[Shenzhen Lawyers Association] A Case Represented by Zhiming Law Firm Selected as One of the Top Ten Typical Administrative Cases in Shenzhen for 2018

On July 16, 2019, the Shenzhen court announced the top ten typical administrative cases in Shenzhen for 2018. Among them, the Wang Tengfeng Literary Rights Litigation Team of Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm represented the; Zhang v. Shenzhen Municipal People's Government Government Information Disclosure Case; Honor selected!
 

This case originated from an administrative lawsuit filed by the party, Zhang, against the Shenzhen Human Settlements and Environment Commission (a separate case) due to environmental pollution suffered as a result of the government's newly launched power plant project. In 2015, Zhang submitted an application to the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government, requesting the disclosure of the "Research on Site Selection and Planning and Design Conditions of Shangkengtang Site for the Shenzhen Eastern Waste Incineration Power Plant (Eastern Environmental Protection Power Plant) (Draft for Review)" submitted by the Shenzhen Municipal Planning and Land Resources Commission to the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government, the written opinions of the Shenzhen Municipal Urban Planning Commission approving the aforementioned project and documents upon review, and the written documents of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government approving the aforementioned project and documents. Zhang's application was rejected by the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government on the grounds that the content requested for disclosure constituted process information generated during internal communication, research, and review between the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government and the Shenzhen Municipal Planning and Land Resources Commission concerning matters related to the construction of the Shenzhen Eastern Waste Incineration Power Plant, and therefore did not constitute government information that should be disclosed. After first-instance trial, the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government lost the case. The court held that administrative organs shall, in accordance with the law, disclose information regarding the approval and implementation of major construction projects. The judgment revoked the reply of non-disclosure made by the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government in response to Zhang's information disclosure application, and ordered the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government to render a new decision. Subsequently, the Shenzhen Municipal Government, dissatisfied with the judgment, appealed to the Guangdong Provincial High People's Court. In the end, the Provincial High Court issued a final judgment of “dismissing the appeal of the Shenzhen Municipal Government and upholding the original judgment.”

The Wang Tengfeng literary and artistic rights litigation team in this case, from the perspective of major public interests in society, conducted in-depth research on administrative substantive law and procedural law, and proposed the following:; The government should not confuse the deliberation and decision-making behavior with the specific behavior of functional departments; His defense also received support from two levels of courts. This case has been included in the top ten typical administrative cases of Shenzhen in 2018.