China News Service, February 7. According to the website of the Ministry of Justice, as of the end of 2023, there were 287 environmental damage judicial appraisal institutions and 5,098 appraisers registered by judicial administrative agencies across the country. Since 2015, environmental damage judicial appraisal has been included in the scope of unified registration management. More than 100,000 cases were handled, providing important evidence support for law enforcement and judicial activities on ecological environment and resource protection.
Public interest litigation for ecological environment and resource protection is of great significance in combating environmental pollution, destruction of ecological resources and other behaviors that harm social and public interests, and in building a beautiful China. In recent years, the procuratorial organs have fully fulfilled their responsibilities for public interest litigation in the field of ecological environment and resource protection, handled a large number of related cases, and made positive contributions to the protection of ecological environment resources. In work practice, some procuratorial organs have reported that charging fees for environmental damage judicial appraisals at the entrustment stage has caused great pressure on case handling funds, which is not conducive to the handling of ecological environment and resource protection public interest litigation cases. In order to solve this problem, the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme People's Procuratorate established a no-advance fee appraisal system in 2019, guiding appraisal institutions to provide appraisal services first and then charge appraisal fees, and identified 58 environmental damage judicial appraisal institutions that do not charge in advance. Effectively alleviate the financial pressure on procuratorial organs. Over the past four years, 58 institutions have conscientiously implemented the no-advance-charge appraisal system, forming a good demonstration effect and driving more environmental damage judicial appraisal institutions to take the initiative to adopt the first-assessment-then-charge model to provide assistance to the procuratorate in handling cases. The no-advance charge appraisal system The value is increasingly recognized.
With the continuous growth of ecological environment and resource protection public interest litigation cases in recent years, the demand for identification by procuratorial organs continues to increase. In order to consolidate and deepen the achievements of the no-advance charging system and adapt to the new situation and new requirements of public interest litigation for ecological environment and resource protection, in 2023, the Ministry of Justice will evaluate, adjust, and supplement the environmental damage judicial appraisal institutions that do not charge in advance and identify 141 institutions. An agency that does not charge fees upfront. Most of these institutions are initiated and established by institutions of higher learning, scientific research institutes and other units. Their scope of practice covers all 7 categories and 47 appraisal sub-fields of the "Classification Regulations on the Practice of Environmental Damage Forensic Appraisal", and are distributed in 29 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) across the country. It can better provide appraisal services for the procuratorial organs in handling ecological environment and resource protection public interest litigation cases.
The specific list is as follows:
List of environmental damage judicial appraisal institutions that do not charge in advance in ecological and environmental protection procuratorial public interest litigation