672
Y. Dong
compensation lawsuits filed by provincial and municipal governments, and administrative environmental and resources cases. Secondly, the people’s courts continue
to build a specialized trial system for environmental and resource cases, by steadily
constructing specialized trial organs and promoting the centralized trial model, establishing a centralized jurisdiction system for such cases across administrative divisions, actively promoting regional judicial collaboration, forming a new pattern of
judicial protection based on co-governance by multiple parties, and introducing new
execution methods. Finally, in recent years, from the Supreme People’s Court to
local high people’s courts, judicial organs have published several judicial interpretations and typical cases that are distinctively pro-environment, covering mining rights
disputes, compensation for marine resources and ecological damage, and environmental civil public interest litigation, public interest litigation filed by procuratorial
organs, ecological conservation and the development of the Yangtze River Economic
Belt, etc.
2 Opportunities for Lawyers to Serve the Development
of an Ecological Civilization
As China ramp up its efforts to promote ecological progress, its legal services market
for environmental protection is facing golden opportunities. From July 2016 to June
2017, people’s courts at all levels accepted a total of 16,373 environmental crime
cases, 187,753 environmental civil cases, 39,746 environmental administrative cases
of various types, 57 environmental civil public interest litigation cases filed by social
organizations, and 791 environmental public interest litigation cases by procuratorial
organs. In this context, lawyers need to work hard to provide the most badly-needed
legal services, upgrade legal services for environmental protection in both breadth and
depth, and provide comprehensive legal services for promoting ecological progress.
1. Lawyers should assist the government in pollution prevention and control
with legal thinking and means
In the first round of central inspections on ecological and environmental protection, about 27,000 people were held accountable, and 4218 punished, including
686 officials at the departmental/bureau level and above, and 2062 at the division
level. It’s obvious that local governments and their functional departments take most
of the blame for environmental damage and pollution, and they bear huge responsibilities and pressure. Lawyers should actively help the government prevent and
control ecological and environmental problems with legal thinking and means. For
example, they can (1) provide legal support for the formulation and improvement
of policies, regulations and institutions regarding the protection and utilization of
the ecological environment and resources; (2) provide legal support for the decisionmaking and construction of expropriation, demolition, new-type urbanization and
other major construction projects that may affect the ecological environment; (3)
Y. Dong
compensation lawsuits filed by provincial and municipal governments, and administrative environmental and resources cases. Secondly, the people’s courts continue
to build a specialized trial system for environmental and resource cases, by steadily
constructing specialized trial organs and promoting the centralized trial model, establishing a centralized jurisdiction system for such cases across administrative divisions, actively promoting regional judicial collaboration, forming a new pattern of
judicial protection based on co-governance by multiple parties, and introducing new
execution methods. Finally, in recent years, from the Supreme People’s Court to
local high people’s courts, judicial organs have published several judicial interpretations and typical cases that are distinctively pro-environment, covering mining rights
disputes, compensation for marine resources and ecological damage, and environmental civil public interest litigation, public interest litigation filed by procuratorial
organs, ecological conservation and the development of the Yangtze River Economic
Belt, etc.
2 Opportunities for Lawyers to Serve the Development
of an Ecological Civilization
As China ramp up its efforts to promote ecological progress, its legal services market
for environmental protection is facing golden opportunities. From July 2016 to June
2017, people’s courts at all levels accepted a total of 16,373 environmental crime
cases, 187,753 environmental civil cases, 39,746 environmental administrative cases
of various types, 57 environmental civil public interest litigation cases filed by social
organizations, and 791 environmental public interest litigation cases by procuratorial
organs. In this context, lawyers need to work hard to provide the most badly-needed
legal services, upgrade legal services for environmental protection in both breadth and
depth, and provide comprehensive legal services for promoting ecological progress.
1. Lawyers should assist the government in pollution prevention and control
with legal thinking and means
In the first round of central inspections on ecological and environmental protection, about 27,000 people were held accountable, and 4218 punished, including
686 officials at the departmental/bureau level and above, and 2062 at the division
level. It’s obvious that local governments and their functional departments take most
of the blame for environmental damage and pollution, and they bear huge responsibilities and pressure. Lawyers should actively help the government prevent and
control ecological and environmental problems with legal thinking and means. For
example, they can (1) provide legal support for the formulation and improvement
of policies, regulations and institutions regarding the protection and utilization of
the ecological environment and resources; (2) provide legal support for the decisionmaking and construction of expropriation, demolition, new-type urbanization and
other major construction projects that may affect the ecological environment; (3)