Article 49 If a participant in the proceedings or any other person commits any of the following acts, the people’s court may, according to the seriousness of his offence, reprimand him, order him to sign a statement of repentance or impose upon him a fine of not more than l,000 yuan or detain him for not longer than l5 days; if a crime is constituted, his criminal responsibility shall be investigated:

(l) evading without reason, refusing to assist in or obstructing the execution of the notice of a people’s court for assistance in its execution by a person who has the duty to render assistance;

(2) forging, concealing or destroying evidence;

(3) instigating, suborning or threatening others to commit perjury or hindering witnesses from giving testimony;

(4) concealing, transferring, selling or destroying the property that has been sealed up, seized or frozen;

(5) using violence, threats or other means to hinder the personnel of a people’s court from performing their duties or disturbing the order of the work of a people’s court; or

(6) insulting, slandering, framing, beating or retaliating against the personnel of a people’s court, participants in proceedings or personnel who assist in the execution of duties;

A fine or detention must be approved by the president of a people’s court. Parties who refuse to accept the punishment decision may apply for reconsideration.

Article 50 A people’s court shall not apply conciliation in handling an administrative case.

Article 51 Before a people’s court announces its judgment or order on an administrative case, if the plaintiff applies for the withdrawal of the suit, or if the defendant amends its specific administrative act and, as a result, the plaintiff agrees and applies for the withdrawal of the suit, the people’s court shall decide whether or not to grant the approval.

Article 52 In handling administrative cases, the people’s courts shall take the law, administrative rules and regulations and local regulations as the criteria. Local regulations shall be applicable to administrative cases within the corresponding administrative areas.

In handling administrative cases of a national autonomous area, the people’s courts shall also take the regulations on autonomy and separate regulations of the national autonomous area as the criteria.

Article 53 In handling administrative cases, the people’s courts shall take, as references, regulations formulated and announced by ministries or commissions under the State Council in accordance with the law and administrative rules and regulations, decisions or orders of the State Council and regulations formulated and announced, in accordance with the law and administrative rules and regulations of the State Council, by the people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, of the cities where the people’s governments of provinces and autonomous regions are located, and of the larger cities approved as such by the State Council.

If a people’s court considers regulations formulated and announced by a loca1 people’s government to be inconsistent with regulations formulated and announced by a ministry or commission under the State Council, or if it considers regulations formulated and announced by ministries or commissions under the State Council to be inconsistent with each other, the Supreme People’s Court shall refer the matter to the State Council for interpretation or ruling.

Article 54 After hearing a case, a people’s court shall make the following judgments according to the varying conditions:

(l) If the evidence for undertaking a specific administrative act is conclusive, the application of the law and regulations to the act is correct, and the legal procedure is complied with, the specific administrative act shall be sustained by judgment.

(2) If a specific administrative act has been undertaken in one of the following circumstances, the act shall be annulled or partially annulled by judgment, or the defendant may be required by judgment to undertake a specific administrative act anew:

a. inadequacy of essential evidence;

b. erroneous application of the law or regulations;

c. violation of legal procedure;

d. exceeding authority; or

e. abuse of powers.

(3) If a defendant fails to perform or delays the performance of his statutory duty, a fixed time shall be set by judgment for his performance of the duty.

(4) If an administrative sanction is obviously unfair, it may be amended by judgment.