A Study on Proportionality
Comparative Perspectives, and Prospects in China
Keywords:
Proportionality, Proportionality Analysis, Human Rights, Fundamental Rights, Constitution, Administrative Law, Government, Comparative Law
Abstract
The core of proportionality is about adjusting the rational relationship between means and ends, seeking a balance between benefits and harms. This study discusses the application of Proportionality Analysis (PA), which is a structured test of proportionality created by The German Federal Constitutional Court and now used by almost all the world, from a comparative legal perspective, introducing the sub-tests of proportionality: legitimacy, suitability, necessity, and balancing tests, and illustrates its application through examples from four jurisdictions: Germany, Canada, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. For China, although proportionality is not explicitly included in the constitutional text, it is effectively applied through constitutional interpretation and judicial practice. PA is becoming integrated into China's constitutional review system. With increased emphasis on human rights protection, the application of PA is expected to expand in China.
References
Articles/Books/Reports
Abeyratne, Rehan, ‘More Structure, More Deference: Proportionality in Hong Kong’ in Po Jen Yap (ed), Proportionality in Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
Alexy, Robert, A Theory of Constitutional Rights, translated by Julian Rivers (Oxford University Press, 2002)
Baihua, Yu, ‘On the Proportionality Built-in Rights’ (2020)37(4) Studies in Law and Business 88
Barak, Aharon, Proportionality: Constitutional Rights and Their Limitations (Cambridge University Press, 2012)
Beatty, David M, The Ultimate Rule of Law (Oxford University Press, 2004)
Berg, G H v, Handbuch der Deutschen Polizei Rechts (2nd ed, Hannover, 1802)
Cohen-Eliya, Moshe, and Iddo Porat, ‘American Balancing and German Proportionality: The Historical Origins’ (2010) 8(2) International Journal of Constitutional Law 263
Craig, Paul, ‘Unreasonableness and Proportionality in UK Law’ in Evelyn Ellis (ed), The Principle of Proportionality in the Laws of Europe (Hart Publishing, 1999)
Dengjie, Yang, and Su Qiang, ‘On Balancing Benchmarks in Appropriateness Review: Taking 31 Provinces (Autonomous Regions and Municipalities) for Example’ (2023) 36(5) Journal of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Social Sciences Edition) 62
Dworkin, Ronald, ‘Rights as Trumps’ in Jeremy Waldron (ed), Theories of Rights (Oxford University Press, 1984)
Fleiner, Fritz, Institutionen des deutschen Verwaltungsrechts (Mohr, 1928)
Gray, Anthony, ‘Proportionality in Australian Constitutional and Administrative Law’ (2022) 41(1) University of Tasmania Law Review 7
Grimm, Dieter, Constitutionalism: Past, Present, and Future (Oxford University Press, 2016)
Grimm, Dieter, ‘Proportionality in Canadian and German Constitutional Jurisprudence’ (2007) 57 University of Toronto Law Journal 383
Hongzhen, Jiang, ‘Judicial Application of the Hierarchical Order in the Principle of Proportionality’ (2020) 42(4) Chinese Journal of Law 41
Huaide, Ma, Administrative Law and Administrative Litigation Law (5th ed, China Legal Publishing House, 2015)
Jackson, Vicki C, ‘Constitutional Law in an Age of Proportionality’ (2015) 124(8) Yale Law Journal 3094
Jinghui, Chen, ‘The Generalization of the Proportionality and the Nature of Fundamental Rights’ (2017) 5 China Legal Science 279
Jinxue, Fan, ‘On the Constitutional Principle of Proportionality’ (2018) (5) Journal of Comparative Law 106
Klatt, Matthias, and Moritz Meister, The Constitutional Structure of Proportionality (Oxford University Press, 2012)
Kremnitzer, Mordechai, et al (eds), Proportionality in Action (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
Kun, Qian, ‘Fundamental Rights as Democratic Rights: An Analysis of the Evolution of the Constitution of China’ (2024) 18(3) Northern Legal Science 54
Kyritsis, Dimitrios, ‘Whatever Works: Proportionality as a Constitutional Doctrine’ (2014) 34 (2) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 395
Lin, Chien-Chih, ‘Proportionality in Taiwan: American-German Fusion’ in Po Jen Yap (ed), Proportionality in Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
Luban, David, ‘Incommensurable Values, Rational Choice, and Moral Absolutes’ (1990) 38 Cleveland State Law Review 65
Marketou, Afroditi, Local Meanings of Proportionality (Cambridge University Press, 2021)
Mathews, Jud, ‘Proportionality Review in Administrative Law’ in Peter Lindseth et al. (eds), Comparative Administrative Law (2nd ed, Edward Elgar, 2017)
Ming'an, Jiang (ed), Administrative Law and Administrative Litigation Law (8th ed, Peking University Press, 2024)
Nimmer, Melville B, ‘The Right to Speak from Time to Time: First Amendment Theory Applied to Libel and Misapplied to Privacy’ (1968) 56(4) California Law Review 935
Ponomarenko, Iryna, ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Balancing: Towards a Theoretical Framework for the Doctrinal Complexity in Proportionality Analysis in Constitutional Adjudication’ (2016) 49(3) UBC Law Review 1103
Quan, Liu, The Principle of Proportionality (Tsinghua University Press, 2022)
Rawls, John, A Theory of Justice (Harvard University Press, 1971)
Record Review Office of Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, A Guide to the “Regulations and Judicial Interpretations Record Review Working Methods” (China Democracy and Legal System Publishing House, 2020)
Sweet, Alec Stone, and Jud Mathews, ‘Proportionality Balancing and Global Constitutionalism’ (2008) 47 Columbia Journal of Transnational Law 68
Tsai, Tzung-Jen, ‘An Introduction to the Principle of Proportionality in Public Law: Focusing on the Development of German Law’ (1999) 62 NCCU Law Review 75
Tsakyrakis, Stavros, ‘Proportionality: An Assault on Human Rights?’ (2009) 7(3) International Journal of Constitutional Law 468
Tushnet, Mark V, ‘Anti-Formalism in Recent Constitutional Theory’ (1985) 83 Michigan Law Review 1502
Webber, Grégoire, ‘Proportionality, Balancing, and the Cult of Constitutional Rights Scholarship’ (2010) 23(1) Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 179
Wolffers, Artur, “New Aspects of the Principle of Proportionality”, Journal of the Bern Jurists' Association 113 (1977) 297
Xianghe, Gong, ‘Ideal and Reality: A Study on the Justiciability of Fundamental Rights’ (2009) 26(4) Studies in Law and Business 32
Xu, Wang, ‘Elaboration of the Principle of Proportionality in Recordation Review’ (2024) 46(4) Global Law Review 54
Yang, Mei, ‘Application Scope and Limits of the Principle of Proportionality’ (2020) 42(2) Chinese Journal of Law 57
Yap, Po Jen, ‘Proportionality in Asia: Joining the Global Choir’ in Po Jen Yap (ed), Proportionality in Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
Zhai Yi, ‘A New Idea of Proportionality Principle in Chinese Constitution: Based on Article 33 of the Chinese Constitution’ (2012) (5) Social Sciences in Xinjiang 88
Zhongjing, Men, ‘The Constitutional Position and Norm Basis of the Principle of Proportionality: Taking the Concept of Tolerance in a Constitutional Sense as the Analytical Perspective’ (2014) 29(5) Legal Forum 94
Ziyu, Wang, ‘Seeking Consensus: The Judicial Practice and Knowledge Interaction of the Principle of Proportionality’ (2022) 28(3) Law and Social Development 126
Legislation
[Administrative Compulsion Law of the People's Republic of China] (People's Republic of China) Standing Committee of National People’s Congress, 30 June 2011
[Administrative Penalty Law of the People's Republic of China] (People's Republic of China) Standing Committee of National People’s Congress, 22 January 2021
Canada Act 1982 (UK) c 11, sch B pt I (‘Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’)
[Constitution of Taiwan (Republic of China)]
[Constitution of the People’s Republic of China]
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 1996 (South Africa)
Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance (Hong Kong)
[Jiangsu Province Administrative Procedure Regulations] (People's Republic of China) Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress, 29 July 2022
[Law of the People's Republic of China on the Supervision of Standing Committees of People's Congresses at Various Levels] (People's Republic of China) Standing Committee of National People’s Congress, 27 August 2006
[Legislation Law of the People's Republic of China] (People's Republic of China) National People’s Congress, 13 March 2023
Pharmaziegesetz Bayern [Bavarian Pharmacy Act] (Germany)
[Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Use of Police Implements and Arms by the People's Police] (People's Republic of China) State Council, 16 January 1996
[The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China] (People's Republic of China) National People’s Congress, 4 April 1990
Cases
Bank Mellat v. Her Majesty’s Treasury (No 2) [2014] AC 700
Bundesverfassungsgericht [German Constitutional Court], 1 BvR 802/58, 11 March 1958, reported in (1958) 7 BVerfGE 377
Edmonton Journal v Alberta (Attorney General) [1989] 2 SCR 1326
Fok Chun Wa v. Hospital Authority (2012)15 HKCFAR 409
Garment Processing Factory v Chuzhou City Broadcasting and Television News Publishing Bureau [2021] [Wan Xing Zhong No 226]
Guo Jianjun v Zhuji City Land and Resources Bureau [2008] [Shao Zhong Xing Zhong Zi No 37]
Handyside v The United Kingdom (1976) 1 EHRR 737
Huifeng Industrial Development Co., Ltd v Harbin Planning Bureau [1999] [Supreme People's Court Xing Zhong Zi No 20]
Hysan Development Co Ltd v. Town Planning Board (2016) 19 HKCFAR 372
J.Y. Interpretation No. 649 (Taiwan) (2008)
J.Y. Interpretation No. 656 (Taiwan) (2009)
J.Y. Interpretation No. 710 (Taiwan) (2013)
J.Y. Interpretation No. 744 (Taiwan) (2017)
Korean Constitutional Court, 89 Hun-Ma 160 (South Korea) (1991)
Korean Constitutional Court, 2006Hun-Ma1098 (South Korea) (2008)
Leung Chun Kwong v. Secretary for the Civil Service [2019] HKCFA 19
Leung Kwok Hung v. HKSAR [2005] 3 HKLRD 164
R v Oakes [1986] 1 SCR 103
Government Materials
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to Improve and Strengthen the Recordation Review System (issued 29 December 2023)
State Council, Program for Comprehensively Promoting ‘Administration by Law’ (issued 22 March 2002)
Shen Chun Yao, ‘Report on the Record Review Work Situation in 2020 by the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress’ Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Gazette (2021)
Supreme People's Court, Interpretation of Several Issues Concerning the Application of Title One General Provisions of Book Three Contracts of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (Interpretation No. 13 [2023]) (issued 12 April 2023)
Abeyratne, Rehan, ‘More Structure, More Deference: Proportionality in Hong Kong’ in Po Jen Yap (ed), Proportionality in Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
Alexy, Robert, A Theory of Constitutional Rights, translated by Julian Rivers (Oxford University Press, 2002)
Baihua, Yu, ‘On the Proportionality Built-in Rights’ (2020)37(4) Studies in Law and Business 88
Barak, Aharon, Proportionality: Constitutional Rights and Their Limitations (Cambridge University Press, 2012)
Beatty, David M, The Ultimate Rule of Law (Oxford University Press, 2004)
Berg, G H v, Handbuch der Deutschen Polizei Rechts (2nd ed, Hannover, 1802)
Cohen-Eliya, Moshe, and Iddo Porat, ‘American Balancing and German Proportionality: The Historical Origins’ (2010) 8(2) International Journal of Constitutional Law 263
Craig, Paul, ‘Unreasonableness and Proportionality in UK Law’ in Evelyn Ellis (ed), The Principle of Proportionality in the Laws of Europe (Hart Publishing, 1999)
Dengjie, Yang, and Su Qiang, ‘On Balancing Benchmarks in Appropriateness Review: Taking 31 Provinces (Autonomous Regions and Municipalities) for Example’ (2023) 36(5) Journal of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Social Sciences Edition) 62
Dworkin, Ronald, ‘Rights as Trumps’ in Jeremy Waldron (ed), Theories of Rights (Oxford University Press, 1984)
Fleiner, Fritz, Institutionen des deutschen Verwaltungsrechts (Mohr, 1928)
Gray, Anthony, ‘Proportionality in Australian Constitutional and Administrative Law’ (2022) 41(1) University of Tasmania Law Review 7
Grimm, Dieter, Constitutionalism: Past, Present, and Future (Oxford University Press, 2016)
Grimm, Dieter, ‘Proportionality in Canadian and German Constitutional Jurisprudence’ (2007) 57 University of Toronto Law Journal 383
Hongzhen, Jiang, ‘Judicial Application of the Hierarchical Order in the Principle of Proportionality’ (2020) 42(4) Chinese Journal of Law 41
Huaide, Ma, Administrative Law and Administrative Litigation Law (5th ed, China Legal Publishing House, 2015)
Jackson, Vicki C, ‘Constitutional Law in an Age of Proportionality’ (2015) 124(8) Yale Law Journal 3094
Jinghui, Chen, ‘The Generalization of the Proportionality and the Nature of Fundamental Rights’ (2017) 5 China Legal Science 279
Jinxue, Fan, ‘On the Constitutional Principle of Proportionality’ (2018) (5) Journal of Comparative Law 106
Klatt, Matthias, and Moritz Meister, The Constitutional Structure of Proportionality (Oxford University Press, 2012)
Kremnitzer, Mordechai, et al (eds), Proportionality in Action (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
Kun, Qian, ‘Fundamental Rights as Democratic Rights: An Analysis of the Evolution of the Constitution of China’ (2024) 18(3) Northern Legal Science 54
Kyritsis, Dimitrios, ‘Whatever Works: Proportionality as a Constitutional Doctrine’ (2014) 34 (2) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 395
Lin, Chien-Chih, ‘Proportionality in Taiwan: American-German Fusion’ in Po Jen Yap (ed), Proportionality in Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
Luban, David, ‘Incommensurable Values, Rational Choice, and Moral Absolutes’ (1990) 38 Cleveland State Law Review 65
Marketou, Afroditi, Local Meanings of Proportionality (Cambridge University Press, 2021)
Mathews, Jud, ‘Proportionality Review in Administrative Law’ in Peter Lindseth et al. (eds), Comparative Administrative Law (2nd ed, Edward Elgar, 2017)
Ming'an, Jiang (ed), Administrative Law and Administrative Litigation Law (8th ed, Peking University Press, 2024)
Nimmer, Melville B, ‘The Right to Speak from Time to Time: First Amendment Theory Applied to Libel and Misapplied to Privacy’ (1968) 56(4) California Law Review 935
Ponomarenko, Iryna, ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Balancing: Towards a Theoretical Framework for the Doctrinal Complexity in Proportionality Analysis in Constitutional Adjudication’ (2016) 49(3) UBC Law Review 1103
Quan, Liu, The Principle of Proportionality (Tsinghua University Press, 2022)
Rawls, John, A Theory of Justice (Harvard University Press, 1971)
Record Review Office of Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, A Guide to the “Regulations and Judicial Interpretations Record Review Working Methods” (China Democracy and Legal System Publishing House, 2020)
Sweet, Alec Stone, and Jud Mathews, ‘Proportionality Balancing and Global Constitutionalism’ (2008) 47 Columbia Journal of Transnational Law 68
Tsai, Tzung-Jen, ‘An Introduction to the Principle of Proportionality in Public Law: Focusing on the Development of German Law’ (1999) 62 NCCU Law Review 75
Tsakyrakis, Stavros, ‘Proportionality: An Assault on Human Rights?’ (2009) 7(3) International Journal of Constitutional Law 468
Tushnet, Mark V, ‘Anti-Formalism in Recent Constitutional Theory’ (1985) 83 Michigan Law Review 1502
Webber, Grégoire, ‘Proportionality, Balancing, and the Cult of Constitutional Rights Scholarship’ (2010) 23(1) Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 179
Wolffers, Artur, “New Aspects of the Principle of Proportionality”, Journal of the Bern Jurists' Association 113 (1977) 297
Xianghe, Gong, ‘Ideal and Reality: A Study on the Justiciability of Fundamental Rights’ (2009) 26(4) Studies in Law and Business 32
Xu, Wang, ‘Elaboration of the Principle of Proportionality in Recordation Review’ (2024) 46(4) Global Law Review 54
Yang, Mei, ‘Application Scope and Limits of the Principle of Proportionality’ (2020) 42(2) Chinese Journal of Law 57
Yap, Po Jen, ‘Proportionality in Asia: Joining the Global Choir’ in Po Jen Yap (ed), Proportionality in Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
Zhai Yi, ‘A New Idea of Proportionality Principle in Chinese Constitution: Based on Article 33 of the Chinese Constitution’ (2012) (5) Social Sciences in Xinjiang 88
Zhongjing, Men, ‘The Constitutional Position and Norm Basis of the Principle of Proportionality: Taking the Concept of Tolerance in a Constitutional Sense as the Analytical Perspective’ (2014) 29(5) Legal Forum 94
Ziyu, Wang, ‘Seeking Consensus: The Judicial Practice and Knowledge Interaction of the Principle of Proportionality’ (2022) 28(3) Law and Social Development 126
Legislation
[Administrative Compulsion Law of the People's Republic of China] (People's Republic of China) Standing Committee of National People’s Congress, 30 June 2011
[Administrative Penalty Law of the People's Republic of China] (People's Republic of China) Standing Committee of National People’s Congress, 22 January 2021
Canada Act 1982 (UK) c 11, sch B pt I (‘Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’)
[Constitution of Taiwan (Republic of China)]
[Constitution of the People’s Republic of China]
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 1996 (South Africa)
Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance (Hong Kong)
[Jiangsu Province Administrative Procedure Regulations] (People's Republic of China) Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress, 29 July 2022
[Law of the People's Republic of China on the Supervision of Standing Committees of People's Congresses at Various Levels] (People's Republic of China) Standing Committee of National People’s Congress, 27 August 2006
[Legislation Law of the People's Republic of China] (People's Republic of China) National People’s Congress, 13 March 2023
Pharmaziegesetz Bayern [Bavarian Pharmacy Act] (Germany)
[Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Use of Police Implements and Arms by the People's Police] (People's Republic of China) State Council, 16 January 1996
[The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China] (People's Republic of China) National People’s Congress, 4 April 1990
Cases
Bank Mellat v. Her Majesty’s Treasury (No 2) [2014] AC 700
Bundesverfassungsgericht [German Constitutional Court], 1 BvR 802/58, 11 March 1958, reported in (1958) 7 BVerfGE 377
Edmonton Journal v Alberta (Attorney General) [1989] 2 SCR 1326
Fok Chun Wa v. Hospital Authority (2012)15 HKCFAR 409
Garment Processing Factory v Chuzhou City Broadcasting and Television News Publishing Bureau [2021] [Wan Xing Zhong No 226]
Guo Jianjun v Zhuji City Land and Resources Bureau [2008] [Shao Zhong Xing Zhong Zi No 37]
Handyside v The United Kingdom (1976) 1 EHRR 737
Huifeng Industrial Development Co., Ltd v Harbin Planning Bureau [1999] [Supreme People's Court Xing Zhong Zi No 20]
Hysan Development Co Ltd v. Town Planning Board (2016) 19 HKCFAR 372
J.Y. Interpretation No. 649 (Taiwan) (2008)
J.Y. Interpretation No. 656 (Taiwan) (2009)
J.Y. Interpretation No. 710 (Taiwan) (2013)
J.Y. Interpretation No. 744 (Taiwan) (2017)
Korean Constitutional Court, 89 Hun-Ma 160 (South Korea) (1991)
Korean Constitutional Court, 2006Hun-Ma1098 (South Korea) (2008)
Leung Chun Kwong v. Secretary for the Civil Service [2019] HKCFA 19
Leung Kwok Hung v. HKSAR [2005] 3 HKLRD 164
R v Oakes [1986] 1 SCR 103
Government Materials
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to Improve and Strengthen the Recordation Review System (issued 29 December 2023)
State Council, Program for Comprehensively Promoting ‘Administration by Law’ (issued 22 March 2002)
Shen Chun Yao, ‘Report on the Record Review Work Situation in 2020 by the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress’ Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Gazette (2021)
Supreme People's Court, Interpretation of Several Issues Concerning the Application of Title One General Provisions of Book Three Contracts of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (Interpretation No. 13 [2023]) (issued 12 April 2023)
Published
2025-02-03
How to Cite
Jiaqi, L. (2025). A Study on Proportionality. International Journal of Social Science Research and Review, 8(1), 218-232. https://doi.org/10.47814/ijssrr.v8i1.2489
Section
Main Articles
Copyright (c) 2025 Li Jiaqi
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