism;

(2) Talks for the purpose of warning and encouragement;

(3) Criticism by name in a circular;

(4) Removal from the office or suspension of the work;

(5) Meting out administrative sanctions; and

(6) Other measures stipulated by laws and regulations.

The accountability measures mentioned in the above paragraph may be applied singly or multiply.

Article 14 Where the departments under the Municipal People’s Government, the district or the county people’s government and its affiliated departments, the township or the town people’s government and its affiliated departments have one of the following violations in their issued normative documents for circulation, the monitoring institution may make the supervisor’s suggestion and hold the approver accountable. Where the offence is minor, the person concerned shall be served an administrative sanction; where the offence is relatively serious, the person concerned shall be given a record of demerit or a record of major demerit; where the offence is serious, the person concerned shall be demoted or removed from office:

(1) Instituting administrative licensed matters in violation of the stipulations of the Administrative Licensing Law of the People’s Republic of China, and the Regulations of Tianjin Municipality on Institution and Implementation of Administrative Licences;

(2) Violating laws, regulations and governmental stipulations concerning concrete regulations of administrative licences; and

(3) Violating the system of filing on the record of the normative documents.

Article 15 Where an administrative institution and its functionaries, in violation of the administrative licensing law, commit any of the following acts, the undertaker, examiner and the approver shall be held accountable and dealt with in accordance with Items (1), (2), (3), (4) or (6), depending on the seriousness of the offence. Where the offence is serious, the person with the responsibility of the major leader shall be served a warning, a record of demerit or a record of major demerit and the person with the responsibility of the top leader shall be served a warning.

(1) Not publishing documents that should be made known publicly according to the law;

(2) Rejecting applications for administrative licences that should be accepted according to the law, not issuing an evidence for acceptance or rejection of an administrative licence application;

(3) Not actively coordinating efforts over an administrative licence application that involves more than one department, shirking responsibility, delaying or not transferring the matter to the next department when a department finishes work required of the department itself;

(4) Implementing administrative licences without legal basis and without authorization;

(5) Implementing an administrative licence beyond the powers endowed by law or in violation of legal procedures

(6) Implementing an administrative licence beyond the statutory period of time or failing to forward the decision and certificate for an administrative licence to the applicant within the statutory period of time;

(7) Not performing the statutory duty of informing the party concerned in implementing an administrative licence;

(8) Continuing, or continuing in a disguised way, the administrative licenced matters that have been suspended from implementing according to the law;

(9) Conducting repeated checks on licencees in violation of regulations;

(10) Not making public the categories and standards of fees according to the law in the process of granting administrative licences or collecting money or properties in the form of fees, securities and impound money in violation of law in the process of supervision or checkup or seeking benefits;

(11) Not holding hearings when it is required to do so; and

(12) Other acts that violate the law of granting administrative licences.

Article 16 Where the functionary, in handling matters of administrative licences or exercising supervision, commits any of the following acts, the department concerned shall penalize him with an administrative sanction according to the law:

(1) Demanding or taking money or properties from others in violation of law. Where the offence is minor, the person concerned shall be given a warning or a record of demerit; Where the offence is relatively serious, the person concerned shall be given a record of major demerit or demoted. Where the offence is serious enough, the person concerned shall be removed from office or fired.

(2) Accepting money and properties in disguise from others in violation of law. Where the offence is reletively serious, the person concerned shall be given a warning, a record of demerit or a record of major demerit; where the offence is serious enough, the person concerned shall be demoted or removed from office or fired.

(3) Creating difficulties for people that refuse to give money or properties as asked. Where loss is caused, the person concerned shall be given a warning or a record of demerit; where the offence is relatively serious, the person concerned shall be given a record of major demerit or demoted; where the offence is serious enough, the person concerned shall be removed from office or fired.

Where the functionary of an administrative institution commits the above-mentioned act that is so serious that constitutes a crime, he shall be investigated for criminal responsibilities according to the law.

Article 17 The related responsible person of administrative licensing shall be dealt with seriously when he is found in one of the following situations:

(1) Held accountable for two or more irregularities in administrative licensing within one single year;

(2) Interfering with or obstructing investigations against him for irregularities in administrative licensing;

(3) Attacking, retaliating, or framing the accusers, informants and complainers; and

(4) Other situations that hold a person accountable for irregularities in administrative licensing.

Article 18 The person responsible for irregularities in administrative licensing discovers and timely corrects errors and compensates for the loss and as a result no serious damage or adverse impact has been caused, he may be dealt with lightly or be exempted from accountability for the irregularity in administrative licensing.

Article 19 The functionary bears no responsibility for irregularities in administrative licensing in the following situations:

(1) The counterpart of administrative licensing fabricates or falsifies documents that make it impossible for the functionary to make correct assessment or judgments;

(2) The irregularity in administrative licensing is caused by force majeure; and

(3) Other cases of irregularities where the functionary shall not bear administrative licensing responsibilities.

Article 20 Accountability for irregularities in administrative licensing shall, in accordance with related State and Municipal regulations and within the powers and procedure as stipulated by law, be dealt with and a decision be made on it within a definite period of time.

Article 21 Where an administrative licensing functionary refuses to accept the accountability decision, he may ask for a review at the institution that has made the decision; where he refuses to accept the review results, he may lodge a complaint at the administrative organ for public servants of the same level or the next higher institution of the one that has made the decision. He may also, without asking for a review, directly loge a complaint.

Where he refuses to accept the administrative sanction of the competent administrative institution or the review decision on the administrative sanction, he may lodge a complaint at the monitoring institution that is at the same level as the competent administrative institution.

Article 22 These Measures apply mutatis mutandis to the organizations and their functionaries that are endowed with the administrative licensing powers by laws and regulations on accountability for administrative licensing irregularities.

Article 23 The term “undertaker” as mentioned in these Measures refers to the functionaries that undertake the concrete work in administrative licensing; the term “examiner” refers to the responsible person in the inner organs within an administrative institution; the term “approver” refers to the chief responsible person in an administrative institution. Where functionaries other than those mentioned above assume the powers of examination or approval according to a regulation of division of labour or through authorization, the person that executes the powers of examination or approval shall be regarded as the examiner or approver.

Article 24 These Measures shall go into effect as from 1 July 2006.