Chinese citizens can lodge administrative lawsuits against government organs for the latter's failure to disclose government information, according to the latest judicial interpretations by the Supreme People's Court (SPC).
The SPC recently issued a set of 13-article interpretations to direct the trial of administrative cases concerning government information disclosure, which have soared over the years, according to a statement posted on SPC's official website Monday.
According to the interpretations, lawsuits can be filed if administrative organs refuse to provide information or give no response within a set period, after applications that request the administrative organs to publicize government information are submitted; or the information provided by administrative organs is believed to be not complying with the requests or the appropriate forms prescribed by laws and regulations.
In case the information publicized by administration organs actively or upon others' request is believed to have infringed upon others' commercial secrets or individuals' privacy, the organs can also be sued.
The government organs can also be sued for not providing accurate information but refusing to correct it, or giving no reply within a set period to requests for correction, or failing to forward the case to responsible organs for handling.