行政行为实施主体不明情形下的行政诉讼适格被告——评“程宝田诉历城区人民政府行政强制案再审裁定”

Qualified Defendants in Administrative Litigation in Cases Where Infringers’ Identities are Uncertain:Review of Cheng Baotian v. Licheng District Government

最高法院对程宝田诉历城区人民政府案的再审裁定,涉及在被诉行为实施主体不明情形下如何认定适格被告的问题。法院应当首先依据推定规则对被诉行为实施主体进行推定,进而,应当结合“能力要素”“实施要素”和“独立责任要素”认定适格被告。其中,“独立责任要素”取决于法律、法规、规章或相应制定主体的决定是否合乎职权法定原则地直接或间接授予被诉行政机关或组织独立行使职权。据此,程宝田案中的适格被告应是历城区政府而不是最高法院裁定认定的华山街道办。

The Supreme People s Court s ruling on Cheng Baotian v. Licheng District People s Government involves an issue of how to determine the proper defendant when it is not clear who made the challenged administrative action. The presumption rules in the evidence law should be applied first to make a presumption of the actor, and then, the “ability factor”,“implementation factor” and “independent responsibility factor” should be combined to determine the proper defendant. Among them, the “independent responsibility” depends on whether the laws, regulations and rules, conforming to the principle of administrative authority delegated by legal norms, directly or indirectly grant the defendant to independently make the action which is under review. Therefore, the suitable defendant in Cheng Baotian case should be Licheng District People s Government rather than Huashan Street Office determined by the Supreme People s Court.