Courts across the country concluded 1.965 million environmental and resource cases in ten years
Build a strong judicial protection barrier for the ecological environment (rule of law headlines)
Judicial protection is an important way to protect the ecological environment, and the trial of environmental resources is an important measure to promote the construction of a beautiful China and green development, and the construction of a Chinese-style modernization in which man and nature live in harmony.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, people's courts at all levels have been driven by reform and innovation, tried various environmental and resource cases in accordance with the law, continuously built a network of judicial protection of the ecological environment, and made positive contributions to the construction of ecological civilization and the construction of a beautiful China.
Strictly try environmental and resource cases according to law
Giant Python Peak is located in Sanqing Mountain Scenic Area, Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province. It is the iconic landscape of Sanqing Mountain.
In April 2017, Zhang Mouming and other three defendants used electric drills to drill holes in the rock mass of Giant Python Peak while they were climbing the Giant Python Peak, and then used a hammer to drive pitons into the holes, and then drilled holes in the rock mass. Nail the cloth rope.
Experts have demonstrated that this behavior has caused serious damage to the Giant Python Peak geological relic.
In December 2019, the Shangrao Intermediate People's Court held that the scenic spot is a scenic spot protected by the laws of our country. Holes were drilled into pitons, which caused serious damage to Python Peak. The circumstances were serious and constituted the crime of intentionally damaging scenic spots and historic sites. for the protection and restoration of the public ecological environment.
Subsequently, the court of second instance also upheld the judgment of first instance.
"This case is the first criminal case in the country where the intentional destruction of natural relics is criminalized, and it is also the first civil public interest lawsuit for ecological damage brought by the procuratorate against the destruction of natural relics. A microcosm of protecting the ecological environment has an exemplary role in guiding the public to cherish and treat the natural resources and ecological environment that human beings rely on for survival and development.” said Liu Zhumei, chief judge of the Environmental Resources Tribunal of the Supreme People’s Court.
To help fight the tough battle against pollution, courts at all levels severely punish crimes such as illegal waste water discharge and cross-border dumping of hazardous waste, and try cases involving heavily polluted weather and black and odorous water rectification in accordance with the law, effectively maintaining and improving the living environment; Carbon cycle development, the Supreme Court researched judicial rules on carbon emissions trading disputes, drafted judicial guidance to help carbon peak carbon neutrality; implemented the national strategy for biodiversity protection, the Supreme Court clarified the judicial protection rules for biological populations and living environments, and consolidated Ecological security, the whole chain to combat illegal fishing, endangering wild animals and plants and other illegal crimes; to implement the principle of protection and sustainable use of natural resources, the Supreme Law issued guidance on severely punishing illegal mining of mineral resources to maintain the safety of mineral resources and the ecological environment...
Over the past ten years, the people's courts have protected the ecological environment with the most stringent system and the strictest rule of law. Laws and regulations have become strict rules and iron laws that "grow teeth", forming the "rule of China" of judicial protection of the ecological environment.
Carry out the principle of "protection first, prevention first"
In March 2016, construction of a hydropower station began on the Cansa River, the main stream of the Lvzhi River in Yunnan Province.
The submerged area of the hydropower station is the only remaining habitat of the green peacock, a national first-class protected animal and an endangered species.
Once the hydropower station stores water, it may lead to the extinction of the green peafowl in the area.
In July 2017, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment ordered the hydropower project construction company to carry out a post-environmental impact assessment, and was not allowed to store water for power generation before.
At the same time, a non-governmental environmental protection organization filed a public interest lawsuit to the court, demanding that the construction of the hydropower station be stopped.
The particularity of this case lies in the fact that the environmental damage in this case is only a major risk and has not actually occurred, and the circumstances of the infringement are still unclear. The focus of the trial is how the court will determine this "possibility" according to the law.
In March 2020, the Kunming Intermediate People's Court made a first-instance judgment, holding that the submerged area of the hydropower station involved in the case has constituted a habitat for green peacocks in the biological sense. Once submerged, it is likely to cause serious damage to the survival of green peacocks. Therefore, It is judged that the construction party shall immediately stop the construction of the hydropower station project involved in the case under the existing environmental impact assessment, shall not intercept and store water, and shall not cut down the vegetation in the submerged area of the hydropower station.
After the judgment of the first instance was pronounced, both the plaintiff and the defendant appealed.
In December 2020, the Higher People's Court of Yunnan Province upheld the judgment of the first instance in the second instance, preserving the last homeland on which the green peacock lives.
The "Yunnan Green Peacock Case", as the country's first preventive public interest litigation case for wildlife protection, was rated by the United Nations Environment Program as a typical case for promoting sustainable development goals at the 2021 World Conference on Environmental Justice.
"The 'Yunnan Green Peacock Case' is a typical case where the people's courts implement the principle of 'protection first, prevention first' in the trial of environmental resource cases, which reflects the efforts of the people's courts to eliminate the damage to the ecological environment at the source or control it within a reasonable range. Promoting high-quality economic and social development and high-level protection of the ecological environment." Xie Deti, a representative of the National People's Congress and a professor at the School of Resources and Environment of Southwest University, said.
Behaviors that destroy the ecological environment are sudden, instantaneous, and irreversible, and the harmful consequences are delayed, long-lasting, and difficult to repair.
How to stop ecological and environmental infringements in a timely manner and minimize the environmental damage caused by infringements?
In December 2021, the Supreme People's Court issued the "Several Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of Injunction Order Preservation Measures in Ecological and Environmental Infringement Cases" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations").
The "Regulations" make it clear that in order to prevent irreparable damage to the applicant's legitimate rights and interests or the ecological environment, an injunction order can be taken to provide relief, and the damage can be stopped or continued to expand in a timely manner.
"As a preventive right relief, the injunction preservation measures are the specific application of the civil litigation preservation system in the field of ecological and environmental protection." Li Mingyi, vice president of the Environmental Resources Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court, said that the introduction of the "Regulations" has enriched The preservation system for civil torts has been established, the judicial protection of the ecological environment has been extended forward, the strength of environmental justice in protecting the public's environmental rights and interests, and deterring ecological and environmental torts has been strengthened, and the principle of "protection first, prevention first" has been better implemented.
Practice the Restorative Judicial Concept of the Ecological Environment
From November 2015 to April 2016, the defendants Zhang Moufeng and Zhao Mouhui, in order to profit from the sale of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, used Excavators damaged 118.43 acres of woodland.
After investigation, Tan Mouyun and other 8 people damaged the forest land.
In April 2017, the Wanzhou District People's Court of Chongqing successively issued criminal judgments against 10 defendants including Zhang Moufeng for the crime of illegally occupying agricultural land.
During the trial of the case, Zhang Moufeng and others replanted the damaged area.
In 2020, the No. 2 Branch of the Chongqing Municipal People's Procuratorate once again sued the aforementioned 10 defendants to the No. 2 Intermediate People's Court of Chongqing, arguing that the replanting in the original criminal case was not successful, and requested to continue replanting.
The court invited forestry experts to conduct on-site investigation and found that the survival rate of the replanted trees was affected by the seasons, and the survival rate was low, and continued replanting was needed to achieve the restoration effect.
In December 2020, the Chongqing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court held that although the defendant had assumed criminal responsibility, judging from the on-site investigation and judicial appraisal, the damaged ecological environment had not been effectively restored. The Chongqing municipal media apologized to the public; according to the restoration plan provided by the judicial appraisal institute, the replanting and restoration will be completed before December 31, 2021, and the maintenance will be until December 31, 2024.
The judgment is only the beginning of the restoration. In view of the professionalism of the replanting work in the later stage, in order to avoid the problem of low survival rate caused by replanting and improper management and maintenance, the Chongqing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court contacted the local forestry department many times. In the process of management and maintenance, professional technical support is provided, and acceptance is organized to ensure the actual restoration effect.
At the same time, the court has also communicated and coordinated with the local party committee and government many times to guide the villagers to abandon the old concept of production, and vigorously develop rural recreation, ecological health care and other agriculture-tourism integration industries under the premise of protecting the ecological environment.
"Environmental resource trials should find the right balance between environmental protection, economic development, and the environmental rights and interests of the masses, rationally adjust the conflict between environmental public interests and personal interests, and give full play to the punishment education and exemplary guidance functions of environmental resource trials. Judicial exemplary guidance should It is a guide to the whole society and the public, among which, it is particularly important to guide the infringers to transform from 'destroyers' of the ecological environment to real 'restorers'." said the relevant person in charge of the Chongqing Higher People's Court.
The People's Court of Anji County, Zhejiang Province set up a team of "forest judges" consisting of 120 court officers and policemen to sink into 215 villages (communities). Since 2018, the Intermediate Court of Changchun Forest District has signed a total of 164 "regreening and replanting" agreements and replanted 886.74 mu of forest land; It took 6 years to transform the "burning forest" of thousands of acres of barren hills into an "ecological forest" along the Yangtze River...
In recent years, innovative judicial measures such as "replanting and regreening in different places", "ecological restoration orders", and "subscribing to 'carbon sinks' for alternative restoration" have emerged continuously. , and strive to achieve "handle a case and restore a piece of green water and green mountains".
(People's Daily reporter Ni Yi)