Promoting Ecological Progress with Procuratorial Services
635
to the resolution issued by the NPC Standing Committee, the Supreme People’s
Procuratorate actively participated in the fight against pollution, took the lead in
formulating regulations for handling criminal cases of environmental pollution, and
prosecuted 42,195 people in environmental and resources crimes, registering a yearon-year increase of 21%. It co-launched with the Ministry of Water Resources a
special action to protect the Yellow River, coordinating procuratorial organs and
river chief’s offices in the nine provincial-level administrative regions along the
Yellow River to crack down on illegal occupation, mining, piling and construction
along it. It established a coordination mechanism for procuratorial organs in 11
provinces and cities along the Yangtze River, and introduced 10 measures to serve
the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. It guided procuratorial organs
in Anhui and Hubei in handling a number of cases of cross-provincial dumping of
solid waste, illegal sewage discharge, illegal sand mining, etc., to jointly protect the
water basin environment. It continues to exercise supervision on every major case. In
2018, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate alone or jointly with the Ministry of Public
Security and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment supervised the handling of 56
major environmental pollution cases, including environmental pollution cases in the
Yangtze River basin, and with the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, 10
super and major forestry-related criminal cases. It also sent teams to Anhui, Hubei and
Sichuan to supervise the handling of cases. On the other hand, procuratorial organs
exercise leniency for the confessants and temper justice with mercy in criminal cases.
In the case of a minor environmental crime, when the criminal pleads guilty, sincerely
repents, and actively repairs and restores the ecology and environment, he/she will be
punished with leniency in accordance with the law. Both punishment and education
are applied to crack down on existing crimes and prevent future ones. Procuratorial
organs shall promptly approve arrests and prosecute the suspects in accordance with
the law for serious crimes. In the process of interrogation, reading of the indictment
and public prosecution opinions, they should not only emphasize the damages to
the environment and resources caused by the crime, but also offer suggestions and
methods for improvement. By tempering justice with mercy, we can educate the
general public while cracking down on crimes.
Second, procuratorial organs should integrate internal resources and strengthen the
supervision of ecological and environmental litigation. Procuratorial organs exercise
legal supervision over criminal, civil, and administrative litigation, and play a unique
role in promoting strict law enforcement and judicial justice in the field of ecological
and environmental conservation. It is necessary to strengthen internal coordination of
criminal, civil, administrative and public interest-litigation within the procuratorial
organs, and the litigation supervision over cases of destroying the ecological environment. We shall supervise the environmental protection, water conservancy, land
and resources, and forestry authorities which are responsible for the regulation of
ecological environment and resources to ensure strict law enforcement, and promote
fair justice in environmental and resources cases. We shall intensify the supervision
over criminal cases. We should urge administrative law enforcement agencies to
promptly transfer criminal clues about damaging the ecological environment, and
resolutely correct the problems of substituting fines for criminal punishments, and
635
to the resolution issued by the NPC Standing Committee, the Supreme People’s
Procuratorate actively participated in the fight against pollution, took the lead in
formulating regulations for handling criminal cases of environmental pollution, and
prosecuted 42,195 people in environmental and resources crimes, registering a yearon-year increase of 21%. It co-launched with the Ministry of Water Resources a
special action to protect the Yellow River, coordinating procuratorial organs and
river chief’s offices in the nine provincial-level administrative regions along the
Yellow River to crack down on illegal occupation, mining, piling and construction
along it. It established a coordination mechanism for procuratorial organs in 11
provinces and cities along the Yangtze River, and introduced 10 measures to serve
the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. It guided procuratorial organs
in Anhui and Hubei in handling a number of cases of cross-provincial dumping of
solid waste, illegal sewage discharge, illegal sand mining, etc., to jointly protect the
water basin environment. It continues to exercise supervision on every major case. In
2018, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate alone or jointly with the Ministry of Public
Security and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment supervised the handling of 56
major environmental pollution cases, including environmental pollution cases in the
Yangtze River basin, and with the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, 10
super and major forestry-related criminal cases. It also sent teams to Anhui, Hubei and
Sichuan to supervise the handling of cases. On the other hand, procuratorial organs
exercise leniency for the confessants and temper justice with mercy in criminal cases.
In the case of a minor environmental crime, when the criminal pleads guilty, sincerely
repents, and actively repairs and restores the ecology and environment, he/she will be
punished with leniency in accordance with the law. Both punishment and education
are applied to crack down on existing crimes and prevent future ones. Procuratorial
organs shall promptly approve arrests and prosecute the suspects in accordance with
the law for serious crimes. In the process of interrogation, reading of the indictment
and public prosecution opinions, they should not only emphasize the damages to
the environment and resources caused by the crime, but also offer suggestions and
methods for improvement. By tempering justice with mercy, we can educate the
general public while cracking down on crimes.
Second, procuratorial organs should integrate internal resources and strengthen the
supervision of ecological and environmental litigation. Procuratorial organs exercise
legal supervision over criminal, civil, and administrative litigation, and play a unique
role in promoting strict law enforcement and judicial justice in the field of ecological
and environmental conservation. It is necessary to strengthen internal coordination of
criminal, civil, administrative and public interest-litigation within the procuratorial
organs, and the litigation supervision over cases of destroying the ecological environment. We shall supervise the environmental protection, water conservancy, land
and resources, and forestry authorities which are responsible for the regulation of
ecological environment and resources to ensure strict law enforcement, and promote
fair justice in environmental and resources cases. We shall intensify the supervision
over criminal cases. We should urge administrative law enforcement agencies to
promptly transfer criminal clues about damaging the ecological environment, and
resolutely correct the problems of substituting fines for criminal punishments, and