Public interest litigation includes civil public interest litigation and administrative public interest litigation, which are divided according to the nature of the applicable procedural law or the object of the lawsuit (object). Procedural law theory holds that if interests are harmed, the victim has the right to sue the court and request judicial relief.

According to the subject of the lawsuit, public interest litigation can be divided into public interest litigation initiated by the procuratorate and public interest litigation initiated by other social groups and individuals. The former is called civil public prosecution or administrative public prosecution, and the latter is called general public interest litigation. .

Regarding the definition of public interest litigation, one view refers to specific state agencies and related organizations and individuals, authorized by the law, to violate laws and regulations, infringe national interests, social interests or the interests of specific others. For any behavior, a lawsuit shall be filed in court, and the court shall investigate legal liability activities in accordance with the law. This view can be called the “broad view of relief objects”. Another view in the "broad view" holds that the so-called interests of others refer to "unspecific interests of others." Corresponding to the broad view, some people believe that public interest litigation means that any organization or individual has the right to sue the court for behavior that violates the law, infringes on national interests, and social welfare interests, and the court will pursue them. Activities for which offenders are legally responsible. This view can be called the “narrow theory of relief objects”. Professor Liang Huixing believes that the actions targeted by public interest litigation harm the interests of the public, but do not directly harm the interests of the plaintiff. Therefore, the lawsuit has no direct interest in the plaintiff himself. The so-called "no direct harm" should be interpreted in a narrow sense here, and it only means that there is no "direct harm". Of course, behavior that harms the interests of the public will ultimately harm the interests of individuals. There is a natural connection between public interests and personal interests. Most opinions believe that the subjects that can initiate public interest litigation include ordinary people, social groups and prosecutorial agencies. What is worth exploring is what conditions individuals and groups meet to be legitimate parties, or to be qualified parties. Judging from the purpose and nature of public interest litigation, it seems that strict restrictions should not be imposed. However, due to concerns about excessive litigation, it is required to implement appropriate preventive and control measures for parties based on certain standards. Since public interest litigation involves public interests, and individuals have limited ability to bear the burden of relevant litigation in litigation, individuals are relatively less motivated to file public interest litigation, while organizations, especially public interest organizations, play an important role in promoting public interest litigation. significance. Public welfare organizations are non-profit organizations whose purpose is to promote and protect public interests, such as consumer associations, associations for persons with disabilities, children's protection organizations, animal protection organizations, and public welfare law firms. Since public welfare organizations aim to promote and protect public interests, they pay more attention to relevant public interests and can become active promoters of public interest litigation. Therefore, a group that meets the statutory conditions and meets the purpose of its charter should be qualified to litigate public interest litigation.