On The Identification Of The Non-existence Of Information In Government Information Disclosure

In the practice of government information disclosure,the proportion of “information nonexistent” responses from administrative agencies is high,which will cause applicants to fail to obtain government information in a timely and sufficient manner,thereby reducing government authority and public trust in administrative agencies.Although the newly revised "Regulations on Disclosure of Government Information" was promulgated in 2019,there is still much controversy regarding the understanding and determination of "government information does not exist." The solution to the problem is to comprehensively and clearly define "government information does not exist."In the first part of this paper,we can know that the proportion of "government information does not exist" reply has been fluctuating and rising over the years,which has caused more and more dissatisfaction of the applicants,and thus caused more administrative reconsideration,administrative litigation and other issues.From the administrative disputes,the author concludes that the main dilemma of the government information does not exist also includes the confusion of information and other concepts,the confusion of burden of proof distribution and the inconsistency of proof standards in judicial practice.According to the problems mentioned above,the author tries to analyze the reasons for the dilemma of government information disclosure.At present,there is no unified regulation on the concept of government information nonexistence in China.The vague understanding of the concept of administrative organ is the fundamental reason for the dilemma of government information nonexistence.Then the author starts from the main body,that is,the administrative organ and the applicant to analyze the reasons for the dilemma of government information.The third part is in the analysis of the difficulties and reasons,hoping to establish a more comprehensive government information does not exist recognition standards.On the one hand,through the study of academic theory and legal provisions,we try to clearly define the concept of "government information does not exist".This paper analyzes the problem of the burden of proof in the case of "information does not exist".It adopts the theory that the burden of proof of the defendant is constant,and sums up the burden of proof that should be borne by the original and the defendant in the case of "information does not exist".For the burden of proof,we should first adopt clear and persuasive standards for the defendant’s proof,and then the court will measure the party concerned according to the standard of preponderant evidence People are responsible for the results.In the last part,the author tries to provide a judgment path for the administrative organ to determine that the government information does not exist.It is expected that the administrative organ can follow strict steps to make normative administrative acts with a responsible attitude,even if the reply is not made public because of "information does not exist",it can also make the applicant understand or even feel satisfied,so as to reduce administrative disputes and establish the authority of the government.