New Housing Demolition Provision Approved by Supreme People’s Court
For more news and videos visit ➡ http://english.ntdtv.com
Follow us on Twitter ➡ http://twitter.com/NTDTelevision
Add us on Facebook ➡ http://on.fb.me/s5KV2C
The Supreme People’s Court issued a provision on handling government requests to demolish housing in China on Monday. The new provision is effective as of the following day.
According to the provision, courts can refuse government demolition requests if compensation to the residents is considered unfair. If demolition is unfairly carried out, a judicial remedy will be possible for property owners.
However, Zheng Jianwei, a lawyer from Chongqing who has offered legal assistance for house owners facing forced demolition for many years, has a different opinion. He says that there should be an unimpeded communication channel between property owners and the Supreme People’s Court to protect people’s rights and interests.
[Zheng Jianwei, a lawyer from Chongqing, China]:
“It is a huge issue that whether final decision makers can really hear the individual’s voice. Usually, decision makers listen to reports from local authorities about how people are requesting unreasonable prices. However, these decision makers have never met those property owners directly. Therefore, when they make decisions, they base them on the distorted information [from the local government], and their decisions may be wrong.”
According to Zheng, millions of Chinese mainlanders have suffered from illegal forced housing appropriation and demolition in the past ten years. Whether the new provision can have an effect relies on strict monitoring.
[...]
The new provision requests city and district authorities to provide a compensation plan, evidence, and other materials in order to apply for a house demolition request.
At the same time, Zheng and other critics are saying that authorities and land developers could still ignore the rights of legal property owners, if the new provision is not put into practice.
Follow us on Twitter ➡ http://twitter.com/NTDTelevision
Add us on Facebook ➡ http://on.fb.me/s5KV2C
The Supreme People’s Court issued a provision on handling government requests to demolish housing in China on Monday. The new provision is effective as of the following day.
According to the provision, courts can refuse government demolition requests if compensation to the residents is considered unfair. If demolition is unfairly carried out, a judicial remedy will be possible for property owners.
However, Zheng Jianwei, a lawyer from Chongqing who has offered legal assistance for house owners facing forced demolition for many years, has a different opinion. He says that there should be an unimpeded communication channel between property owners and the Supreme People’s Court to protect people’s rights and interests.
[Zheng Jianwei, a lawyer from Chongqing, China]:
“It is a huge issue that whether final decision makers can really hear the individual’s voice. Usually, decision makers listen to reports from local authorities about how people are requesting unreasonable prices. However, these decision makers have never met those property owners directly. Therefore, when they make decisions, they base them on the distorted information [from the local government], and their decisions may be wrong.”
According to Zheng, millions of Chinese mainlanders have suffered from illegal forced housing appropriation and demolition in the past ten years. Whether the new provision can have an effect relies on strict monitoring.
[...]
The new provision requests city and district authorities to provide a compensation plan, evidence, and other materials in order to apply for a house demolition request.
At the same time, Zheng and other critics are saying that authorities and land developers could still ignore the rights of legal property owners, if the new provision is not put into practice.