ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the practical impact of the introduction of judicial review of government legality in China, as formalized by the enactment of the Administrative Litigation Law (ALL) almost 25 years ago. Their continued advocacy of fairly moderate and technical reform proposals seem to reflect the belief that judicial review might still protect individual rights against government coercion to some meaningful degree, even under current political circumstances. The chapter focuses on the importance of formal political accountability as a source of support for, and a complement to, judicial review of government legality might reinforce some of the more pessimistic features of this overall narrative. The introduction of judicial review in China established a sanctioned and legitimizing forum for open and public contention between citizens and State actors-contention that, in turn, would become a matter of record, and hence, more easily disseminated than other such instances.
