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Text | Wan Yunfeng, President of the Intermediate People's Court of Shantou City, Guangdong Province
The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that respecting nature, conforming to nature, and protecting nature are the inherent requirements of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way. We must firmly establish and practice the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, and plan for development from the perspective of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. Since 2020, the people's courts at the two levels of Shantou City, Guangdong Province (hereinafter referred to as "Shantou Court") have deeply practiced Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, resolutely shouldered the judicial responsibility of ensuring the construction of ecological civilization, and went all out to do a good job in the adjudication of environmental resources, so as to protect the ecological construction of green and beautiful eastern Guangdong with the power of justice, and escort high-quality economic and social development.
Build a solid judicial barrier for green development
Hear cases in accordance with the law and promote the ecological rule of law. Since 2020, Shantou courts have concluded a total of 639 environmental and resource cases, effectively promoting the construction of the rule of law in the field of ecology and environment. Cracking down on crimes of destroying ecological and environmental resources, 430 criminal cases of environmental resources have been concluded, the number of criminal cases of environmental resources accepted has been declining year by year, and the functions of criminal justice punishment and education have begun to emerge; the principle of "environmental value and responsibility for damages" has been strictly implemented, and 17 environmental public interest litigation cases have been concluded; 159 administrative cases of environmental resources have been concluded by supporting and supervising administrative organs in performing their duties in accordance with the law; 159 administrative cases of environmental resources have been concluded; the nature of litigation for compensation for ecological and environmental damage has been accurately grasped, and pre-litigation consultations and litigation have been brought into full play. Judicial confirmation and other institutional advantages, and concluded 5 cases of judicial confirmation of compensation agreements for ecological and environmental damages.
Tackle pollution prevention and control and boost the remediation of the Lianjiang River. The Shantou Intermediate People's Court, together with the Shantou Municipal People's Procuratorate and other units, held a press conference on cracking down on environmental pollution crimes, and issued the "Notice on Severely Cracking Down on Environmental Pollution Crimes in Accordance with the Law", demonstrating the high-pressure situation of strictly cracking down on environmental pollution crimes. Severely punish primary criminals such as workshop owners and employers of polluting enterprises in accordance with law, and strictly apply suspended sentences in cases involving key rectification areas. At the same time, according to the actual situation, non-criminal measures such as restricting business operations and setting a time limit for rectification have been adopted in a targeted manner, which has provided strong judicial support for the comprehensive improvement of the Lianjiang River Basin. Lianjiang has changed from a "typical pollutant" to a "model of pollution control", and has been awarded the "Top Ten Beautiful Rivers and Lakes in Guangdong Province".
Protecting diverse organisms and contributing to ecological security. The Shantou People's Court implements the national strategy for biodiversity conservation, severely punishes criminal offenses such as illegal fishing and endangering wild animals and plants in accordance with the law, and properly hears public interest litigation cases for biodiversity conservation. In the case of Hu et al.'s civil public interest lawsuit endangering precious and endangered wild animals, Hu et al.'s hunting, trading and trading of national first-class protected wild animals and "giant pandas in the water" turtles caused irreversible damage to the survival and population continuation of the turtles.
Strengthen the radiation effect of green justice
Complete centralized trial mechanisms. Since 2020, the Shantou Intermediate People's Court has conducted special research on the reform of the environmental resources trial mechanism around key issues such as the operation mode of the trial mechanism, and implemented the "three-in-one" trial model, with the administrative tribunal hearing criminal cases of environmental pollution and civil cases of environmental resources at the same time, effectively integrating trial resources. On this basis, in May 2023, the Shantou Intermediate People's Court officially established the Environmental Resources Tribunal, covering 33 criminal offenses, 28 civil causes of action and administrative cases closely related to the ecological environment, promoting the coordination and unity of punishing crimes, compensating for losses and restoring the environment.
Promote the centralized jurisdiction model. Since January 1, 2020, the Shantou Intermediate People's Court has accepted first-instance environmental civil public interest litigation cases in Shantou, Meizhou, Chaozhou, and Jieyang, promoting the integrated protection of the ecological environment in eastern Guangdong. Since the centralization of jurisdiction, the number of environmental public interest civil litigation cases has increased year by year, covering water resources, land resources, mineral resources, forestry resources, wildlife resources protection, etc. In August 2023, the Intermediate People's Courts of Shantou, Meizhou and Chaozhou Cities, together with the Intermediate People's Court of Longyan City, Fujian Province, jointly signed the Framework Agreement on Judicial Protection of Environmental Resources in the Hanjiang River Basin to carry out all-round cooperation in the judicial protection of environmental resources from the aspects of systematic protection and pluralistic co-governance, establish demonstration bases for joint restoration of ecological and environmental justice, jointly release white papers and typical cases, carry out publicity and education on the rule of law, and explore collaborative governance and integrated protection of the ecological environment. Jointly with the city's water affairs bureau and other four units to jointly carry out a special law enforcement action for the safety protection of rivers and lakes in Shantou City. Establish a "forest chief + forest judge" cooperation mechanism with the Municipal Forest Chief's Office and the Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources, and provide professional legal knowledge training and point-to-point consultation for forest chiefs at all levels in the area of responsibility when dealing with the protection of forestry resources.
Innovate ecological restoration. Implementing the concept of restorative justice, the Shantou People's Court has pioneered the use of "labor compensation" to pay off "ecological debts" in the field of civil public interest litigation for environmental resources in the field of civil public interest litigation for environmental resources, and has solved the problem of compensation for ecological and environmental damages. The Shantou Intermediate People's Court has issued relevant documents to clarify the scope of application and applicable procedures of labor compensation, and has taken the lead in exploring and clarifying the rules for the acceptance of regulatory departments and achievements in eastern Guangdong, which is of great significance for promoting the restoration of the damaged ecological environment and solving the problem of compensation. In the case of Shantou Municipal People's Procuratorate v. a hardware factory in Shantou City, the Shantou Intermediate People's Court supported a hardware factory in accordance with the law to carry out "compensation" in the form of public welfare labor in the form of farmland irrigation ditch cleaning, and helped a certain hardware factory realize the role change from "destroyer" to "guardian", and facilitated the mediation to settle the case. At the same time, it is the first in Guangdong Province to promote governance through cases, and to carry out useful explorations on the applicable rules for labor compensation such as "selection of cooperative enforcement units, guidance on compensation, and acceptance of results", so as to promote the compensation for ecological and environmental damage from the system to practice.
Forging a strong judicial team. The Shantou People's Court strengthened inter-court exchanges, and organized environmental resources trial teams to visit courts in Chaozhou and other places to learn from advanced trial experience. Efforts should be made to make good use of the "heirloom" of investigation and research, and constantly improve the theoretical level of the team. The research report on the crime of polluting the environment won the second prize of the National Court for Outstanding Business Achievements in Environmental Resources Criminal Trials, and the research report on the responsibility for ecological environment restoration was awarded the "Excellent Research Achievements of Guangdong Courts".
Efforts should be made to promote the comprehensive management of the ecological environment
Strengthen coordination and linkage, and gather the joint force of ecological and environmental protection. The Shantou Intermediate People's Court, in conjunction with the Municipal People's Procuratorate, has established and improved mechanisms for consultation and information sharing on important cases, and at the same time strengthened cooperation and cooperation with relevant units such as natural resources, ecological environment, and marine fisheries to enhance synergies. Through full cooperation with the anti-smuggling departments of the customs, 22 criminal cases of waste smuggling were properly tried in accordance with the law, and the problem of illegal entry of "foreign garbage" was effectively rectified.
Strengthen judicial recommendations and plug loopholes in ecological and environmental governance. In the case of Zeng v. a certain bureau of natural resources and an economic association for administrative punishment of land violations, the Shantou Intermediate People's Court recommended that the bureau of natural resources investigate and deal with the illegal act of destroying basic farmland by the economic association in accordance with the law, and urged the relevant functional departments of the government to set up signs of basic farmland protection zones in accordance with the law;
Strengthen legal popularization and publicity, and create an atmosphere for protecting the ecological environment. The Shantou People's Court has guided the whole society to participate in ecological and environmental protection by releasing typical cases of environmental resources adjudication. At World Environment Day, the off-season fishing moratorium and other time nodes, actively carry out special legal popularization publicity, through the establishment of public open days, centralized judgments, legal consultation, and other means, to promote the concept of environmental protection and green development deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
In the next step, the Shantou court will continue to thoroughly implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee on ecological and environmental protection, continue to improve the quality and efficiency of environmental resources adjudication with a more positive attitude, more innovative measures and a more pragmatic style, and contribute judicial wisdom and strength to the construction of ecological civilization and green development in Guangdong.
Cover and table of contents of this issue
China Trial, Issue 6, 2024
China Trial News Semi-Monthly No. 340
Editor/Xu Chang