(Fighting New Coronary Pneumonia) Fighting the "epidemic" according to law: Protecting Wild Animals

China News Agency, Beijing, February 23, by title: Fighting the "epidemic" according to law: How to Protect Wild Animals

China News Agency reporter Zhang Su

The new crown pneumonia epidemic indicates that wildlife trade and overeating pose a major hidden danger to public health safety, and other studies have shown that more than 78% of new infectious diseases are related to wildlife. However, illegal and criminal acts involving wildlife have been repeatedly banned. During the epidemic prevention and control period, as of the 18th, prosecutors intervened and handled 207 crimes involving the destruction of wildlife resources.

The 16th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress, to be held on the 24th, will consider the draft decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on prohibiting illegal wildlife trade, abolishing bad habits of wild animals, and effectively protecting the lives and health of the people. Motion. How to suspend the "sharp sword" of lawbreakers? According to the expert's point of view, the vacancies should be filled from three aspects.

Clarify the scope of the list so that protection is not missing

The main basis for China's development of wildlife protection is the "National List of Key Protected Wild Animals" and the "National List of Terrestrial Wild Animals with Useful or Important Economic and Scientific Research Values". The former has been fine-tuned in 2003 since its implementation in 1989; the latter was released in 2000 and has not been updated. According to agency statistics, 1811 vertebrates in China have been protected by the two lists, and the protected species accounted for 62.71% of China's total recorded mammals, birds, and amphibians and reptiles. In other words, 1,077 species remain unlisted.

Professor Li Zhiping of Sun Yat-sen University Law School, using the Wildlife Protection Law as an example, said that the prohibition and restrictive measures mainly apply to the animals in the above list. However, most of the animals that have caused public health incidents are now off the list.

As it says, the Wildlife Protection Act clearly states in the general rules "to save precious and endangered wild animals", and bats, marmots and other species with potential public health risks are not among them. Many experts have proposed introducing a public health and health perspective and expanding the scope of the law. "The objects protected by the Wildlife Protection Law should include all wild animals." Li Zhiping said that on this basis, the objects to be protected are typed, and the focus on the formulation of specific systems and measures is focused on precious, endangered or important economic and scientific issues. Research value wildlife.

Song Hualin, deputy dean of the Law School of Nankai University, also suggested expanding the scope of the law, implementing hierarchical classification management and protection based on the ecological functions of wildlife and population status, and "setting necessary protection for other ordinary wildlife."

Comb the interest chain, so that supervision is not missing

The relevant person in charge of the Standing Committee of the National People ’s Congress ’s Legal and Industrial Affairs Commission said recently that it intends to add amendments to the wildlife protection law to the Standing Committee ’s legislative work plan this year. In fact, since the enactment of this law, there have always been differences on issues such as prohibiting the consumption of wild animals and restricting the development of the wild animal industry.

These differences have become more "hot" recently. On the one hand, the survey initiated by the public welfare organization collected nearly 100,000 questionnaires, and 96.4% of the respondents supported "full fasting of wild animals"; on the other hand, industry organizations published documents describing wild animal products as "rigid demand", showing Behind the huge industry benefits. The survey estimated that in 2016, there were more than 14.09 million practitioners in China's wild animal breeding industry, creating an output value of more than 520.6 billion yuan.

Some analysts say that it is difficult to revise the law by confining discussions to positions. The consumption link is at the end of the wild animal interest chain. From hunting, breeding, slaughtering, transportation, making products to sales, each link needs legal regulations.

Li Zhiping said that based on the actual situation in China, comprehensive "forbidden fields" are not realistic, and it is recommended that they be classified appropriately. For example, for wildlife that is not prohibited by the state, it should be the same as raising animals. "In terms of market supply, centralized slaughtering and cold-chain distribution should be used to supply live animals."

On the 22nd, more than ten experts in the field of environmental law put forward six legislative suggestions on amending the wildlife protection law, including "implementing the entire chain of process supervision for fasting wild animals and their products".

Clarify the legal interface so that law enforcement is not absent

In addition to the Wildlife Protection Law, China's current legal system directly involves wildlife, including the Fisheries Law, the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law, and the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine Law. Miao Shengming, director of the First Procuratorate of the Supreme People's Procuratorate of China, bluntly stated in the interview that the criminal law also reflects the strict protection of wild animals. However, in judicial practice, there are inconsistent issues regarding the application of criminal law charges, such as the criteria for distinguishing between wild animals and captive animals, and the subjective subjective knowledge that the animals involved are wild animals. In addition, at the national level, there is no comprehensive working mechanism for linking administrative law enforcement and criminal justice in the field of wildlife protection.

Song Hualin also reminded that while amending the laws related to the protection of wild animals, it is also necessary to pay attention to the convergence with related laws such as the Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases and the Food Safety Law.

Experts have even noticed that China's current wildlife enforcement network is relatively weak, and there are also lax enforcement issues in law implementation. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the wildlife protection system and mechanisms, such as establishing a wildlife protection management organization at the grassroots level or expanding the strength of the management team; it is also necessary to strengthen daily law enforcement and supervision to form high-pressure blows to illegal and criminal acts.

Miao Shengming said that the highest level of prosecution requires procuratorates at all levels to actively carry out source prevention and control, and actively and steadily explore the expansion of public interest litigation in the field of wildlife protection. The reporter also noted that the above-mentioned "six legislative proposals" proposed "introducing legal liability forms of punitive ecological damage compensation and administrative detention if necessary", and "establishing a law enforcement assessment and law enforcement responsibility review system". (Finish)