The Center for Protection for the
Rights of Disadvantaged Citizens of
2009-2-25
Summary in 2008
of
The Center for Protection for the Rights of Disadvantaged Citizens of
In the past 2008, the Center for Protection for the Rights of Disadvantaged Citizens of Wuhan University (CPRDC, shorted as the Center below) not only consolidated traditional legal aid fields, but also achieved a lot in public interest law cases and research, publicity and activities. Meanwhile, the Center also made great progress in its management.
● A Retrospect of The past 2008
In 2008, we received 2020 visitors, accepted 47 cases, answered about 36 letters and were consulted by telephone for about 541 times. The main activities of the Center in the year 2008 were as follows:
Ⅰ.Successfully acting for the plaintiff in the case “ Xu Jianguo v. Traffic Department of Huangzhou City”
On October 9th, 2008, the case “Xu Jianguo v. Traffic Department of Huangzhou City” in which the Center acted for the plaintiff was finally decided by People’s Court of Huangzhou District, Huanggang City, Hubei Province. Traffic Department of Huangzhou City, the defendant, lost the suit. This is the first case in which the government lost because of its violation of the new Governmental Information Publicity Regulations which came into force since May 1st, 2008.
Xu Jianguo, the plaintiff, is a person who has domicile in Huangzhou District, Huanggang City but works outside. Xu Jianguo intended to buy a motorbike in Huangzhou District. Because of not finding related information on the government’s website, He sent an express mail to the Traffic Department of Huangzhou District on May 1st, 2008, applying the Department to tell its components, functions and procedures, and some information about motorbikes, such as the norms and procedures of fees, punishments and fine. Xu even wrote his address and postal code on the application form. The Traffic Department received Xu’s application letter on May 3rd, 2008, but delayed to response, which violated the time limit according to the new Governmental Information Publicity Regulations. On June 2nd, 2008, Xu Sued the Traffic Department of Huangzhou District in People’s Court of Huangzhou District, asking the court to confirm the defendant’s nonfeasance, and to make the defendant fulfill its responsibility in a certain period.
On the morning of September 5th, 2008, People’s Court of Huangzhou District began a court session for this case. Shen Xiaoping, a volunteer of the Center acted as the agent of the plaintiff. Director Lin Lihong and Head of Labor Rights Department Zhang Wanhong attended the whole trial. After trial, the Court finally confirmed that the defendant’s behavior was illegal and made a judgment that the defendant lost the suit.
On October 10th, 2008, after knowing that it lost the suit, the defendant began to take measures to change. The defendant thought that this case was a warning. The people responsible for the illegal behavior were severely punished and asked to make self-criticism. This case also attracted great attention from related organs of Hubei Province. On the evening of October 11th, 2008, the Legal Department of Hubei Province publicized and emphasized this case to the media, in order to ask governments of all levels to administrate by law.
This case has also created widespread social effect. Media such as People Daily, The Beijing News, Law Weekly, Changjiang Times, Chutian Metropolis Daily and Huanggang Daily reported the case. This case was also chosen as one of the Top Ten Cases of 2008. This case is not only a warning to the governments of Huangzhou District and Huanggang City, it is also a warning to all the administrative organs of the country. It reminds the administrative organs of all levels to administrate by law. This case also encourages ordinary people to protect their rights by law.
II. Focusing on the research and projects of public interest law
1. On the evening of January 4th, Wuhan University Public Interest and Development Law Institute (PIDLI for short) held an establishment ceremony in Hankou, Wuhan City. PIDLI is a university-level research institute affiliated to School of Law Wuhan University, and the Center supports PIDLI’s establishment and development. PIDLI will do public interest law training, offer new legal clinic classes, host public interest and development round-table conferences and join academic activities both at home and abroad.
2. On January 5th and 6th, 2008, the Center and PIDLI hosted a conference on an experimental project on grassroots justice in China rural areas. The conference was held in Wuhan and was assisted by Hubei Province Legal Aid Center, Wuhan University School of Law and the Rights Practice, The topics of this conference were as follows: the situation and challenges of grassroots legal aid in China rural areas; the investigation report on the present situation of legal aid workers in Hubei Province rural areas; introduction, report and response about the project training; legal aid training in Philippine and India and what China can learn from it; “Hubei Mode” of legal aid training in rural areas and its sustainability. In this two-day long conference, reports were treated carefully and spoken highly of. A lot of suggestions were also given to this project.
3. Sun Jin, the head of Women’s Rights Department, when working as the deputy dean of Xinjiang University School of Law, launched a project on the rights protection of minority children who cleaned shoes as a job on streets. The project is assisted by World Bank and China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation and will be finished at the end of the year 2009. The aim of this project is to protect the rights of children who cleaned shoes as a job on streets and help them go back to school. The project was reported in a magazine called “Urban pictorial”, vol. 11, 2008.
4. On August 8th, the project “investigation and research on public interest litigation in Asian countries” began to start. Director Lin Lihong is in charge of this project. With the lead of Director Lin Lihong, 7 people of the Center visited Philippine, Indonesia, Japan and Korea. They visited universities, courts and many non-governmental institutions, exchanged ideas with lawyers, government officials and scholars, which made them well know the situation of public interest litigation in those countries.
5. From October 12th to 19th, Director Lin Lihong and other five staff of the Center were in India. They visited Indian Supreme Court, Jawaharlal Nehru University, some non-governmental organizations and research centers. They communicated with Indian judges, lawyers and scholars, which made them know more fully about public interest litigation situation in India. This visit makes the Center know more about public interest litigation in other Asian countries, provides materials for comparative studies and helps the Center prompt public interest litigation activities.
6. On the morning of October 22nd, the head of Labor Rights Department Zhang Wanhong accompanied Cui Fengming, director of the Chinese disabled development project of Harvard Law School to visit the Center and discuss the possibility of cooperation.
7. On December 26th, a seminar was held by Wuhan University School of Law and Hubei Women’s Federation on the research and experience exchanges about right protection of women. This seminar was called in by Li Ao, head of the Administrative Litigation Department of the Center. Li is also in charge of the Counter-sexual discrimination project. A lot of people having experiences on women’s right protection were invited, including judges, lawyers, governmental officials, professors and psychological consultation teachers.
8. Sun Jin, head of Women’s Rights Department of the Center, wrote an article titled “On the Protection of Women’s Rights-We Are Moving”. This article was published in the Green Book named “China Sex Equality and Women Development”. The Green Book was edited by Women Research Center of Chinese Women Federation and was published in December, 2008.
9. Director Lin Lihong participated in writing one chapter named “Rising of the Law on the Rights of the Disadvantaged” in the book titled “China towards Rule of Law: 30 Years”. This book is one of the “Researches on Reform and Opening-up Book Series” published by China Social Sciences Academic Press. Lin’s writing made the public know the changes and importance of legal aid and the rights protection of the disadvantaged during the 30 years of Chinese reform and opening-up.
III. Making exchanges actively both at home and abroad
In 2008, the Center made exchanges actively both at home and abroad, which made it win high evaluation of the society.
i. going outside to exchange
1. From April 21st to 23rd, Zhang Wanhong, the head of Labor Rights Department of the Center was at the “Beijing Human Rights Forum” which was held by China Human Rights Society. Zhang gave a presentation on “Public Interest Litigation and Protection of Human Rights”, he also introduced the Center’s practice on public interest litigation to other delegates of this forum.
2. From May 22nd to 25th, Xiang Yan, head of Juvenile’s Rights Department and Li Ao, head of Administrative Litigation Department of the Center were in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the 8th International Workshop on Resource Mobilisation.
3. On June 19th and 20th, with the invitation of the China Supreme People’s Court, Qin Tianbao, head of Environmental Rights Development of the Center attended the “Water Resources Protection by Law Seminar”. This Seminar was hosted by China Supreme People’s Court and held by Tianjin People’s Senior Court and Tianjin Maritime Court. Qin gave a presentation titled “On fixing the plaintiff of China’s environmental public interest litigation-from the point of preventing and solving water pollutions”, which was highly spoken of by Wan Exiang, vice chief justice of China Supreme People’s Court.
4. In July and September, head and executive head of Women’s Rights Department of the Center, Sun Jin and Ye Xiaoqin, visited UC Berkeley and Columbia University respectively. Professors and research centers in these two universities expressed their desire to cooperate with the Center. Rosann Greenspan, executive director of Center for the Study of Law and Society in UC Berkeley, intended to visit the Center at the end of the year 2009.
5. On August 5th and 6th, with the invitation of Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of Wuxi City and Wuxi Intermediate People's Court, Qin Tianbao, the head of Environmental Rights Department of the Center, attended the “Environmental Public Interest Litigation Seminar”. Qin gave a presentation titled “Six Key Problems in Designing China’s Environmental Public Interest Litigation System” which attracted great attentions.
6. On November 1st and 2nd, Xiang Yan and Liu Hui, the head and executive head of Juvenile’s Rights Department of the Center, attended the “Theory and Practice on Public Interest Written Statement Submitting Seminar”. This seminar was hosted by law research center of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and Beijing East Public Interest Legal Aid Law Firm. The topics of this seminar were practice and cases of public interest written statement submitting, public interest written statement submitting and public interest litigation, international experiences on valid examination and law reform, public interest written statement submitting and legal rules valid examination. Xiang made the keynote speech about the relationship between public interest written statement submitting and public interest litigation, she also introduced to the people in the seminar the achievements of the Center in public interest litigation.
7. On December 3rd and 4th, Director Lin Lihong attended the “Strengthening the Development of Chinese Civil Society Seminar” which was held in Beijng by Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Lin discussed the theory and practice on Chinese civil society with many delegates of this seminar.
8. From December 9th to 12th, Huang Qihui, the executive head of Environmental Rights Development of the Center, was in the 2nd Environmental Law Study Class which was held in Beijing by All-China Environment Federation. The aim of this study class was to build the nation-wide lawyer team of environmental public interest litigation, enhance the level of environmental public interest litigation in China, push forward the development of environmental public interest litigation and contribute to a good-environment and resource conservation society.
9. From December 28th to 31st, Zhang Wanhong, head of Labor Rights Department, Li Ao, head of Administrative Litigation Department, Xiang Yan, head of Juvenile’s Rights Department and Chen Hui were in Hong Kong for the “Public Interest Litigation and Social Development Seminar”. This seminar was held by Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC). The seminar discussed about the content and legal status of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); public interest litigation in enhancing economic, social and cultural rights and strategies on public interest litigation.
ii. receiving visitors to the Center
1. On the afternoon of January 4th, accompanied by Director Lin Lihong and Li Ao, head of Administrative Litigation Department of the Center, Ira Belkin, the Program Officer of Law and Rights Field of Ford Foundation Beijing Office visited the Center for the first time.
2. On the afternoon of January 6th, Sang Ning, deputy director of Legal Aid Center of Chinese Ministry of Justice; Ma Anjun, deputy director of Judiciary Department of Hubei Province; Wu Quanzhu, director of Hubei Legal Aid Center and its deputy director Fu Yiwu visited the Center and had a discussion with Director Lin Lihong.
3. On the afternoon of March 5th, Li Jing, an assistant researcher of Institute of Sociology Chinese Academy of Social Sciences visited the Center.
4. On May 12th, Chen Mengyi, a student of The Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong came to do her internship in the Center. This internship lasted for 15 days.
5. On May 21st, Bryan Flannery, An American native who is now a student of School of Law, Wuhan University, came to do his internship in the Center.
6. On the morning of June 10th, Scott Wilson from Southern New Hampshire University, who is also a student in School of Social Development and Public Policy of Fudan University visited the Center.
7. On June 13th, accompanied by Sun Jin, Professor Cai Xianfeng of Law School Ningbo University visited the Center. Professor Cai Xianfeng intended to build a legal aid center in Ningbo University according to the mode of the Center.
8. On June 25th, Leng Chuanli, the deputy dean of Law School, Guizhou University, visited the Center.
9. On July 18th, Director Lin Lihong and Qin Tianbao, the head of Environmental Rights Development of the Center, met with a visitor from Nagoya University, Japan. They discussed about the possibility of the cooperation between the Center and organizations in Japan.
10. On the afternoon of September 24th, Director Lin Lihong, Xiang Yan, Li Ao and Sun Jun met with staff from a NGO in Shanxi Province. They discussed about many things about NGO, such as consultation, acting in cases, publicity, research, management of volunteers, cooperation with other organizations, applying for fund, planning for development, and so on.
11. On November 13th, Tian Hao, the executive head of the Disabled Persons’ Rights Department of the Center accompanied staff of International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) to visit the Center.
12. On the morning of November 19th, Chen Feng, the executive head of Labor Rights Department of the Center accompanied Su Nan, the China programme manager of the Rights Practice to visit the Center.
13. On December 10th, three teachers from Law School Tianjin Normal University visited the Center. Later, Director Lin Lihong met with them in Law School Wuhan University and introduced to them the general situation of the Center and its future.
14. On the afternoon of December 17th, Li Ao, the head of Administrative Litigation Department of the Center led 11 foreign students to visit the Center.
15. On the morning of December 30th, Wen Zengxian, the deputy director of civil administration department of Hubei Province visited the center. Wen spoke highly of the Center’s achievements in legal aid.
16. An Harvard graduate Catilan Mcloon came to Wuhan to do research as a Fulbright scholar. She will stay in Wuhan for one year and her research topic is Chinese peasants rights protection and legal aid system. Her research is supervised by Zhang Wanhong, the head of Labor Rights Department of the Center. Catilan Mcloon will visit the Center regularly to push forward her research.
Meanwhile, because of the staff’s hard work, the Center and its staff got a lot of honors in 2008. On April 9th, Director Lin Lihong was honored “An Advanced Worker in Hubei NGO” by the government of Hubei Province.
Director Lin Lihong’s article “A Legal Analysis of Legitimacy of NGO” which was published in the famous legal periodical China Legal Science, vol. 1, 2006, was granted a prize in Wuhan in December, 2008.
Li Ao, the head of the Administrative Litigation Department of the Center, was granted a prize by Hubei Provincial Federation of Trade Unions in 2008.
Zhang Wanhong, the head of the Labor Rights Department of the Center, was honored “An Advanced Worker in Hubei Legal Aid Field”
On the evening of November 20th, Wan Exiang, vice chief justice of China Supreme People’s Court, met with the whole staff of the Center in Wuhan, Justice Wan spoke highly of the Center’s achievements in recent years and he hoped the Center would achieve more in legal aid.
Ⅳ. Making progress in management system
On July 17th, the Center’s “2007 annual examination report” was approved by the Hubei Civil Administration Department. The Center has made a lot of progress in its management system.
i. regular meeting system
In 2008, the Center held regular meetings on March 10th, April 7th, May 5th, June 10th, September 18th, October 6th, November 3rd and December 1st respectively and discussed matters about the Center.
ii. training system
1. On the evening of March 3rd, the Center held the first training class of the year. Director Lin Lihong gave a speech named “Legal Aid and Public Interest Litigation in a Transforming Society in China”.
2. On the afternoon of March 17th, Sun Jin, the head of Women’s Rights Department of the Center, gave volunteers a speech on “Women Discrimination”.
3. On the evening of April 14th, Li Ao, the head of Administrative Litigation Department of the Center, gave volunteers a speech on “Counter-discrimination”.
4. On the evening of April 28th, Chen Hui, a worker of the Center, gave the volunteers a speech on “Labor Contract and Work Arbitration”.
5. On the evening of October 6th, Director Lin Lihong, office director Zhao Xuesong and Chen Hui gave a training class to the volunteers.
6. On the evening of November 10th, Xiang Yan, the head of Juvenile’s Rights Department of the Center, held an informal discussion with the volunteers. The topic of this discussion was “Skills in Meeting Clients”. The discussion was about how to meet the clients, how to comfort the clients and how to guide the clients to describe the cases and express their requests.
7. On November 25th, Li Ao gave a training class to law school students, the topic of which is “The Future of Female Law Students”.
8. On December 4th, Chen Hui gave a training class to the volunteers of the Center, the topic of which was Labor Law.
iii. incentive system
On June 16th, Legal Clinic Center and PIDLI of Wuhan University jointly hosted a farewell party to praise volunteers who would graduate in the summer. There was a simple but serious certificate-granting ceremony in this party. Lin Lihong, Xiang Yan, Li Ao, Zhang Wanhong and Chen Feng granted certificates to the volunteers respectively.
iv. propagating system
1. On February 28th, Changjiang Times pressed an article named “CPRDC revealing the public interest litigation reality: we need a plaintiff!” which reported the Center’s focus on public interest litigation after its reform. This article reported two famous cases in which the Center acted as agents after its reform, and asked more people to bring the public interest cases to the Center by broadcasting Director Lin Lihong’s request-“We Need a Plaintiff!”
2. On the morning of March 5th, volunteers of the Center did law publicizing activities in the “China Young Volunteers Serving Day” program which was held by Wuhan University.
3. On October 18th, Chutian Metropolis Daily pressed an article named “Legal Aid: from Non-governmental to Governmental” to report the achievements of the legal aid career in China in 30 years, especially stressing contributions the Center had made to legal aid career in China. Director Lin Lihong provided research materials for this article.
4. From December 1st to 5th, Li Ao and students of the Legal Clinic Center, program members of the “Counter-sexual discrimination” project were in cooperation with Hubei People’s Broadcasting Station Women and Children’s Channel to make a broadcasting program on rights protection of Women. This program was in serials which had 6 parts, and it had good effect after broadcasting.
5. On December 3rd, Li Ao gave a training class named “Law in Real Life” to workers of CR11G Electric Engineering Co., LTD. in Wuhan.
6. On December 4th, Li Ao, Chen Feng, Chen Hui and volunteers of the Center did law publicizing activities on the topic of counter-sexual discrimination on the streets in Wuhan. Hubei Broadcasting Station and Hubei TV Station did on-the-spot coverage and gave special reports.
7. On December 4th, A Moot Court was held on the topic of “I am a female law student, I want a job”. This moot court was organized and planned by Li Ao, volunteers of the Center and students of Legal Clinic joined the moot court. Professor Feng Guo, the deputy dean of Wuhan University School of Law attended and gave suggestions. Li Ao, Xu Chen commented on the students’ performance, Hubei Broadcasting Station and Hubei TV Station did on-the-spot coverage and made a special report.
● Prospects of 2009
Ⅰ. Continue to focus on public interest law research and public interest cases
In 2008, the Center acted for the plaintiff in a famous public interest case. Meanwhile, it made great progress in the research and projects of public interest law. In 2009, the Center will continue to focus on public interest law research and public interest cases.
Ⅱ. Do more to publicize public interest law
The Center always places great emphasis on public interest law publicizing and education. In 2009, the Center will strengthen this by giving speeches, holding discussions, training volunteers, doing projects, and so on.
Ⅲ. Make “Public Interest Law Review” a high-quality journal
“Public Interest Law Review” is going to be published. In 2009, the Center will do more to construct this Law Review and make it a high-quality journal of big influence in China.
The past 2008 is a year of growing and progressing. The year 2009 is a period in which we need to make more efforts. We believe that with the guidance of the spirit of law, the Center will make even bigger contributions to China!