"Negative law enforcement", "Gray law enforcement", "Take advantage of legal loopholes"... There are still legal loopholes in the Yangtze River Protection
Half-month talk reporter Han Zhen/Wang Xian/Dong Xue
In recent years, efforts to protect the ecological environment in the Yangtze River Economic Belt have been intensified. The Yangtze River Protection Law passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on December 26, 2020, has added a strong guarantee to the protection of the Yangtze River.
However, restricted by some related supporting laws and regulations lagging behind and other factors, grass-roots law enforcement still has the dilemma of being unable to follow and difficult to follow in specific law enforcement. "Negative law enforcement", "gray law enforcement", and "demonstration of legal loopholes" occur from time to time. Some illegal activities that damage the ecology of the Yangtze River cannot be contained in time.
There are gaps in regulations and the grassroots do not know how to manage
At present, the chaos of illegal fishing along the Yangtze River has been clearly curbed, but some people are engaged in multi-rod, multi-hook, profit-making fishing under the guise of recreational fishing. Some multi-rod and multi-hook anglers can catch dozens of catties a day. Fish, many of them are rare and unique.
“The Fishery Law and its implementing regulations lack specific regulations on recreational fishing, which makes the grass-roots law enforcement officers unable to follow and do not know how to manage.” Gu Dehong, deputy director of the Jiangjin District Agriculture and Rural Committee of Chongqing City, said that due to the lack of legal basis, law enforcement officers only It can be dissuaded in accordance with the documents of the superior department, but if the dissuasion does not work, it lacks the means to take further effective measures.
Similar law enforcement dilemmas are often encountered in operations against illegal sand mining in various areas along the river.
According to the investigation conducted by the reporter of Banyue Tan, illegal sand mining in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River still faces repeated prohibitions.
The Banyuetan reporter saw in a city in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River that more than a hundred illegal sand mining ships berthed at a centralized docking point, and the scene was extremely spectacular.
According to a staff member of the Water Affairs Bureau, the gross profit of an illegal sand mining vessel can reach more than 60,000 yuan for one hour. The huge profits have caused some people to take risks.
“The Regulations on the Management of Sand Mining in the Yangtze River and its implementation methods have been unable to adapt to changes in economic and social development and the requirements of the protection of the Yangtze River.” said Zhang Zhiliao, a professor of environmental law at Southwest University of Political Science and Law. Those with a permit for sand mining without authorization shall be fined not less than 100,000 yuan but not more than 300,000 yuan; if the circumstances are serious, illegal sand mining ships shall be seized or confiscated, and the illegal sand mining ships confiscated shall be auctioned, and all auction funds shall be turned over to the finance.
According to the newly passed Yangtze River Protection Law, such acts will be fined more than 2 times and less than 20 times the value of the goods; if the value of the goods is less than 100,000 yuan, a fine of more than 200,000 yuan and less than 2 million yuan will be imposed.
This will lead to a mismatch of regulations, which will make law enforcement officers at a loss what to do.
Interviewed grassroots cadres and experts said that some laws and regulations related to the protection of the Yangtze River were promulgated too early and failed to keep up with the times to be revised or improved, resulting in “fights” and “blank” of laws and regulations.
For example, in the rectification of the Three No Ships, there are no specific regulations on the disposal of the Three Nos Agricultural Ships; the delineation of nature reserves is too arbitrary, causing many places to face general violations.
There are many legal loopholes, and law enforcement risks are huge
Some law enforcement officials said that due to the inconsistent laws and regulations, some law enforcement officials "gray law enforcement" and "passive law enforcement", which not only compromises the effectiveness of law enforcement, but may also bring administrative litigation risks.
In addition, it also leaves some lawbreakers an opportunity to exploit legal loopholes.
——"Gray law enforcement", when the law is executed, the law enforcement may become illegal.
Some law enforcement officials stated that according to the documents of the agricultural management department, recreational fishing can only be carried out with a single rod and single hook. When the law enforcement officials have failed to discourage those with multiple rods and multiple hooks, they often seize the other party’s fishing gear on the grounds of “temporarily helping the other party to keep the fishing gear”. Lack of legal basis.
Once the counterparty is truthful, law enforcement may become illegal, leading to administrative litigation risks.
When dealing with the three-no-ship situation, “gray law enforcement” is also widespread. Some departments directly confiscated or dismantled the ships used by villagers for agricultural production, suspecting of infringing on the private property of the people.
-"Passive law enforcement", because there is no way to rely, some law enforcement officers are afraid to take responsibility and dare not act, burying hidden dangers for the protection of the Yangtze River.
Several law enforcement officials said that they often encounter violent resistance to the law during law enforcement.
Not long ago, Zhang Jianjun, the first secretary of Xiangxi Village, Banqiaotou, Jixi County, Anhui Province, died after being stabbed with a knife by a criminal suspect during the process of stopping illegal electric fish. This incident brought a huge psychological impact to fishery law enforcement officials.
The lack of means by law enforcement personnel, coupled with the lack of "exemption clauses", makes law enforcement unavoidable.
—— "Looking for loopholes" and "taking advantage of loopholes." Some lawbreakers have repeatedly caught and committed crimes repeatedly, damaging the authority of the law.
Han Jisong, deputy director of the Wuhan Branch of the Changhang Public Security Bureau, said that the criminals are very cunning. Most of the people on the sand boats are part-time workers, and the bosses are hiding behind them. If the bosses are found with great effort, the court will sentence them to three or four years at most.
Due to the relatively light sentence, many illegal fishing and illegal sand mining personnel were arrested, and they were quickly released and re-conducted. In the illegal sand mining crimes, there is even a tendency to group and specialize. They have specialized legal personnel. Responsible for grasping the handles of law enforcement officers. If the law enforcement officers are not careful, they may fall into the trap set by the other party.
Enhance legal support and increase protection
Interviewed experts and grassroots officials said that achieving high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt requires the support of scientific and complete laws and regulations. Currently, it is urgent to comprehensively sort out and improve relevant laws and documents on the protection of the Yangtze River to better meet the needs of the era of great protection of the Yangtze River.
The first is to sort out and clean up relevant regulations and documents related to the Yangtze River as soon as possible.
Wu Wenbiao, deputy director of the Yangtze River Division of the Chongqing Development and Reform Commission, said that the management of the Yangtze River involves more than 10 provinces and cities and multiple central departments. There are many regulations and documents issued by the state, local and various departments, and relevant departments should comprehensively sort them out. The merger of the merger, the abolition of the abolition, and the renewal of the update, so as to avoid multiple political parties and mutual fights.
The second is to amend relevant important regulations as soon as possible.
Zhang Zhiliao, a professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, said that it is urgent to make systematic revisions to the Fisheries Law, Water Law, "Regulations on the Management of Sand Excavation in the Yangtze River," and at the same time make corresponding adjustments to its lower-level laws and regulations to make the system for the protection of the Yangtze River clearer practical.
In addition, prominent issues such as recreational fishing, multiplication and release, and three no ships should be included in the legal system as soon as possible, so as to prevent law enforcement officers from being unable to rely on and at a loss.
(Published in "Ban Yue Tan", Issue 1, 2021, original title: "The protection of the Yangtze River, laws and regulations can still "take loopholes")