The people's courts provide judicial services and guarantees for the construction of a beautiful China

Pioneering a breakthrough in the traditional judicial concept of "no damage is no remedy", the ecological environmental protection is implemented before the damage occurs, and the habitat of endangered species such as green peafowl is effectively protected; attention is paid to reviewing whether the enterprise meets the requirements of green, low-carbon and sustainable development in terms of technology and industry prospects, and incorporating green responsibility into the high-quality development path of the enterprise; putting forward judicial suggestions to the competent authority on issues such as the failure of the administrative department to perform its duties in accordance with the norms found in handling illegal sand mining cases, and striving to protect it from the source" China Water Tower "Ecological Environment......

In recent years, the people's courts have focused on the center and served the overall situation, faithfully performed their duties and missions, gave full play to and extended the role of adjudication functions in accordance with the law, truly implemented the concept of active justice, put the principle of prevention first, applied the concept of high-quality development and high-level protection to the specific adjudication of each case, comprehensively strengthened the judicial protection of the ecological environment and resources, and provided effective judicial services for the construction of a modern socialist country where man and nature coexist in harmony.

Continue to deepen reform and innovation, and advance the professionalization of environmental resources trials

In June 2014, the Supreme People's Court established the Environmental Resources Tribunal to handle relevant cases and supervise and guide the environmental resources adjudication work of courts across the country. Since then, China's environmental resources adjudication has embarked on the path of specialized development. As of October 2023, 30 high courts and XPCC branches across the country have set up environmental resources tribunals, and intermediate courts in Nanjing, Lanzhou, Kunming, Zhengzhou, and Changchun have set up special environmental resources courts, including grassroots courts, with a total of 2,813 specialized environmental resources tribunals and organizations.

At the same time, the Supreme People's Court and local courts at all levels of environmental resources adjudication bodies are actively exploring the "three-in-one" of criminal, civil, and administrative adjudication functions related to environmental resources, and promoting the coordination of criminal prosecution, civil compensation, and administrative performance of duties in accordance with the law.

Strengthening institutional norms and guidance is an inevitable requirement for promoting ecological and environmental justice from a higher starting point. Since 2018, the people's courts have formulated and revised 14 judicial interpretations on environmental resources, and issued 14 normative documents such as opinions on strengthening and innovating the adjudication of environmental resources in the new era, guiding courts at all levels to apply the law comprehensively and accurately. For example, an interpretation of punitive damages for ecological and environmental infringement has been issued to raise the cost of illegal acts in accordance with the law and make malicious infringers pay the due price; an interpretation of injunctions for ecological and environmental infringement has been issued to implement the principle of protection first and prevention first, so as to protect the environmental rights and interests of the people in a timely manner; and an interpretation of civil disputes over forest resources has been issued to promote the scientific protection and rational use of forest resources.

In order to adapt to the characteristics of environmental resource protection, the people's courts are exploring the establishment of a centralized jurisdiction mechanism for cases based on ecosystems such as river basins, forests, and wetlands, as well as ecological function zones such as national parks and nature reserves, to promote the integrated protection and systematic governance of the ecological environment. For example, Jiangsu has implemented the reform of the "9+1" mechanism for environmental resources trials, forming a centralized jurisdiction trial system with the Nanjing Environmental Resources Court as the core and the courts of nine ecological function zones as the backing.

At the same time, the Supreme People's Court has issued judicial interpretations to standardize the participation of expert jurors in the trial of environmental resources cases, courts in Fujian and other places have established a system of ecological and environmental technical investigators, and courts in Hubei and other places have established a database of environmental resources trial consulting experts to promote the improvement of the quality and efficiency of the facts, evidence, and judicial appraisal of the facts involved in the case.

From January 2018 to October 2023, the Supreme People's Court released a total of 40 guiding cases on topics such as biodiversity conservation and ecological and environmental protection of the Yangtze River, and released 24 batches of 278 typical cases on judicial services, such as carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, national park protection, and ecological protection of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

In addition, in order to respond to the new development and new needs of the protection of the public interest of the ecological environment, the people's courts continue to innovate a variety of environmental resources trial and adjudication enforcement methods, such as the subscription of carbon sinks and deductions for technological transformation, and explore the management and use of ecological environment restoration costs and compensation funds;

Adhere to a strict and impartial judiciary, and give play to the role of judicial protection of environmental resources

In the first case of punitive damages for environmental pollution heard by a Jiangxi court, the people's court for the first time applied the punitive damages clause of the Civil Code for environmental pollution, and ruled that the defendant company should bear more than 2.85 million yuan for environmental restoration and other costs, and 170,000 yuan for environmental punitive damages. After the judgment takes effect, the people's courts will introduce and supervise the implementation of restoration projects by third-party professional institutions in the form of intensive management and use of funds, so that environmental public interest litigation and restoration enforcement can be effectively linked.

In a civil public interest litigation case of "curtailment of wind and solar power", the Gansu court coordinated and guided the defendant power company, which violated the provisions of the Renewable Energy Law and failed to fully purchase local wind power and photovoltaic power generation (known as "curtailment of wind and solar power"), to reach a mediation agreement with relevant social organizations, and the power company promised to invest at least 913 million yuan in the construction of new energy supporting power grids such as wind power and photovoltaic power generation, so as to effectively ensure the promotion of renewable energy, promote the prevention and control of air pollution, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In the trial of the civil public interest litigation case for the preventive protection of the green peafowl, the Yunnan court made a pioneering breakthrough in the traditional judicial concept of "no damage, no remedy", implemented the protection of the ecological environment before the damage occurred, ordered the defendant company to stop the construction of the hydropower station, and after completing the post-environmental impact assessment and taking effective preventive measures as required, the relevant administrative department made a decision according to the situation, so as to effectively protect the home on which the green peafowl and other endangered species depend.

From January 2018 to September 2023, courts across the country concluded 42,000 first-instance cases involving environmental pollution, 1.16 million first-instance cases involving natural resources, 189,000 first-instance cases involving biological resources and ecosystems, and 511 first-instance cases involving carbon market transactions...... The people's courts play the role of judicial protection of environmental resources through strict and impartial justice, serving the tough battle against pollution, the green and low-carbon transformation of development mode, the continuous improvement of ecosystem diversity and stability, and the active and steady promotion of carbon peak and carbon neutrality.

One case is worth a dozen documents. Through open trials and explanations of the law, the people's courts have continuously strengthened the society's deep understanding of ecological and environmental protection, so that laws and regulations have changed from a "text law" with rigid constraints to an "inner law" that the people consciously abide by.

In the pre-litigation injunction case of "noise disturbance" handled by the Guangdong court, the perpetrator regularly played the recording of the disturbance every day due to neighborhood conflicts, which caused complaints from the surrounding people. Because the noise decibel did not meet the penalty standard, the neighborhood office and the neighborhood committee failed to mediate many times, and the administrative law enforcement department was unable to intervene. Based on the victim's application, the people's court issued the country's first pre-litigation injunction for noise environmental infringement in this case, expressly prohibiting this noise nuisance and explaining the legal consequences of punitive damages that may be applied to malicious infringement, and establishing the adjudication rules for judging noise pollution based on whether a quiet life is affected.

Actively extend adjudication functions, and widely participate in the comprehensive management of the ecological environment

In the country's first civil public interest lawsuit of illegal release of alien species heard by a Jiangsu court, the perpetrator superstitiously released animals to accumulate virtue and do good deeds, and purchased 25,000 catties of catfish to put into Changdang Lake. In response to the frequent illegal "release" chaos in some places, the people's courts conducted a live broadcast of the trial in the style of "law popularization + popular science", and more than 1 million netizens watched this "open class" on the rule of law online. After the pre-trial trial, they also communicated and cooperated with the religious management departments and administrative law enforcement departments to explain the law with cases, guide the masses to rationally and standardize the release of animals, and change the illegal and unauthorized release of animals into scientific multiplication and release, so as to achieve "handling one case and governing one area".

Environmental justice must not only meet the needs of different groups and different levels, but also protect the ecological environment itself. In recent years, the people's courts have extended their adjudication functions in accordance with the law, participated in the comprehensive management of the ecological environment, strengthened coordination and cooperation with discipline inspection and supervision organs, procuratorial organs, public security organs, and administrative competent organs, promoted the establishment of channels for professional consultation and information exchange, and established and improved long-term mechanisms for connecting work.

Strengthen cross-regional judicial cooperation, actively integrate environmental resources adjudication into the coordinated development strategies of the Yangtze River, Yellow River and other national regions, and form a national network for the judicial protection of environmental resources that is "connected up and down and horizontally". At present, the "11+1" provinces (municipalities directly under the Central Government) in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the nine provinces (autonomous regions) in the Yellow River Basin have signed framework agreements on cooperation in environmental resources trials, and the high courts of seven provinces (municipalities directly under the Central Government) in the Qinling Mountains have signed framework agreements on cooperation in judicial protection of the ecological environment and issued the Qinling Declaration, completing and improving mechanisms such as joint meetings, consultation on important cases, case handling entrustment, and achievement sharing.

Strengthen pluralistic coordination and co-governance, establish mechanisms such as joint meetings, case circulars, and the transfer of leads with procuratorial organs, public security organs, and administrative competent organs, to promote the organic connection between administrative law enforcement and judicial case handling. The Supreme People's Court, together with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and other units, has successively issued action plans for the protection of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, and coordinated the promotion of ecological protection and restoration, ecological security maintenance, and environmental quality improvement of the Yangtze River and Yellow River. In key areas such as national parks, nature reserves, and cultural heritage sites, local courts are to establish bases for the judicial protection (restoration) of the ecological environment that integrate functions such as roving trials, ecological restoration, publicity and education, and comprehensive governance. Courts in Guangxi and other places have explored the close integration of the "forest (field, river, lake) chief system" with the "judges entering the grid", established a joint inspection mechanism, and pooled the joint force for the protection of environmental resources.

In addition, the people's courts give full play to the role of non-litigation dispute resolution mechanisms such as administrative mediation, people's mediation, and arbitration, pay attention to the resolution of conflicts at the grassroots level and on the spot, and actively advocate the participation of the whole society in environmental governance. For example, in response to problems discovered in the trial, timely send judicial recommendations, put forward specific measures or plans, and receive a positive response from the relevant competent departments, eliminate the shortcomings of administrative law enforcement, and unify the standards for the application of law between administrative law enforcement and administrative trials.