Lawyers’ Legal Services for Developing an Ecological Civilization
673
provide legality review of major enforcement decisions by ecology & environment
departments at all levels and other relevant departments and ensure legality and
compliance of administrative penalties; (4) provide provincial and municipal governments with legal services for the compensation of ecological damage. In addition,
when the government handles major cases and mass incidents arising from ecological and environmental issues, lawyers should actively help the government resolve
social conflicts as soon as possible by legal means and the rule of law.
2. Lawyers should provide comprehensive green legal services for enterprises
Amid the ongoing “Environmental Protection Storm” action, enterprises are under
tremendous ecological and environmental pressure. From January to April 2019,
China issued 36,465 penalty decisions, with a fine of RMB 2.806 billion and an
average fine of RMB 77,000 per case. Lawyers should provide enterprises with a
full range of green legal services, and especially assist them in guarding against
ecological and environmental legal risks at the source. Such services include establishing a mechanism for guarding against environmental legal risks for polluting
enterprises; legal remedies for environmental administrative penalties (for hearings,
re-considerations, litigation, etc.); emergency response to environmental pollution
incidents; services related to the environmental tax.
For example, our green legal service team has developed the “Legal Services for
Ensuring Corporate Compliance in Environmental Protection and Building a Risk
Control System” product. This integrated solution aimed to help polluting enterprises
construct their environmental compliance system and environmental risk control
mechanism fully demonstrates our lawyers’ approaches, structure, steps and methods
for advising enterprises on environmental protection. This product provides such
legal services as industry analysis and process search; opening pollutant accounts
and conducting discharge analysis; assisting enterprises in understanding environmental regulations and policies; conducting special legal due diligence on enterprises and proposing suggestions on adjustments and solutions accordingly; embedding the environmental compliance and risk control system into corporate management, production and operation; organizing the implementation of work plans and
mechanisms.
3. Lawyers should provide legal services for EPIL
After several years of rapid development, the EPIL system is increasingly proving
its value. Especially the public hearings of major EPIL cases in Changlong, Nanping
and Dezhou have won high praise from all walks of life, at home and abroad, for
their positive role in supporting public engagement in environmental protection in
an orderly, law-based manner, supervising the exercise of powers by administrative agencies, safeguarding the environmental public interest and the people’s environmental rights, and serving and safeguarding ecological conservation. Still in its
infant stage, the EPIL system in China allows new subjects to participate in environmental governance, and is reshaping the original environmental governance pattern,
means and methods. It is also seeking breakthroughs in different fields, trying to
673
provide legality review of major enforcement decisions by ecology & environment
departments at all levels and other relevant departments and ensure legality and
compliance of administrative penalties; (4) provide provincial and municipal governments with legal services for the compensation of ecological damage. In addition,
when the government handles major cases and mass incidents arising from ecological and environmental issues, lawyers should actively help the government resolve
social conflicts as soon as possible by legal means and the rule of law.
2. Lawyers should provide comprehensive green legal services for enterprises
Amid the ongoing “Environmental Protection Storm” action, enterprises are under
tremendous ecological and environmental pressure. From January to April 2019,
China issued 36,465 penalty decisions, with a fine of RMB 2.806 billion and an
average fine of RMB 77,000 per case. Lawyers should provide enterprises with a
full range of green legal services, and especially assist them in guarding against
ecological and environmental legal risks at the source. Such services include establishing a mechanism for guarding against environmental legal risks for polluting
enterprises; legal remedies for environmental administrative penalties (for hearings,
re-considerations, litigation, etc.); emergency response to environmental pollution
incidents; services related to the environmental tax.
For example, our green legal service team has developed the “Legal Services for
Ensuring Corporate Compliance in Environmental Protection and Building a Risk
Control System” product. This integrated solution aimed to help polluting enterprises
construct their environmental compliance system and environmental risk control
mechanism fully demonstrates our lawyers’ approaches, structure, steps and methods
for advising enterprises on environmental protection. This product provides such
legal services as industry analysis and process search; opening pollutant accounts
and conducting discharge analysis; assisting enterprises in understanding environmental regulations and policies; conducting special legal due diligence on enterprises and proposing suggestions on adjustments and solutions accordingly; embedding the environmental compliance and risk control system into corporate management, production and operation; organizing the implementation of work plans and
mechanisms.
3. Lawyers should provide legal services for EPIL
After several years of rapid development, the EPIL system is increasingly proving
its value. Especially the public hearings of major EPIL cases in Changlong, Nanping
and Dezhou have won high praise from all walks of life, at home and abroad, for
their positive role in supporting public engagement in environmental protection in
an orderly, law-based manner, supervising the exercise of powers by administrative agencies, safeguarding the environmental public interest and the people’s environmental rights, and serving and safeguarding ecological conservation. Still in its
infant stage, the EPIL system in China allows new subjects to participate in environmental governance, and is reshaping the original environmental governance pattern,
means and methods. It is also seeking breakthroughs in different fields, trying to