Anita Boros, Gyula Koi (eds): Sustainability and Law
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8.Other socio-legal, historical and general aspects
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8.4. Sustainability, law, administration. Historical background of the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation/Soviet Union (Gyula Koi)
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8.4.3. Some features of Public Administration and Administrative Law in Chinese and Russian State formations

8.4.3. Some features of Public Administration and Administrative Law in Chinese and Russian State formations

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China is often regarded as the oldest continuous civilisation in the world. This civilisation is best expressed by the Chinese language, its writing made perceptible with its own special characters, and the literate Mandarin class that has carried this written culture since ancient times. A person could not be a Mandarin based on their origin (after the 8th century), but depending on the results they achieved in written competitive exams. The written competitive exam itself is a Chinese invention. In particular, the so-called Confucian Five Classics (Book of Changes, Book of Songs, Book of Writings, Spring and Autumn Annals, Records of Ceremonies) had to be known. The examinees were required to write a dissertation on a topic assigned from these question sets. The work was evaluated by three examiners independently of each other, from a copied manuscript, so that the candidate’s writing would not be recognised. There were three rounds of the competitive exams: the local, the provincial, and the capital round. The dissertation was made in a written form. It had to be written as an eight-part essay by interpreting a classical passage. The examination system itself existed until 1905. Interestingly, in the 18th century there was a substantial body of literature on local administrative practice, in the form of manuals. The most famous work of this kind is probably Wang Huizu’s (1731-1807) Views on the Study of Public Administration (Chin. 學治臆說; Xue che yishuo, lit. ‘Views on learning governance’) from 1793. As early as 124 AD, the Imperial Academy (Hanlin Academy, i.e. ‘Academy of the Forest of Brushes’) was founded. Initially, 50 students were selected for this institution, who studied under the sages who served as advisors to the emperor. The top-ranked candidate in the national competitive examination was granted an honourary position here (which was a prestigious position, but not equivalent toformal membership in the academy).1

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In Great Britain, experiments were already being carried out with the written competitive examination system adapted from China in 1832. In 1854, the Macaulay Commission examined the effectiveness of the written competitive examination system. As a result, open competitive examinations were introduced in 1855. Today’s EU civil service entrance examinations (concours) are also late descendants of the Chinese system.2

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China’s public administration is extremely old (ancient Chinese law consisted mostly of criminal and administrative law rules, and private law regulations were practically insignificant). Administrative law as a discipline and subject only appeared much later, in the modern era. According to Chinese understanding, the parts of administrative law include: the general theory of administrative law; the law of administrative organisation and acts; the substantive law of administrative law; and the law of administrative procedure.3

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In the case of China, regarding administrative law, internally distributed university notes were published from the 1950s – presumably due to Soviet influence. The scientific cultivation of administrative law has been ongoing independently and continuously only since the 1980s, as exemplified by the first 178-page textbook from 1983. Between 1983 and 1988, four Soviet administrative law textbooks were also translated.4 The development of this branch of law has been extremely rapid, with numerous modern administrative law institutions being adopted (the principle of openness, hearing, protection of confidence, and principle of comparison).5 One of its most important problems at present is the theory of administrative legal relations. The cultivation of Chinese administrative procedural law is not supported by an independent code, but by several thematic regulations.6

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One of the renowned practitioners of Chinese administrative law merits consideration. Wang Mingyang (1916-2008), the late professor of China University of Political Science and Law between 1983 and 1986, continued his doctoral (PhD) studies and postdoctoral research in France between 1948 and 1958. The professor published a famous three-part comparative administrative law book series in English (British Administrative Law [1987]; French Administrative Law [1989], and finally American Administrative Law [1995]), thus creating one of the classic handbooks of the field.7

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Having examined administrative law in China, we now turn to Russian practices, drawing on textbooks written by practitioners of Soviet administrative law, which in several cases have been translated into Hungarian.8

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Western analysts of Soviet administrative law pointed out that the operation of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was characterised by the lack of interpellations, in contrast to the practice of the pre-revolutionary State Duma. The Supreme Soviet of the USSR was therefore only a symbolic institution of little practical use. Local governments (Rus. земство; zemstvo) were also reorganised. Local councils lost their independence, and police forces (militia) were assigned to the local level controlled by the party. The commissars became the masters of the local level, although the police forces were in principle controlled by the local administrative level.9

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Several authors have referred to the debates surrounding the concept of Soviet administrative law and have also highlighted the propagandistic nature of administrative law. The legal material on the personnel of the state and council administration assumed the role of civil service law. Some authors emphasise the deteriorated, “perverse/perverted [sic]” nature of Soviet administrative law, emphasising that Soviet administrative law was never codified law. Bribery was also common in Soviet society. Social control was maintained by Soviet law enforcement. Social and financial administration were also examined in literature.10 Soviet public administration science was also analysed in Hungary.11

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Soviet-Russian and then Soviet public administration theoretically inherited its highly bureaucratised nature from Tsarist Russia, but – at least considering the number of public administration employees – the socialist state structure was even more excessive than the imperial conglomerate. During the public administration of the Tsarist era, there were fewer than 5 public administration employees per 1,000 inhabitants, 10.2 in 1950, and 8.7 in 1985. In terms of numbers, this meant 1,831,000 people in 1950, out of a population of 179 million, and 2,389,000 people in 1985, out of a population of 276 million.12 Today’s Russian administrative law is summarised in numerous textbooks.13
1 Gernet (2001) [1972] op. cit. 127-139.; Dawson (2002) [1978] op. cit. 41-56.
2 Imre M.,Koi G (2005). Az Egyesült Királyság közigazgatása. [The Administration of the United Kingdom]. In: Lőrincz L. ( ed..): Közigazgatás az Európai Unió tagállamaiban. Összehasonlító közigazgatás. [Public Administration in the Member States of the European Union. Comparative Public Administration]. (Budapest:Unió Kiadó). 101-102.
3 Wittfogel, K. (1978) [1954]. Oriental despotism. A comparative study of total power. (New Heaven – London: Yale University Press). 108-111. ISBN no. Tenth edition.; Lin, F. (1996). Administrative law procedures and remedies in China. (Hong Kong: Sweet and Maxwell). 13. ISBN: 9780421560208 (ISBN13) ISBN: 0421560207 (ISBN10).
4 Wang, M., Zhang, S. eds. (1983). Xingzhengfa Gaiyao. [Textbook of Administrative Law]. (Beijing: Publishing House of Law). 300. ISBN no. For this question, see: Jianfu C. (2008). Chinese Law: Context and Transformation. (Leiden-Boston, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers). 207-208. ISBN: 9789004165045 ISBN: 9789047423430 ISBN: 9004165045 ISBN: 9047423437 DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004165045.i-772; Koi G. (2023): The evolution of legal system in People’s Republic of China in the last three decades, In: Mundstein, H. ed.: On the tide. Foreword by Karl-Heinz Fischer. (Wien: Urban Future. 231-232. ISBN: 978-3-200-091106-1.
5 Guoping, P.,Limin, M. (2010). China’s Laws. (Transl.: Guojie, C.). (Beijing: China International Press). 147-148. ISBN: 978-7-5085-1719-3.
6

See the legal instruments listed below: Law of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Review (effective: January 1, 1991); Law of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Procedure Code (effective: October 1, 1990); Opinion of the Supreme People's Court on Certain Issues Concerning the Application of the Administrative Procedure Code of the People's Republic of China in Court Cases (May 29, 1991) [roughly equivalent to the Hungarian Curia [Supreme Court] legal uniformity decision); Administrative Penal Code of the People's Republic of China /Offense Law (March 17, 1996); Law of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Supervision (November 23, 1990); Law of the People's Republic of China on State Compensation (May 12, 1994).

For these legal instruments, see: Guoping – Limin (2010) op. cit. 162-167.

7 . Chen, A. H. Y. (2021). The Chinese tradition, In: Cane, P.,Hoffmann, H. C.–H., Ip, E. C., Lindseth, P. (eds.): The Oxford handbook of comparative administrative law. (Oxford: Oxford University Press). 83-84.; Koi (2023) op. cit. 231-232. main text and fn. 14.
8 Studenikin, S. S. (1951). A szovjet államigazgatási jog. [Soviet administrative law]. ( Transl.: Bene Lajos, rev.: Csánk B., -Szamel L., Vadas G., compiled by: Danyi D.). (Budapest: Tankönyvkiadó). 289, (1) ISBN no.; Petrov, G. I. (1963): Szovjet államigazgatási jog. Általános rész. [Soviet administrative law. General part]. ( Transl.: Márkus F.,, rev.: Décsi G.). (Budapest: Közgazdasági és Jogi Könyvkiadó). 381. ISBN no.; Lunev, E. A. (1970). Administrativnoe pravo. (Moskva: Juridičeskaja Literatur). 245. ISBN no.
9 Guins, G. C. (1954). Soviet law and Soviet Society. Ethical foundations of the Soviet Structure. Mechanism of the planned economy. Duties and rights of peasants and workers, rulers and toilers. The family and the state. Soviet justice. National miniorities and their autonomy. The People’s democracies, and the Soviet pattern for a united world. (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff). 15-21. ISBN no.
10 Ginsburgs, G. (1989). Soviet administrative law: theory and policy. (Dordrecht – Boston – London: Martinus Nijhoff). 9-46., 85-130., 387-399.
11 Lőrincz L. (1974). A szovjet igazgatástudomány fejlődése és helyzete. [The Development and Status of Soviet Administrative Science]. Állam-és Jogtudomány 18(2) 201-229.
12 Halász I. (2013). Orosz és posztszovjet államépítés és közigazgatási fejlődés sajátosságai. [Features of Russian and Post-Soviet State-Building and Public Administration Development]. (Budapest: Nemzeti Közszolgálati Egyetem). 40-41. ISBN: 978-615-5344-50-3.
13

Četverikov, V. S. (2004). Administrativnoe pravo. [Administrative law]. (Moskva: Feniks). 400. ISBN: 978-5-369-01346-5; Agapov, A. B. (2006): Administrativnoe pravo. [Administrative law]. (Moskva: EKSMO). 813. ISBN no.; Golovistikova, A. (2006): Administrativnoe pravo Rossii v tabličach i skemak: učobnoe pozovie. [Administrative law of Russia in tables and skema: educational textbook]. (Moskva: EKSMO). 350. ISBN no.; Gončarova, N. G. - Rossinskij, B.V. (2006). Administrativnoe pravo Rossii. Praktikum. [Administrative law of Russia. Practical training]. (Moskva: EKSMO). 280. ISBN no.

Lipatov, E. (2006): Administrativnoe pravo. Kurs lekcij. [Administrative Law. Lecture Course]. (Moskva: Ekzamen). 509, (2), (1). ISBN: 5-472-01656-3.

Markova, A. A.,Velikanova, S. N. (2006). Administrativnoe pravo. Otvety na ekzamenacionnye voprosy. [Administrative Law. Answers to examination questions]. (Moskva: Ekzamen). 224. ISBN: 5472024595.

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