Discretion in Administrative Penalties for Hazardous Chemicals Enterprises 【Daily Question 090326】

The relevant laws and regulations include: the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Work Safety, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Administrative Penalties, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Administrative Licenses, the Regulations on Work Safety Licenses, the Regulations on the Safe Management of Hazardous Chemicals, the Measures for the Administration of Licenses for the Operation of Hazardous Chemicals, the Measures for the Implementation of Work Safety Licenses for Hazardous Chemical Production Enterprises, the Measures for the Controlled Production of Packaging Materials and Containers for Hazardous Chemicals, the Measures for the Registration of Hazardous Chemicals, the Measures for the Granting of Safety Permits for Hazardous Chemical Construction Projects, the Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation, and Handling of Work Safety Accidents, the Measures for Administrative Penalties for Violations of Work Safety Laws and Regulations, the Interim Provisions on the Identification and Rectification of Hidden Dangers in Work Safety, the Regulations on the Supervision and Management of Labor Protection Equipment, the Regulations on Safety Training for Production and Business Entities, and the Measures for the Administration of Work Safety Training. In addition, there are also regional laws and regulations formulated by various provinces and cities:

The answers on the 2nd floor are already quite comprehensive; here are a few additional points: \"Measures for the Safety Permitting of Hazardous Chemicals Construction Projects\" (**Order No. 8 of the Supervision Administration**)； “**Opinions of the General Administration on Safety Permits for Hazardous Chemicals Construction Projects and the Filing of Trial Production (Use) Plans**” (Safety Supervision General Administration, Hazardous Chemicals No. 121) ； “Implementation Measures for Safety Production Licenses of Hazardous Chemicals Manufacturing Enterprises” (formerly **Regulatory Bureau Order No. 10**) and others

The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Work Safety, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Administrative Penalties, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Administrative Licenses, the Regulations on Work Safety Licenses, the Regulations on the Safety Management of Hazardous Chemicals, the Measures for the Administration of Licenses for the Operation of Hazardous Chemicals, the Measures for the Implementation of Work Safety Licenses for Hazardous Chemical Production Enterprises, the Measures for the Registration of Hazardous Chemicals, the Measures for the Implementation of Safety Licenses for Hazardous Chemical Construction Projects, the Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation and Handling of Work Safety Accidents, the Measures for Administrative Penalties for Work Safety Violations, the Interim Provisions on the Identification and Rectification of Potential Work Safety Hazards, the Regulations on Safety Training for Production and Business Entities, the Measures for the Administration of Work Safety Training, etc

Discretion in administrative penalties refers to the **power of administrative agencies to make decisions within the principles and scope established by laws and regulations. It exists objectively within administrative organs and their staff in the course of administrative law enforcement, and they possess powers granted by laws and regulations. As functional departments responsible for social supervision and management, various administrative law enforcement agencies are granted considerable discretion by laws and regulations. For example, in the field of economic law enforcement, the Measures for Investigating, Punishing and Banning Unlicensed Operations stipulate that those engaged in unlicensed operations may be fined up to 20,000 yuan. Starting from 1 yuan and going up to 20,000 yuan, there is a difference of 20,000 times, which shows the enormous disparity in ratios and the vast scope for discretion. How to exercise discretionary power in a legal and reasonable manner is of great practical significance and necessity for ensuring fair and impartial law enforcement, adopting humanized management approaches, and achieving the legal goal of building a harmonious society. Specifically, these include: the Work Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Regulations on the Safety Management of Hazardous Chemicals, the Regulations on the Management of Chemicals That Can Be Used to Produce Narcotics, the Regulations on the Safety Management of Fireworks and Firecrackers, the work safety regulations formulated by various provinces, the Provisions on Safety Training for Production and Business Entities, the Measures for the Administration of Work Safety Training, the Measures for the Review of Safety Facility Designs and the Completion Inspection of Non-coal Mine Construction Projects, the Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation, and Handling of Work Safety Accidents, the provisions on work safety supervision and management formulated by various provinces, the Measures for Administrative Penalties for Work Safety Violations, the measures for identifying and addressing potential hazards related to serious work safety accidents formulated by various provinces, the Provisions on the Supervision and Management of Labor Protection Equipment, and the Measures for Licensing the Production and Operation of Chemicals That Can Be Used to Produce Narcotics but Are Not Medicines. This post was last edited by dzhiqiong on 2009-3-26 at 10:02

The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Work Safety, The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Administrative Penalties, The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Administrative Licenses, Regulations on Work Safety Licenses, Regulations on the Safe Management of Hazardous Chemicals, Measures for the Administration of Licenses for the Operation of Hazardous Chemicals, Implementing Measures for Work Safety Licenses of Hazardous Chemical Production Enterprises, Measures for the Registration of Hazardous Chemicals, Implementing Measures for Safety Permits for Hazardous Chemical Construction Projects, Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation, and Handling of Work Safety Accidents, Measures for Administrative Penalties for Work Safety Violations, Interim Provisions on the Identification and Rectification of Hidden Dangers in Work Safety, Regulations on Safety Training for Production and Business Entities, Measures for the Administration of Work Safety Training, and so on

A few additional items: \"Specifications for Safety Standardization of Hazardous Chemicals Handling Enterprises\", \"Regulations on the Safe Use of Chemicals in the Workplace\", \"Rules for Compiling Safety Data Sheets for Chemicals\", \"List of Hazardous Chemicals\", \"Identification of Major Hazard Sources\"

The laws and regulations related to the discretionary power in imposing administrative penalties on hazardous chemicals enterprises include:

I. Laws
1. The Work Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China (adopted at the 28th meeting of the 9th National People’s Congress on June 29, 2002)

II. Administrative Regulations
1. Regulations on the Safety Management of Hazardous Chemicals (Decree No. 344 of the State Council, issued on January 26, 2002)
2. Regulations on Work Safety Licenses (Decree No. 397 of the State Council, issued on January 7, 2004)
3. Regulations on the Management of Chemicals Used in the Illicit Production of Narcotics (Decree No. 445 of the State Council, issued on November 1, 2005)
4. Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation, and Handling of Work Safety Accidents (Decree No. 493 of the State Council, issued on April 9, 2007)

III. Departmental Rules
1. Measures for the Registration of Hazardous Chemicals (Order No. 35 of the **Commission for Economic and Trade Affairs, issued on October 8, 2002)
2. Measures for the Administration of Licenses for the Operation of Hazardous Chemicals (Order No. 36 of the **Commission for Economic and Trade Affairs, issued on October 8, 2002)
3. Measures for the Controlled Production of Packaging Materials and Containers for Hazardous Chemicals (Order No. 37 of the **Commission for Economic and Trade Affairs, issued on October 8, 2002)
4. Measures for Administrative Penalties for Work Safety Violations (Order No. 1 of the **Work Safety Supervision Bureau, issued on May 19, 2003)
5. Implementing Measures for Work Safety Licenses of Hazardous Chemicals Production Enterprises (Order No. 10 of the **Work Safety Supervision Bureau, issued on April 19, 2004)
6. Measures for the Administration of Work Safety Training (Order No. 20 of the **Work Safety Supervision Bureau, issued on December 28, 2004)
7. Provisions on the Supervision and Management of Labor Protection Equipment (Order No. 1 of the **General Administration of Work Safety, issued on September 1, 2005)
8. Provisions on Safety Training for Production and Business Entities (Order No. 3 of the **General Administration of Work Safety, issued on January 17, 2006)
9. Measures for the Licensing of the Production and Operation of Non-pharmaceutical Chemicals Used in the Illicit Production of Narcotics (Order No. 5 of the **General Administration of Work Safety, issued on April 15, 2006)
10. Implementing Measures for Safety Permits for Hazardous Chemicals Construction Projects (Order No. 8 of the **General Administration of Work Safety, issued on September 2, 2006)
11. Interim Measures for the Management of Enterprise Work Safety Risk Deposits (Document No. Cai Jian [2006] 369, jointly formulated by the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Work Safety, and the People’s Bank of China on July 26, 2006)

This post was last edited by lyhh9024 on March 26, 2009, at 15:50

First of all, it should be noted that what is referred to in the question is the \"discretionary power in imposing administrative penalties\" as related to laws and regulations governing hazardous chemical enterprises; this does not include local regulations. The following are the laws and regulations related to the discretionary power in imposing administrative penalties on hazardous chemical enterprises that I have gathered personally, for reference only! 1. The Work Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China (Article 8, Paragraph 20) ； 2. Regulations on the Safety Management of Hazardous Chemicals (Article 6, Paragraph 16) ； 3. Regulations on the Administration of Precursor Chemicals (Article 2, Paragraph 6) ； 4. Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation and Handling of Production Safety Accidents (Article 3, Paragraph 8) ； 5. Provisions on the Supervision and Management of Labor Protection Equipment (Article 3, Paragraph 8) ； 6. “Regulations on Safety Training for Production and Business Operations Entities” (Article 3, Paragraph 9) ； 7. “Measures for the Licensing of the Production and Operation of Chemicals That Can Be Used to Manufacture Narcotic Drugs but Are Not Drugs” (Article 2, Paragraph 6) ； 8. “Measures for Administrative Penalties for Illegal Acts in Work Safety” (Article 2, Paragraph 24) ； 9. Interim Provisions on the Investigation and Rectification of Potential Hazards in Work Safety Accidents (Article 2, Paragraph 7) ；

Discretion in administrative penalties refers to the **power of administrative agencies to make decisions within the principles and scope established by laws and regulations. It exists objectively within administrative organs and their staff in the course of administrative law enforcement, and they possess powers granted by laws and regulations. As functional departments responsible for social supervision and management, various administrative law enforcement agencies are granted considerable discretion by laws and regulations. For example, in the field of economic law enforcement, the Measures for Investigating, Punishing and Banning Unlicensed Operations stipulate that those engaged in unlicensed operations may be fined up to 20,000 yuan. Starting from 1 yuan and going up to 20,000 yuan, there is a difference of 20,000 times, which shows the enormous disparity in ratios and the vast scope for discretion. How to exercise discretionary power in a legal and reasonable manner is of great practical significance and necessity for ensuring fair and impartial law enforcement, adopting humanized management approaches, and achieving the legal goal of building a harmonious society. 　　I. The Necessity of Discretion in Administrative Law Enforcement 1. With the development of modern society’s economy and technology, the functions and scope of administrative law enforcement agencies in supervising and managing social life continue to expand, which requires corresponding discretion in order to keep up with the ever-changing realities. 　　2. Efficiency is the lifeblood of administration. Granting discretionary power to administrative law enforcement agencies enables them to assess the situation and address issues promptly, thereby maintaining the healthy functioning of social order. 　　3. From the perspective of the law itself, in the face of complex social relationships, laws and regulations cannot be perfect in their coverage, nor can they list everything in detail to provide extremely precise provisions. Therefore, from a legislative technique perspective, limited laws can only establish some more principle-based provisions, as well as options for measures and ranges of flexibility, to enable administrative authorities to adopt more effective management approaches based on individual circumstances and specific situations. 　　4. The exercise of discretionary power in administrative law enforcement must be handled flexibly based on objective facts, the spirit of the law, and one’s own rational judgment, so as to ensure that \"similar situations are dealt with in a similar manner, and different situations are dealt with differently.\" This requires administrative agencies to have discretionary power. 　　II. Classification of Discretionary Power 　　In accordance with the provisions of relevant administrative laws and regulations, discretionary power can be categorized as follows: 　　1. Discretionary power within the scope of administrative penalties: That is, when an administrative agency imposes administrative penalties on those subject to administrative management, it may freely choose from the legally prescribed range of penalties. It includes the free choice within the range of the same type of penalty and the free choice among different types of penalties. For example, Article 24 of the Regulations on Penalties for Public Order Offenses stipulates that those who violate this article shall be \"subject to detention for up to 15 days, a fine of up to 200 yuan, or a warning.\" In other words, it is possible to choose one from these three penalties: detention, fine, or warning; or to determine the duration of detention or the amount of the fine. 　　2. Discretion in choosing the mode of action: That is, administrative agencies have the discretion to decide on the specific manner in which to carry out administrative actions, which includes acting or failing to act. For example, Article 21, Paragraph 3 of the Customs Law stipulates: “For goods listed in the first two categories that are not suitable for long-term storage, the customs may dispose of them in advance based on the actual circumstances.” ”In other words, the customs authorities have some discretion in their handling methods (such as valuation or freezing), and the meaning of “can” implies that the customs are allowed to take action or not. 　　3. Discretionary power regarding the time limit for taking specific administrative actions: A considerable number of administrative laws and regulations do not specify a time limit for taking such actions, which indicates that administrative agencies have the freedom to choose when to take specific administrative actions. 　　4. Discretion in determining the nature of facts: That is, administrative agencies have the discretion to determine the nature of the actions taken by those subject to administrative management, or the nature of the matters under administration. For example, Article 21(3) of the Regulations on Traffic Safety Management in Fishery Port Waters stipulates that those who engage in fishing, aquaculture, or other productive activities that pose a threat to maritime traffic safety in the waterways, harbors, anchorage areas, and berthing zones within fishery ports may be given a warning or fined. There are no objective criteria to determine whether the production activities here pose a threat to maritime traffic safety, and administrative authorities have considerable discretion in assessing whether such a threat exists. 　　5. Discretion in determining the severity of the circumstances: Many of China’s administrative laws and regulations contain vaguely phrased terms such as “relatively minor circumstances” and “serious circumstances,” and no legal criteria for determining the severity of such circumstances are established; as a result, administrative agencies have discretion in assessing the severity of the circumstances. 　　6. Discretion to decide on enforcement: That is, for administrative decisions regarding specific enforcement actions, laws and regulations generally stipulate that it is up to the administrative authorities to decide whether to enforce them. For example, Article 66 of the Administrative Litigation Law stipulates: “If a citizen, legal person, or other organization fails to file a lawsuit or comply with a specific administrative action within the statutory time limit, the administrative authority may apply to the people’s court for compulsory enforcement, or enforce it in accordance with the law.” ”The word “can” here indicates that the administrative authority has discretion. 　　III. Problems in the Exercise of Discretion in Administrative Law Enforcement In administrative law enforcement, discretion is exercised at all times, and it effectively enhances the accuracy and flexibility in handling cases. However, there are indeed many problems as follows: 1. People have emotions, and discretionary power may be abused due to relationships such as relatives, friends, comrades-in-arms, and classmates ； 　　2. Also due to emotional reasons, conflicts that have occurred or the existence of enemies, etc., may lead to the abuse of discretion ； 　　3. The possible abuse of discretion due to factors such as differences in individual work capabilities, cognitive abilities, knowledge levels, and moral standards ； 　　4. Due to interest-related factors, such as the fact that this decision affects certain employees, or due to issues like bribery by those employees, it may lead to the abuse of discretionary power ； 　　5. Abuse of discretion may occur as a result of pressure from supervisors, requests from colleagues, and other such factors ； Wait. 　　The abuse of discretion is, first, detrimental to the stability of social order. Due to the abuse of discretionary power in administrative penalties, handling of issues is highly arbitrary and inconsistent; the same situations are treated differently, while different situations are handled in the same way. This leads to public suspicion and distrust, as well as antagonistic attitudes toward law enforcement, an increase in administrative violations, and ultimately instability in economic order ； Second, it fosters a sense of privilege, gives rise to **, and affects the image of the Party and **. However, social affairs are complex; when dealing with occasional incidents for the first time, although the law sets out principles, the judgment standards of the staff may deviate from those of the public. What the staff consider to be fair, the public might deem unfair ； Especially before fair standards are established, it is difficult to ensure a fair handling of occasional and complex matters. Therefore, the abuse of discretion is also objectively inevitable. It is precisely because discretion can be abused that it must be controlled. 　　IV. Basic principles for the proper exercise of discretionary power From the inherent nature of power, any form of power is corrupting and invasive, and tends to be abused. The flexibility of discretion also determines that it is more prone to abuse. The illegality resulting from the abuse of discretion is often hidden and not easy to detect. In real life, corresponding laws and regulations impose few restrictions on administrative discretion, leaving room for its abuse. In actual law enforcement, differences in regions, as well as variations in individual qualities and values, lead to different interpretations of laws and regulations, which in turn can result in the abuse of discretionary power. Therefore, the proper exercise of discretion must adhere to the following principles and standards: 1. The exercise of discretion shall be fair, good-faith, and reasonable. 　　Justice means exercising discretion with fairness, ensuring that \"the same situations are treated in the same way, and different situations are treated differently\"” ； Good faith means that when exercising discretion, one should act out of good intentions, rather than with the aim of seeking revenge ； What is reasonable means that when exercising discretion, one should act in a way that is consistent with normal human thinking, based on the usual considerations of a normal person. It must conform to the objective laws of society; for example, ordering the party involved to remove the trademark marks from the infringing goods should depend on the quantity involved, and it cannot be required to be done within a few minutes. 　　2. The exercise of discretion shall be for legitimate purposes only. 　　It is only for legitimate purposes, as a contrast to illegitimate purposes. Improper purposes refer to abnormal considerations such as self-interest. “\"Self-interest\" is a broad concept that can be divided into \"direct self-interest\" and \"indirect self-interest\". “\"Direct personal gain\" refers to the situation where the exercise of discretionary power directly brings economic or political benefits to the person who exercises it ； “\"Indirect private benefit\" refers to the situation where, although the exercise of discretionary power does not bring immediate advantages to the individual, it can nonetheless yield future, anticipated economic or political benefits for them. If the party’s violation is minor yet they are subjected to the maximum penalty, it is clearly an abuse of discretion. 　　3. The exercise of discretion must be in line with the purpose of the law. 　　The formulation of any laws and regulations has its own value orientation, which is the goal pursued by the law. If the exercise of discretion deviates from, or even goes against, the purpose of the law, it inevitably leads to administrative irrationality, and discretion then becomes a tool for personal gain and revenge. Imposing fines for the sake of fining, and enforcing the law merely to meet the quota for fines, falls under this latter category. 　　The existence of principles and standards to be followed when exercising discretion does not mean that everyone will act in accordance with these principles, nor does it guarantee that discretion will not be abused. Discretion also needs to be controlled from both moral and legal perspectives. **In his speech at the National Conference of Publicity Ministers, the Comrade stated: \"In the process of building socialism with Chinese characteristics and developing a socialist market economy, we must unremittingly strengthen the construction of socialist laws and morality, governing the country according to law; at the same time, we must also unremittingly enhance socialist moral values, governing the country through morality.\" For **governance, the rule of law and morality have always complemented and promoted each other. Neither of the two can be missing, nor should either be neglected. The rule of law belongs to political construction and political civilization, while governance by virtue belongs to ideological construction and spiritual civilization. They belong to different categories, but their status and functions are both very important. We should always pay attention to combining the development of the rule of law with moral cultivation, and integrating governance by law with governance by virtue. This speech clearly and profoundly illustrates the important role of morality and the rule of law in governance. It provides theoretical guidance for us to exercise discretion and points out the right direction. 　　V. How to control the exercise of discretionary power in administrative law enforcement First, to exercise moral control over discretionary power, it is necessary to strengthen ideological development and continuously improve the level of spiritual civilization. 　　1. Strengthen the sense of being a public servant and serve the people wholeheartedly. We must be clear that our rights are granted by the people, and we should use the power entrusted to us by the people to strive to serve them. If we forget this, we will lose the trust and support of the people, and the consequences would be unimaginable. The sense of serving the public and the commitment to working wholeheartedly for the people are, in essence, inevitable requirements of civil servants’ professional ethics, and they serve as a guarantee against the subjective abuse of discretionary power. 　　2. Enhance administrative capabilities and continuously improve professional skills. Having good ideas alone does not necessarily ensure that abuse of discretion can be prevented; for complex issues and the ever-emerging new things, we need to have sufficient capabilities to deal with them. Only by continuously learning from books, from practice, and from others, and by making use of our intelligence and skills, can we objectively keep discretionary power to a minimum. 　　3. It is necessary to overcome the influence of negative ideas, prevent the spread of materialism, hedonism, and extreme individualism, strengthen ideological education, help staff in administrative agencies develop correct views on life and the world, enhance their self-control, curb the growth of selfish desires, and eliminate the urge to abuse discretionary power at the ideological level. 　　Secondly, legal and institutional controls are imposed on discretionary power in order to address the issue of its excessive \"freedom\" at the source, making it more concrete, standardized, and thus more operational. 　　1. Establish an avoidance system. In the enforcement of administrative laws, if there is a close interest relationship between the enforcement action and the enforcer, such enforcer shall recuse themselves. Avoidance should combine proactive avoidance with requests for avoidance. Whether to avoid it or not is decided by the leader of the staff member’s employer ； What leaders need to avoid is decided collectively by the team. 　　2. Establish an enforcement responsibility system. The law enforcement responsibility system must also be practical; it is necessary to clearly distinguish cases of abuse of discretionary power, determining whether such abuse is subjective or objective ； To distinguish different responsibilities, it is necessary to determine whether it is occasional abuse or consistent abuse, and so on. Link responsibility to an individual’s treatment and career advancement, so as to truly implement the law-enforcement responsibility system. 　　3. Establish a judicial review system to bring discretionary actions under judicial oversight. Administrative law enforcement officers shall inform the parties subject to administrative management of their rights to defend themselves, to request a hearing, to apply for administrative reconsideration, to file an administrative lawsuit, to claim compensation, and so on, thereby ensuring that these rights can be enforced. Any law enforcement action that relates to citizens’ rights and obligations (including those involving discretionary power) should be subject to litigation, in order to establish the principle of judicial finality. 　　4. Establish a system for supervising administrative law enforcement. The oversight entities include not only the Party and **government agencies (including legislative bodies, administrative bodies, inspection bodies, and judicial bodies), but also enterprises and institutions, social organizations, grassroots communities, and citizens. The existing statutory supervision methods should also be further supplemented and improved in light of the needs of the situation ； For those without statutory oversight mechanisms, legislation or the establishment of regulations is needed to ensure effective supervision. At the same time, strict penalties must be imposed on those who abuse their power, while those who contribute to effective supervision should be rewarded and protected. 　　5. At the legislative level, it is necessary to strike a balance between the \"flexibility\" of legal provisions and the \"operability\" of law enforcement, striving to make the provisions clear and specific while reducing flexibility, especially in those related to the legitimate rights and interests of citizens. “Laws alone are not enough to take effect on their own. The accompanying legal documents form a legal system with different hierarchical levels (laws, regulations, rules, and normative documents). Normative documents of lower rank can be repealed, amended, or established as circumstances evolve, in order to adapt to constant changes; this also helps to overcome the limitations associated with the strong stability of laws. If it is not feasible to establish strict rules, at least a reference standard should be available as a guiding guideline. As in the most common categories such as “minor circumstances” and “serious circumstances,” the lack of a standard reference means that in actual law enforcement, “discretion” has turned into “arbitrary decision-making,” which naturally leads to confusion. 　　6. It should be emphasized that administrative agencies must explain the reasons for taking administrative actions. In administrative litigation, the plaintiff bears the burden of proof regarding the abuse of power; however, since such proof is difficult to obtain, drawing on practices abroad, it should be required that the administrative agency explain the reasons for taking a specific administrative action, so as to determine whether its administrative purpose is in line with the objectives for which such powers were granted by laws and regulations. Those who fail to provide a reason, give an insufficient explanation, or act in a manner that does not conform to the intent of the legislation should be deemed to have abused their authority. 　　7. Strengthen the construction of administrative law enforcement teams and improve the level of law enforcement. At present, the low quality of administrative law enforcement officers is a fairly common problem, which is not compatible with China’s ongoing modernization efforts. Some of these officers have an attitude of wanting to dominate their areas and act as if they are the only ones in authority. To this end, on the one hand, efforts must be accelerated to train administrative law enforcement personnel through various channels; on the other hand, those who are no longer suitable for carrying out administrative law enforcement tasks must be removed from their positions, so as to ensure that the administrative law enforcement force is honest and efficient. 　　8. Adopt quantitative analysis, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. Article 4 of the Administrative Penalty Law specifies the basic factors that should be taken into account when imposing administrative penalties: the facts, nature, circumstances of the illegal act, as well as its degree of harm to society. Law enforcement agencies can use these basic factors, along with the relative importance and impact of each factor, to make a comprehensive assessment in order to determine a standard that is practical to apply and helps ensure consistency in the imposition of administrative penalties. It is conceivable to establish such a formula, similar to the way an employer calculates wages for each employee; various factors such as length of service, rank, position, and years in office are matched to different standards and levels, and the sum of these values represents the wage that the employee is entitled to. Taking \"operating without a license\" as an example, the legal factors to be considered are \"the fact, nature, circumstances, and consequences of operating without a license\" (who, what, where, when, why, how, what the outcome is). Taking “plot” as an example, it can be divided into four categories: “mild,” “moderate,” “relatively severe,” and “severe.” Further clarify these four categories to determine their specific contents. Taking “minor” as an example, this applies when the duration is short (within 15 days), the scale is small (assets worth less than 500 yuan), the illegal profits are low (less than 100 yuan), no counterfeit or substandard products were sold, there are no complaints from consumers, it is the first time such an offense has occurred or the offender was unaware of the illegality, there is evidence of positive behavior, and the offender takes initiative to eliminate or reduce the negative consequences of the illegal act. The rest, and so on. 　　9. Judicial supervision of discretionary power by the people’s courts Article 5 of the Administrative Litigation Law stipulates the principles for the people’s courts to examine the legality of specific administrative acts. Through administrative litigation, the people’s courts exercise judicial review over such specific administrative acts carried out by the accused administrative agencies, with the focus of this review being on the legality of those acts rather than their appropriateness. 　　However, this does not mean that judicial supervision cannot be exercised over the discretion of the people’s courts. As mentioned earlier, the discretion held by administrative agencies permeates all stages of issuing specific administrative actions. Improper exercise of this discretion manifests itself mainly in forms such as abuse of power, delays in fulfilling statutory duties, and unfair administrative penalties. The legal consequences of this are that the people’s courts have the authority to revoke, restrict the implementation of, or modify such specific administrative actions in accordance with the law. 　　However, the principle of reviewing the legality of specific administrative acts indicates the limited judicial review power of the people's courts. At present, our country is making great efforts to strengthen socialist ** and the legal system, emphasizing integrity in governance. The people’s courts should fully exert their judicial functions and play a significant role in this regard. On the one hand, it is necessary to handle cases strictly in accordance with the law – that is, to protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons, or other organizations – while also ensuring that administrative organs exercise their administrative powers in compliance with the law, and overcoming the tendency to avoid difficulties as well as the practice of unprincipled concession to such organs. On the other hand, it is necessary to enhance the power of people’s courts to issue judicial recommendations. For those who indeed abuse their power for personal gain, or those who violate laws and regulations and cannot be corrected through administrative litigation, the people’s courts should submit recommendations to the relevant departments in order to safeguard the interests of the state and the people. 　　Regarding the control of discretionary power, some measures can also be summarized, such as administrative procuratorial oversight, control between higher and lower levels within administrative agencies, and press supervision; these will not be discussed in this article. However, no matter how discretionary power is controlled, a standard must be maintained: restraint without stifling, and use without abuse. It is necessary to harness the positive aspects of discretionary power, such as its efficiency and flexibility, while curbing its negative aspects, which include the potential for abuse. This will ensure that the exercise of administrative power complies with the requirements of governing according to the law in our country, as well as with the goals of governing the country by law and establishing a socialist legal system. This is the goal we will always strive for.