On the morning of April 19, 2026, an academic lecture was successfully held in Conference Room 434, Xingmin Building, at the Law School of Nanjing Normal University. The lecture featured Professor Du Yifang from the Law School of Fudan University as the keynote speaker, who delivered an in-depth presentation titled “A Theoretical Examination of the Reform of the State Compensation Legal System.” The lecture was hosted by Professor Yan Hailiang from the Law School of Nanjing Normal University. The discussants included Associate Professor Huang Yuxiao from KoGuan Law School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Associate Professor Li Qing from the Law School of Nanjing University; Lecturer Wang Zichen from the Law School of Beijing Foreign Studies University; Lecturer Chen Liangwen from the Law School of East China Normal University; Associate Professor Wang Mingzhe from the Law School of Nanjing Normal University; and Associate Researcher Wang Youhai from the Law School of Nanjing Normal University. Numerous faculty members and students attended the lecture, which fostered a strong academic atmosphere and lively discussion.

At the beginning of the lecture, Professor Yan Hailiang extended a warm welcome to Professor Du Yifang and briefly introduced her profound expertise in state compensation law and administrative law. Professor Du then presented a systematic analysis from six core dimensions, using a “theoretical examination” perspective to explore the possible blueprint and vision for revising the state compensation system: What constitutes “state” compensation? What is state “compensation”? What does state compensation “cover”? “How much” is compensated? “How” is compensation provided? And the relationship between state compensation and other legal systems.

In the section on “state” compensation, Professor Du pointed out that China’s Constitution defines state organs broadly. Beyond administrative organs, courts, and procuratorates, it remains to be clarified whether legislative bodies, supervisory organs, and even political consultative organs fall within the scope of “state organs” under the State Compensation Law. The current law does not make detailed distinctions among different organs but uniformly starts from the premise that “state organs and their personnel exercise official powers.” The State Compensation Law must first clarify the connotation and extension of the “state” and define the boundaries of liability for public power holders.
Regarding “compensation,” Professor Du compared the various forms of civil tort liability under Article 179 of the Civil Code, noting that the State Compensation Law primarily uses “payment of compensation money,” with restitution or restoration of the original state as supplementary measures. She raised the question of whether it is necessary to introduce the concept of a “state liability law” and whether preventive measures such as cessation of infringement or removal of obstacles could be added.
On the question of “what” state compensation covers, Professor Du reviewed the enumerated provisions for administrative compensation and criminal compensation in China. She noted issues such as the exclusion of damages caused by public facilities from the scope of compensation. She also focused on the evolution of imputation principles, analyzing the conflict between the general provision’s amendment from “unlawful exercise of official powers” to “exercise of official powers” and the continued use of “unlawful” in specific provisions. She discussed the monism and dualism in determining unlawfulness in administrative litigation, the potential application of subjective fault in civil and criminal contexts within state compensation, and the distinction between conduct-oriented and result-oriented standards for determining unlawfulness.
On the issue of “how much” compensation, Professor Du analyzed the divergent orientations of state compensation—solace, restitution, and punishment—pointing out that China currently bases compensation on direct losses. She reviewed recent trends loosening the solace principle, such as the expansion of compensation scope, flexible calculation periods, the rule that compensation shall not be less than indemnification, and the supplementation of judicial assistance. At the same time, she criticized the institutional drawbacks of “patchwork” operations. She proposed establishing a full compensation standard grounded in corrective justice, clarifying the functional boundaries among state compensation, administrative indemnification, and judicial assistance.
On the “how” of compensation, Professor Du discussed the effect of preliminary processing procedures, reconsidered the relationship between administrative remedies and administrative litigation, and explored ways to optimize the procedural connection in state compensation.
Finally, Professor Du focused on the relationship between state compensation and other legal systems, particularly its alignment with the Civil Code. She delved into the division of public and private liability in cases where administrative organs fail to perform their duties, traced the practical evolution from joint liability, several liability, and supplementary liability, and innovatively proposed conditions for applying risk liability and pathways for judicial realization, offering a theoretical framework for the coordinated relief of public and private tort liability.

After the keynote address, the six discussants spoke in turn, sharing academic insights and unique perspectives from different disciplinary backgrounds and comparative law viewpoints.
Associate Professor Li Qing from the Law School of Nanjing University approached the topic from the relationship between legislative theory and interpretative theory. She suggested that at this juncture of state compensation reform, we should reflect on the position of state compensation within the overall legal system and its interactions with other laws, and recommend drawing on mature institutions from other areas of liability law.

Associate Professor Huang Yuxiao from KoGuan Law School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, affirmed the academic value of Professor Du’s research. He raised the question of whether China could draw on Japan’s administrative compensation system by adding provisions referencing civil and administrative procedure rules, and explore specific issues such as the determination of unlawful liability and the procedural interface between public and private liability.

Lecturer Wang Zichen from the Law School of Beijing Foreign Studies University focused on practical disputes, including the interpretation of unlawfulness and fault rules, the application of judgments affirming unlawfulness, and the choice between compensation and indemnification standards in expropriation cases. He proposed practical suggestions for institutional improvement.

Lecturer Chen Liangwen from the Law School of East China Normal University delved into the subjective versus objective and conduct versus outcome distinctions of the concept of “unlawfulness” in state compensation. She also explored the relationship among statutory duties, duties of diligent review, and duties of care as reflected in the 2022 judicial interpretation.

Associate Professor Wang Mingzhe from the Law School of Nanjing Normal University, drawing on the relationship between Japan’s Disaster Prevention Law and state compensation, raised profound questions: whether legislative inaction should be included in state compensation, whether the imputation principle should be framed under unlawfulness or fault, and whether deleting the term “unlawful” from the general provisions blurs the line between compensation and indemnification.

Associate Researcher Wang Youhai from the Law School of Nanjing Normal University, from the perspective of practical rights relief, noted that parties are often reluctant to initiate state compensation proceedings on their own due to the dual difficulties of slow compensation and low amounts. He also explored challenges in identifying administrative inaction in the environmental field and pathways to fill liability gaps.

In her response, Professor Du Yifang addressed each discussant’s questions one by one. She candidly acknowledged that in-depth research on the current state compensation system is relatively scarce, and the legacy of older generations of scholars needs to be carried forward by younger researchers.
At the conclusion of the lecture, Professor Yan Hailiang provided a summary of the academic seminar. The lecture ended successfully amidst warm applause. The successful holding of this academic lecture enlivened the scholarly atmosphere of the law school, strengthened inter-institutional academic exchange and collaboration, advanced academic research and theoretical innovation in the field of state compensation, and contributed legal wisdom to the reform and improvement of China’s state compensation legal system.
Text: Zhang Linghui