China News Service, Beijing, June 5 Question: Severe punishment of crimes, comprehensive protection of how Chinese courts "defend the Yellow River"

　　China News Service reporter Zhang Su

　　“Since 2019, the people’s courts along the Huangjiu provinces and districts have accepted 908 criminal cases of first-instance pollution and concluded 808 cases.” Wang Xuguang, president of the Environmental Resources Trial Division of the Supreme People’s Court of China, cited data on the 5th that the court severely punished the Yellow River and its The criminal act of secretly draining straight sewage and other polluted water bodies from tributaries.

　　On the occasion of the "June 5th" World Environment Day, the opportunity of the "Supreme People's Court's Opinions on Providing Judicial Services and Guarantees for the Ecological Protection and High-Quality Development of the Yellow River Basin", the release of relevant data and the release of typical cases were the "Defending the Yellow River" injected judicial power.

Use heavy code to treat pollution

　　"The water problem is a prominent problem in the ecological protection and restoration of the Yellow River Basin." Wang Xuguang said that it is necessary to "use heavy code to control pollution and strengthen prevention and control of water pollution in the Yellow River".

　　In addition to the above data, since 2019, courts along the Huangjiu provinces and regions have also accepted 39 civil cases of first-instance water pollution and concluded 32 cases; accepted 765 first-instance water environment administrative cases and concluded 722 cases; accepted first-instance water environment filed by social organizations 11 civil public interest litigation cases, accepting 142 civil administrative public interest litigation cases of the first instance of the water environment filed by the procuratorial organs and closing 120 cases; accepting 10 ecological environmental damage compensation cases filed by provincial and municipal governments and their entrusted departments and agencies, 9 cases were concluded.

　　The "Provincial People's Procuratorate of Sanyuan County in Shaanxi Province v. Dacheng Town People's Government of Sanyuan County in Shaanxi Province has not fulfilled its statutory responsibilities for environmental protection and pollution prevention. Administrative Public Interest Litigation Case" issued on the same day by the Supreme People's Law is the construction of rural sewage centralized treatment facilities and sewage network in the Yellow River Basin Initiated administrative public interest litigation cases. The local government neglected to perform its statutory duties. The project involved in the case has not been started after approval, resulting in long-term sewage exceeding the standard directly discharged into the Weihe tributary Qinghe. The court accepting the judgment in accordance with the law supports the prosecution’s appeal, and after the judgment takes effect, it jointly dispatches personnel to the construction site of the project to continue to supervise, prompting the project involved to be completed and put into use on time.

　　The Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China has proposed "to complete the pilot investigation of the Yellow River's sewage outfalls by the end of this year." According to the analysis, the prevention and control of water pollution in the Yellow River Basin will be more targeted, scientific and operable.

Grasp comprehensive measures

　　In the "Defendant A criminal criminal public welfare lawsuit against the illegal logging of forest trees", without obtaining a forest logging permit, Jiamou felled all the country's forest spruce for the purpose of illegal possession, accumulating 44.87 cubic meters. Ruoergai County, Sichuan Province, where Jiamou is located, is located in the upper reaches of the Yellow River and is an important water conservation area. The court accepted the restorative justice concept, and at the same time, it decided that A was criminally responsible while also taking responsibility for the restoration of the ecological environment. Within six months after the judgment came into effect, Jiamou replanted 390 spruce trees.

　　"Implement the principle of priority for restoration and damage responsibility, and focus on protection on the one hand and restoration on the other." Wang Xuguang concluded by promoting the protection of the ecological environment of the Yellow River by establishing a responsibility system that organically links criminal sanctions, administrative supervision, civil compensation and ecological restoration And repair.

　　Since 2019, courts at all levels along the Huangjiu provinces and regions have accepted 1,166 criminal cases of illegal fishing of aquatic products in the first instance, concluded 1090 cases; accepted 1,356 criminal cases of ecological protection such as illegal mining and destructive mining, and concluded 1,135 cases.

　　It is worth mentioning that, when defending the Yellow River, the court based on the whole river basin area and upheld the concept of full factor system protection. Among the typical cases released this time were the “Cathedral Hu Yanjun, Li Fuqiang and other 6 persons who robbed ancient cultural sites and ancient tombs”, highlighting that the judicial department severely cracked down on the destruction of ancient cultural sites and ancient tombs, protecting, inheriting and promoting the Yellow River culture Policy orientation.

Promote green water

　　The data shows that the Yellow River accounts for 2% of the country's river runoff, but it is responsible for 12% of the country's population, 15% of the cultivated land, and the water supply of more than 60 large and medium-sized cities and national key energy coal chemical bases. The utilization rate of water resources development reaches 80%, and excessive development leads to increased water pollution.

　　"Taking the promotion of green water use as a basic principle for hearing the Yellow River water resources development and utilization cases." Wang Xuguang said that since 2019, the courts along the Huangjiu provinces and regions have accepted 1049 civil cases of water resources development and utilization and concluded 995 cases; There were 326 water conservancy administrative cases, and 294 cases were concluded. The content of the case includes the protection of drinking water sources, standardization of the development and utilization of hydropower resources, water ecological compensation, water rights transfer and trading, etc.

　　In the "Gansu Xingguo Hydropower Development Co., Ltd. v. Xiahe County People's Government of Gansu Province Unilateral Termination of Administrative Agreement", the court accepted that the unilateral termination of the hydropower project contract by the government is to perform the Daxia River Basin ecological environmental protection function and protect the public interest. behavior. The court supported the local government’s decision in accordance with law, which “helps regulate the development and utilization of hydropower resources in the upper Yellow River”.

　　The "Opinions" issued by the Supreme Law made specific requirements for the court to review cases from the perspective of "promoting green water use", which clearly stated that "the law guarantees the strict implementation of the Yellow River Basin water diversion plan, controls the total water withdrawal, and firmly suppresses unreasonable water demand."

　　The reporter learned from the Supreme Law that the next step will be to promote the centralized jurisdiction of inter-provincial cases among the nine provinces and regions of the Yellow River Basin, and will also guide local courts to initiate judicial collaboration across provincial administrative divisions based on the different characteristics of the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. (Finish)