How to correctly guide the people to participate in the government information disclosure work in an orderly manner

Zhang Jinnan, the Beijing Municipal Construction Committee, promulgated the Regulations on Government Information Disclosure in People's Republic of China (PRC), which is regarded as the "third major revolution" in government reform after the Administrative Procedure Law and the Administrative Licensing Law. The implementation of the regulations has made the people feel the reality of open government affairs, and the disclosure of government information has been highly recognized by the broad masses of the people. Most people can correctly participate in government information disclosure and realize the right to know, participate and supervise. However, there are some misunderstandings that need to be clarified, otherwise it will affect the applicant's right to know government information. In practice, the people have several misunderstandings about the disclosure of government information: First, they have a wrong understanding of the subject of government information disclosure. It is believed that any government information obtained by administrative organs is the obligatory subject of government information disclosure. Administrative organs have a system of filing and copying official documents, so a certain government information may be kept by multiple administrative organs, such as information filed by higher authorities to lower authorities, forwarding information received by business-related administrative organs at the same level, and information sealed by administrative organs. Article 17 of the Regulations stipulates: "The government information produced by an administrative organ shall be made public by the administrative organ that produced the government information." The people should apply to the government information production organ. Second, there is a wrong understanding of the responsibilities of the government information disclosure department. Mainly manifested in the applicant's request beyond the scope of government information disclosure. Many applicants regard information inquiry as complaints, or ask the information disclosure department to make policy answers, and even want to obtain some data they want through information disclosure. Professor Zhou Hanhua once gave an example of applying for information about "Beijing real estate trends in the second half of the year". In order to give this trend, a project leader must be set up for long-term research, and the administrative organ is not a scientific research unit. Third, the government information application method is improper. When the applicant submits the application, the information description is inaccurate or too general, which makes the administrative organ unable to reply or fully reply. Fourth, the definition of information attributes is unclear, and there is no distinction between information that is voluntarily disclosed and information that is disclosed upon application, government information that can be disclosed and government information that cannot be disclosed, government information and non-government information. For example, the use of administrative power is regarded as government information. Article 2 of the Regulations emphasizes that information is "recorded and preserved in a certain form", and it cannot be used as a government information query without a certain form as a carrier. In addition, when applying for information, the applicant should consider that the disclosure of information is restricted by the confidentiality review mechanism in Article 14 of the Regulations. It is impossible to obtain the internal information of government agencies and the information of uncertain issues. The applicant shall respect the reply of the administrative organ. Fifth, there is a misunderstanding of the relief system of government information disclosure. For example, the "non-disclosure" reply of the administrative organ is regarded as "administrative inaction". The answer is "no disclosure", the administrative organ has fulfilled the obligation of government information disclosure in procedure, and "administrative omission" means that the administrative organ has not fulfilled its statutory duties. For another example, all information disclosure acts are regarded as actionable administrative acts. Government information disclosure includes information release, evaluation, confidentiality review and other links, including both specific administrative actions, such as accepting and responding to government information applications, and administrative factual actions that do not generate substantive rights and obligations, such as publishing and uploading government information online. Administrative factual acts cannot be sued. Clarifying the above misunderstandings will help to avoid wrong applications, reduce the cost of people's access to government information and better realize the right to know. Of course, in order to ensure that the people can really enjoy the benefits of government information disclosure, we must also build supporting mechanisms including information disclosure cooperation system and information disclosure relief system, so as to form an orderly government information disclosure order from the people themselves, administrative organs and judicial organs. First of all, the people should consciously and orderly participate in government information disclosure activities. People should change their ideas, enhance citizens' subjective consciousness, change passivity into initiative, and share government information resources with administrative organs. In the past, the administrative organs controlled the information resources, and the people were the passive recipients of information, while the regulations determined the obligation of the administrative organs to actively disclose information. Article 15 of the Regulations stipulates that government information administrative organs shall voluntarily disclose information "through government gazette, government website, press conference, newspaper, radio, television and other means that are convenient for the public to know". Article 16 stipulates: "People's governments at all levels shall set up government information consulting places in national archives and public libraries, and provide corresponding facilities and equipment to facilitate citizens, legal persons or other organizations to obtain government information." People can get information through various channels, and they don't have to apply to the office of the administrative organ for information. Secondly, the petition department should cooperate with the government information disclosure department to guide the people to participate in the information inquiry work in an orderly manner. There are three reasons why the petition department plays a role in guiding people to participate in government information disclosure in an orderly manner: first, because the petition system is a relatively mature system and is also trusted by the people, it is the same as the government information disclosure department as the government window department; Second, because a large number of government information inquiries are accompanied by letters and visits in practice, the applicants of government information are also letters and visits; Third, because the provision of government information is also conducive to solving the problem of letters and visits, the disclosure of government information and the solution of letters and visits are mutually supportive. For example, in terms of policy consultation, before the implementation of the Regulations on the Openness of Government Information, letters and visits were basically used. Thirdly, the window department of government information disclosure should establish a communication mechanism to guide the people to inquire about government information in an orderly manner. Government information disclosure should establish a communication mechanism to correct mistakes in communication. "Communication" is a major feature that distinguishes information disclosure from other administrative actions. The "Regulations" stipulate several communication situations: changing and supplementing unclear applications; Solicit opinions from third parties; Correct the inaccurate information and report to the higher administrative organs and supervision departments. Government information disclosure is a kind of service administration. Even if civil rights are realized, the establishment of communication mechanism will help to shape the image of the government that is in power for the people. Pre-litigation communication will avoid the initiation of formal relief procedures and realize the right to know government information at a small cost. For example, Xie Mou of Xuchang County, Henan Province sued the Xuchang Municipal Development and Reform Commission for administrative inaction because he was rejected when he asked the Xuchang Municipal Development and Reform Commission for information about pig breeding. The author believes that there are two kinds of communication involved here: one is that the application materials may be too general and need further correction and communication; First, the information applied for may not be digitized and systematized. How to reply? This also requires communication. Finally, the government information relief department should guide the people to exercise their right to appeal reasonably and participate in the settlement of information disclosure disputes in an orderly manner. It is necessary to make it clear to the applicant that there are three relief mechanisms for government information disclosure: administrative supervision, administrative reconsideration and administrative litigation. Among them, administrative reconsideration is a form of higher administrative organs supervising lower administrative organs, which is more professional than the court. For example, the competent engineering department of the Construction Committee knows more about the procedures for handling construction permits than the people's courts, and the competent housing demolition department is more familiar with the demolition business and related regulations than the people's courts. In principle, administrative litigation can only examine the legality of specific administrative acts, and the people's courts should respect the discretion of administrative organs. Therefore, in the event of a government information disclosure dispute, the relief department should guide the parties to choose the most appropriate relief method in administrative supervision, administrative reconsideration and administrative litigation. Government information disclosure is an inevitable requirement for building a modern country ruled by law. On the one hand, the disclosure of government information is an important measure to open government affairs, which is very important for shaping an open and transparent government image. On the other hand, participating in the disclosure of government information also shows people's civic awareness and civic quality. Therefore, the people, administrative organs and judicial relief organs should participate in the process of government information disclosure in an orderly manner, and take the opportunity of government information disclosure to make contributions to building a harmonious country ruled by law.