1.902 million pieces! 2813! The results of the 10th anniversary of the environmental resources trial of Chinese courts released
"From 2014 to 2023, courts across the country concluded a total of 1.902 million first-instance cases of various environmental resources, of which 1.033 million cases were concluded from 2019 to 2023, an increase of 18.9% over the previous five years. A series of landmark cases such as the Green Peacock Preventive Protection Civil Public Interest Litigation Case and the Yangtze River Estuary Terminal Company Green Bankruptcy Case have been tried, which have improved the ecological civilization system and mechanism through innovative adjudication rules, and have effectively promoted the process of ecological and environmental rule of law." On August 15, National Ecology Day, the Supreme People's Court released the results of the 10th anniversary of the Chinese court's environmental resources trial.
According to reports, in the past ten years, trials have been intensified around the management of severely polluted weather and urban black and smelly water bodies, improvement of urban and rural living environment, and prevention and control of environmental pollution risks, and 54,000 first-instance cases involving environmental pollution prevention and control have been concluded; services have accelerated development methods. Low-carbon transformation, trials have been intensified around industrial structure, energy structure, transportation structure, land use structure adjustment and resource conservation and intensive utilization, and 619,000 first-instance cases involving natural resource protection have been concluded; Services have improved the diversity, stability and sustainability of ecosystems, intensified trials around ecosystem protection and restoration, biodiversity protection, and prevention and control of invasive alien species, and concluded 319,000 first-instance cases involving biological resources and ecosystem protection.
At the same time, the service actively and steadily promotes carbon peak and carbon neutrality, focusing on "double control" on the total amount and intensity of carbon emissions, improving green and low-carbon policies and carbon emission rights market trading systems, building a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system, and improving The system's carbon sink capacity has intensified trials, and 518 new types of cases involving carbon market transactions have been concluded. Serving to maintain the bottom line of safety in building a beautiful China, intensifying trials focusing on adhering to the red line of ecological protection and maintaining land, food, biological, nuclear and radiation safety, and concluding 283,000 first-instance cases involving environmental resource security, effectively safeguarding national security, social stability, and people's tranquility.
It should be particularly pointed out that since 2021, the number of first-instance environmental resource cases accepted by courts across the country has shown a downward trend. Among them, a total of 232,000 cases were concluded in 2023, a year-on-year decrease of 5.8%; 5386 criminal cases involving environmental pollution were concluded, a year-on-year decrease of 11.5%. The changes in case data reflect the remarkable results of the continuous increase in ecological and environmental protection and governance, the continuous improvement of environmental protection awareness in the whole society, and the continuous improvement of ecological and environmental quality. It also reflects the positive results achieved by the People's Court in promoting ecological and environmental governance.
The reporter also learned that the number of specialized judicial institutions and organizations for environmental resources has been established in four-level courts across the country, which has continued to grow from 134 in 2014 to 2813 in 2023. Our country has become the country with the widest coverage and the most complete system of specialized judicial institutions for environmental resources. Steadily promote the unified centralized mechanism for criminal, civil, and administrative trial functions of environmental resources, and promote the legal connection and efficient coordination of criminal prosecution, civil compensation, and administrative performance of duties. More than 1200 courts across the country have achieved "three-in-one" centralized management.
"At present, the system of applicable rules for environmental resource laws is constantly improving." The Supreme Law stated that since 2014, 21 judicial interpretations on environmental resources have been formulated and revised, and 22 normative documents have been issued to guide courts at all levels to comprehensively and accurately apply the law and comprehensively improve the level of environmental resources trials; 40 environmental resource guidance cases have been issued. There are 40 cases and 423 special typical cases in 40 batches. The People's Court Case Library contains nearly 300 reference cases for environmental resources trials, realizing the effectiveness of "one case is better than a dozen documents".
In addition, the Supreme Law guides courts at all levels to correctly apply special legal systems such as punitive damages and injunctions, so that legal provisions protecting environmental rights and interests can be turned into vivid judicial practice; explore the application and continuous use of replanting and greening, proliferation and release, Special judicial enforcement methods such as labor compensation, technological transformation deduction, and carbon sink subscription promote the improvement of ecological environment damage compensation and restoration mechanisms and ecological product value realization mechanisms. At present, local courts have established more than 1000 comprehensive ecological and environmental judicial protection (restoration) bases in key areas such as nature reserves and cultural heritage sites, integrating functions such as trial, restoration, education, and governance.
