Research on the Environmental Public Interest …
649
Ecological Civilization. The Supreme People’s Court has established the basic system
for EPIL and has played an important role in the trial of EPIL cases and environmental
protection.
First, the courts have properly handled a number of serious environmental pollution problems by trying EPIL cases in accordance with the law. According to statistics, from January 2015 to the end of September 2018, courts across the country
accepted 2041 EPIL cases and concluded 1335 of them. Among them, there were
205 civil EPIL filed by social organizations, 98 of which were closed; 1836 filed by
procuratorial organs, and 1237 were closed. These include the Taizhou case known for
its “astronomical amount of compensation,” the serial PIL cases against the pollution
of Tengger Desert that have the ears of the central government, the high-profile civil
EPIL against Zhenhua Co., Ltd. under Jinghua Group in Dezhou Shandong for air
pollution, and the serial cases against the water pollution threatening the high-quality
development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. The courts have sentenced all the
responsible persons to undertake environmental restoration or alternative restoration,
and even pay for the expensive environmental restoration. By so doing, the courts
have protected the environment in a timely and effective manner and solved some
long-standing environmental problems.
Second, by hearing EPIL cases in accordance with the law, the courts have continuously improved the judicial capacity for environmental protection and resources
conservation. According to the statistics of the Environmental and Resources
Tribunal of the Supreme People’s Court, since the second half of 2017, specialized environmental-case hearing agencies across the country have continued to grow
rapidly in numbers. As of the end of December 2018, the people’s courts of 31
provinces, municipalities directly under the central government and autonomous
regions had opened a total of 1271 specialized environmental case hearing organs,
including 391 trial tribunals, 808 collegiate panels, and 72 circuit tribunals. There
were 257 community-level people’s courts, 110 intermediate people’s courts, and 23
high-level people’s courts which had set up specialized trial tribunals for environmental cases. Since the second half of 2017, courts at all levels have strengthened the
selection and training of judges, and the building of professional supporting teams,
to continuously improve the trial capabilities for environmental cases. Meanwhile,
specialists are playing a much bigger role in fact finding, causality determination,
determination of restoration plans, and acceptance inspection of restoration results,
providing professional basis and intellectual support for judges to properly exercise
their discretion in accordance with the law. They either serve as the people’s juror to
directly participate in the trial of the case; or as an expert assistant applied by one or
both parties; or as a member of the expert advisory committee or expert reserve to
advise the judges.”
Third, by hearing EPIL cases in accordance with the law, the people’s courts
continuously improve and reform the EPIL system. The serial EPIL cases against
the pollution of the Tengger Desert, filed by China Biodiversity Conservation and
Green Development Foundation, sparked widespread controversy. In these cases,
the Supreme People’s Court clarified that whether a social organization is eligible
for filing the EPIL should be determined by the following three factors: whether
649
Ecological Civilization. The Supreme People’s Court has established the basic system
for EPIL and has played an important role in the trial of EPIL cases and environmental
protection.
First, the courts have properly handled a number of serious environmental pollution problems by trying EPIL cases in accordance with the law. According to statistics, from January 2015 to the end of September 2018, courts across the country
accepted 2041 EPIL cases and concluded 1335 of them. Among them, there were
205 civil EPIL filed by social organizations, 98 of which were closed; 1836 filed by
procuratorial organs, and 1237 were closed. These include the Taizhou case known for
its “astronomical amount of compensation,” the serial PIL cases against the pollution
of Tengger Desert that have the ears of the central government, the high-profile civil
EPIL against Zhenhua Co., Ltd. under Jinghua Group in Dezhou Shandong for air
pollution, and the serial cases against the water pollution threatening the high-quality
development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. The courts have sentenced all the
responsible persons to undertake environmental restoration or alternative restoration,
and even pay for the expensive environmental restoration. By so doing, the courts
have protected the environment in a timely and effective manner and solved some
long-standing environmental problems.
Second, by hearing EPIL cases in accordance with the law, the courts have continuously improved the judicial capacity for environmental protection and resources
conservation. According to the statistics of the Environmental and Resources
Tribunal of the Supreme People’s Court, since the second half of 2017, specialized environmental-case hearing agencies across the country have continued to grow
rapidly in numbers. As of the end of December 2018, the people’s courts of 31
provinces, municipalities directly under the central government and autonomous
regions had opened a total of 1271 specialized environmental case hearing organs,
including 391 trial tribunals, 808 collegiate panels, and 72 circuit tribunals. There
were 257 community-level people’s courts, 110 intermediate people’s courts, and 23
high-level people’s courts which had set up specialized trial tribunals for environmental cases. Since the second half of 2017, courts at all levels have strengthened the
selection and training of judges, and the building of professional supporting teams,
to continuously improve the trial capabilities for environmental cases. Meanwhile,
specialists are playing a much bigger role in fact finding, causality determination,
determination of restoration plans, and acceptance inspection of restoration results,
providing professional basis and intellectual support for judges to properly exercise
their discretion in accordance with the law. They either serve as the people’s juror to
directly participate in the trial of the case; or as an expert assistant applied by one or
both parties; or as a member of the expert advisory committee or expert reserve to
advise the judges.”
Third, by hearing EPIL cases in accordance with the law, the people’s courts
continuously improve and reform the EPIL system. The serial EPIL cases against
the pollution of the Tengger Desert, filed by China Biodiversity Conservation and
Green Development Foundation, sparked widespread controversy. In these cases,
the Supreme People’s Court clarified that whether a social organization is eligible
for filing the EPIL should be determined by the following three factors: whether