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X. Zhang
failing to file criminal cases, or failing to hold the guilty accountable. We shall
strengthen the review and protest of criminal, civil and administrative judgments in
the field of ecological and environment conservation, and correct any mistakes found
in a timely manner; exercise whole-process supervision over criminal judgment of
penalty or civil judgments of economic compensation and restoration, promptly urge
the court’s enforcement departments to perform their duties, and make corrections
as soon as negligence of duty or inappropriate exercise of power is detected. We
shall strengthen the supervision over the execution of administrative non-litigation
cases in the field of ecological and environment conservation, and over the courts’
acceptance, review and enforcement of non-litigation cases, and over administrative
agencies’ failure to apply for compulsory execution and the court’s failure to execute
approved rulings, and safeguard correct administrative decisions and authority in
ecological and environmental cases.
Third, we shall vigorously promote EPIL to protect public welfare. General Secretary Xi Jinping once remarked that “Prosecutors, as representatives of public interests,
shoulder important responsibilities.” China is the first country in the world to allow
procuratorial organs to file civil and administrative EPIL. In 2014, Jinsha County
Procuratorate sued the Jinsha County Environmental Protection Bureau in Guizhou,
making it the first administrative PIL in China since 1949. In 2015, the NPC Standing
Committee authorized procuratorial organs to run a two-year PIL pilot project which
has delivered remarkable results. In June 2017, the NPC Standing Committee passed
a resolution to amend the Civil Procedure Law and the Administrative Procedure
Law, to formally recognize the PIL system. In March 2018, the Supreme People’s
Procuratorate and the Supreme People’s Court jointly issued the Interpretation on
Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws to Public-Interest Litigation Filed
by Procuratorial Organs, which clarifies the rules for procuratorial organs to file civil
and administrative PIL. The system of PIL filed by procuratorial organs is the best
path toward public-interest protection under China’s national conditions. It is a useful
attempt to integrate procuratorial work into promoting the rule of law and deepening
reforms in all respects. It has formed a basic structure composed of civil and administrative PIL. The ecological, environmental and resources conservation is the focus
of PIL filed by procuratorial organs. In 2018, procuratorial organs across the country
filed 59,312 PIL cases for resources and environmental protection, accounting for
about half of the total. Among them, 53,521 cases went through pre-litigation procedures, and 97% of them saw corrections made by administrative organs involved; they
urged the treatment of 2.11 million mu of polluted or damaged farmland, wetland,
woodland, and grassland damaged, the removal of 20 million tons of solid waste and
other waste, and recovered RMB 3 billion for ecological restoration and environment improvement. In practice, PIL initiated by procuratorial organs is playing an
increasingly important role in ecological and environmental protection, displaying a
growing institutional advantage for promoting the rule of law in social governance,
and has provided a Chinese proposal for effective common-land governance and
stronger judicial protection for public welfare. In particular, in pursuit of win-win
results, procuratorial organs assist the government in exercising administration in
strict accordance with the law, and strive to, ideally, defend public welfare before the
X. Zhang
failing to file criminal cases, or failing to hold the guilty accountable. We shall
strengthen the review and protest of criminal, civil and administrative judgments in
the field of ecological and environment conservation, and correct any mistakes found
in a timely manner; exercise whole-process supervision over criminal judgment of
penalty or civil judgments of economic compensation and restoration, promptly urge
the court’s enforcement departments to perform their duties, and make corrections
as soon as negligence of duty or inappropriate exercise of power is detected. We
shall strengthen the supervision over the execution of administrative non-litigation
cases in the field of ecological and environment conservation, and over the courts’
acceptance, review and enforcement of non-litigation cases, and over administrative
agencies’ failure to apply for compulsory execution and the court’s failure to execute
approved rulings, and safeguard correct administrative decisions and authority in
ecological and environmental cases.
Third, we shall vigorously promote EPIL to protect public welfare. General Secretary Xi Jinping once remarked that “Prosecutors, as representatives of public interests,
shoulder important responsibilities.” China is the first country in the world to allow
procuratorial organs to file civil and administrative EPIL. In 2014, Jinsha County
Procuratorate sued the Jinsha County Environmental Protection Bureau in Guizhou,
making it the first administrative PIL in China since 1949. In 2015, the NPC Standing
Committee authorized procuratorial organs to run a two-year PIL pilot project which
has delivered remarkable results. In June 2017, the NPC Standing Committee passed
a resolution to amend the Civil Procedure Law and the Administrative Procedure
Law, to formally recognize the PIL system. In March 2018, the Supreme People’s
Procuratorate and the Supreme People’s Court jointly issued the Interpretation on
Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws to Public-Interest Litigation Filed
by Procuratorial Organs, which clarifies the rules for procuratorial organs to file civil
and administrative PIL. The system of PIL filed by procuratorial organs is the best
path toward public-interest protection under China’s national conditions. It is a useful
attempt to integrate procuratorial work into promoting the rule of law and deepening
reforms in all respects. It has formed a basic structure composed of civil and administrative PIL. The ecological, environmental and resources conservation is the focus
of PIL filed by procuratorial organs. In 2018, procuratorial organs across the country
filed 59,312 PIL cases for resources and environmental protection, accounting for
about half of the total. Among them, 53,521 cases went through pre-litigation procedures, and 97% of them saw corrections made by administrative organs involved; they
urged the treatment of 2.11 million mu of polluted or damaged farmland, wetland,
woodland, and grassland damaged, the removal of 20 million tons of solid waste and
other waste, and recovered RMB 3 billion for ecological restoration and environment improvement. In practice, PIL initiated by procuratorial organs is playing an
increasingly important role in ecological and environmental protection, displaying a
growing institutional advantage for promoting the rule of law in social governance,
and has provided a Chinese proposal for effective common-land governance and
stronger judicial protection for public welfare. In particular, in pursuit of win-win
results, procuratorial organs assist the government in exercising administration in
strict accordance with the law, and strive to, ideally, defend public welfare before the