Shi Mouhua's criminal case of illegal hunting attached to a civil public interest lawsuit
-- Labor substitution for the liability for the loss of state resources
keyword
- criminal
- Civil public interest litigation attached to criminal cases
- Illegal hunting
- Wetland biodiversity conservation
- Liability for loss of national resources
- Labor compensation
Basic facts of the case
From October 7 to 22, 2018, defendant Shi Mouhua illegally hunted 647 wild birds in the Yellow Sea Wetland in Dongtai City, Jiangsu Province. After identification, 646 of the birds hunted belonged to terrestrial wild animals with important ecological, scientific and social value protected by the state. As the plaintiff in the public interest litigation, the procuratorate also filed an attached civil public interest lawsuit, requesting that Shi Mouhua be ordered to compensate 193,800 yuan for the loss of national resources caused by the infringement, and publicly apologize in the media at or above the municipal level. During the trial, the public interest litigation plaintiff and Shi Mouhua reached an agreement on replacing the liability for compensation for the loss of part of the state's resources with environmental public welfare labor.
On December 28, 2019, the Dongtai Municipal People's Court of Jiangsu Province rendered the (2019) Su 0981 Xingchu No. 98 Criminal Attached Civil Judgment: 1. Shi Mouhua committed the crime of illegal hunting and was sentenced to eight months imprisonment. 2. The tools of the crime seized in the case are to be confiscated. 3. Shi Mouhua shall compensate 193,800 yuan for the loss of national resources within 30 days of the effective date of this judgment. After the judgment was pronounced, there was no appeal or counter-appeal, and the judgment had taken legal effect.
Reasons for the Adjudication
The effective judgment of the court held that the birds hunted by Shi Mouhua belonged to the national "three haves" protected wild animals. Therefore, illegal hunting of wild birds is a huge harm to the ecological environment. In particular, Shi Mouhua's hunting site is located within the Yellow Sea Wetland, a world natural heritage site, and a large number of wild birds will seriously damage the biodiversity of the Yellow Sea Wetland, resulting in an imbalance in the wetland ecology. Shi Mouhua violated hunting laws and regulations by illegally hunting wild animals during the hunting ban period, with as many as 646 wild animals and as many as 8 species, greatly damaging wildlife resources, and the circumstances were serious, and his behavior constituted the crime of illegal hunting. Shi Mouhua has a criminal record of illegal hunting, and is to be given a heavier punishment as appropriate; He truthfully confessed his crimes and was given a lighter punishment in accordance with law. At the same time, Shi Mouhua's criminal behavior destroyed wildlife resources and harmed the national and social public interests, and in addition to criminal punishment, he should also bear corresponding civil tort liability. At the same time, taking into account Shi Mouhua's unemployed and difficult family life, the public interest litigation plaintiff and Shi Mouhua reached an agreement on his substitution of environmental public welfare labor to perform part of the state's liability for compensation for the loss of national resources, which did not violate the provisions of the law and did not harm the public interest, and was recognized in accordance with law. Therefore, the court made the above judgment in accordance with the law.
Summary of the trial
1. People's courts hearing criminal cases of damage to the protection of environmental resources may guide defendants in attached civil public interest litigation who are unemployed, have difficulties in family life, or are unable to bear responsibility for ecological and environmental compensation, to replace their liability for compensation for the loss of part of state resources with environmental remediation, forestry care, and other methods of environmental protection public interest work.
2. When determining the labor compensation plan, the people's courts shall clarify the location, time, duration, content, and territorial supervision responsibilities of environmental protection public interest labor, to ensure that the value of labor compensation work is equivalent to the cost of ecological restoration, and that the labor compensation plan can be smoothly implemented, truly embodying the criminal policy of blending leniency and severity with the concept of restorative justice.
Associate indexes
Article 341, paragraph 2, of the People's Republic of China Penal Code
Articles 187 and 179 of the People's Republic of China Civil Code (Article 4, Paragraph 1 and Article 15 of the Tort Liability Law of the People's Republic of China are applicable in this case)
Article 3, Paragraph 1 of the Law on the Protection of People's Republic of China Wild Animals
Article 101, paragraph 2, of the People's Republic of China Code of Criminal Procedure
Article 58 of the People's Republic of China Civil Procedure Law (Article 55 of the People's Republic of China Civil Procedure Law, which came into force on July 1, 2017, is applicable in this case)
First instance: Criminal Judgment of Dongtai Municipal People's Court of Jiangsu Province (2019) Su 0981 Xingchu No. 98 (December 28, 2019)