A symposium commemorating the 10th anniversary of the introduction of procuratorial public interest litigation is held at the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Dec 20.
In October 2014, a proposal to explore the establishment of a system for procuratorial organs to initiate public interest litigation was put forward at the fourth plenary session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Over the past 10 years, procuratorial public interest litigation has played an important role in safeguarding national and public interests.
A symposium commemorating the 10th anniversary of the introduction of procuratorial public interest litigation was held at the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) on Dec 20.
Participants of the symposium reviewed and summarized the development and practical effects of the system, discussing the ways of further developing and improving the system at a new starting point.
Chen Wenqing, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a speech at the meeting, which was presided over by Ying Yong, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Prosecutor General of the SPP.
Present at the meeting are Yin Bai, Secretary-General of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee; Yang Xiaochao, head of the Supervisory and Judicial Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC); Huang Xiaowei, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group, Vice-President and First Secretary of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF); and Tong Jianming, Deputy Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and First Deputy Prosecutor General of the SPP.
Zhang Xueqiao, Deputy Prosecutor General of the SPP, reported on the work of procuratorial public interest litigation over the past 10 years.
Huang, along with He Xiaorong, a member of the Party Leadership Group and Vice-President of the Supreme People's Court (SPC); Chen Chenzhao, a member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Natural Resources; Yu Huiwen, a member of the Party Leadership Group and Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment; Zhu Chengqing, Vice-Minister of Water Resources; and Ma Huaide, President of China University of Political Science and Law, made speeches at the symposium.
Focusing on the protection of rights and interests, adjudication, administrative law enforcement, and theoretical researches, they reviewed the development and effectiveness of procuratorial public interest litigation over the past 10 years. They expressed their commitments to further deepening collaborations with procuratorial organs to improve relevant law enforcement and judicial coordination mechanisms, enhance theoretical and judicial research, cooperate in advancing legislation on procuratorial public interest litigation, and work together to continuously develop and improve the procuratorial public interest litigation system.
Yang, on behalf of the Supervisory and Judicial Affairs Committee of the NPC, said that over the past 10 years, procuratorial public interest litigation has blazed a unique path of judicial protection of public interests with Chinese characteristics, effectively safeguarding national and public interests.
He said that enacting a law on procuratorial public interest litigation is an important task in implementing a series of decisions and plans made by the CPC Central Committee on improving the public interest litigation system, meeting the growing demand of the people for judicial protection of public interests, and responding to the demands of judicial practice in procuratorial public interest litigation.
Noting that relevant legislative work is progressing, Yang said that the Supervisory and Judicial Affairs Committee of the NPC will, taking the country's overall development situation into consideration, uphold the overall leadership of the Party over legislative work, and accelerate the pace of legislative work while ensuring the quality of legislation in terms of public interest litigation.
Ying pointed out that as a political, legal supervisory and judicial organ under the absolute leadership of the Party, procuratorates are an important force in protecting national and public interests.
Procuratorial organs at all levels must uphold the Party's absolute leadership over procuratorial work, adopt a people-centered approach, bear in mind the sacred duty of representing public interests, fulfill the procuratorial responsibilities of public interest litigation in accordance with the law, and more effectively safeguard the fundamental interests of the country and the people, he said.
Ying emphasized that the system of procuratorial public interest litigation is an important system that embodies the legal supervision functions of procuratorial organs, and is supervisory in nature and features governance.
He urged procuratorial organs to continue to handle cases in statutory areas, strengthen alignment of pre-trial procuratorial supervision with litigation initiation, and promote law-based administration and national governance through high-quality and efficient legal supervision.
The system of procuratorial public interest litigation exhibits a distinct feature of coordinated performance under the leadership of the Party, which is conducive to better mobilizing collective efforts for public interest protection and building a coordinated and efficient system for public interest protection, he said.
Ying expressed the commitment that procuratorial organs will actively promote coordination and cooperation with law enforcement and judicial departments as well as various sectors of society, improve mechanisms for information sharing, clue transfer and coordinated duty performance, and work together to advance legislation on procuratorial public interest litigation.
Noting legislation on procuratorial public interest litigation is an important measure to consolidate the achievements of reform and improve the system in this regard, Ying said that procuratorial organs will collaborate with all parties to strengthen relevant legislative research and provide more practical examples for legislation based on the effective performance of procuratorial duties and case handling.
Also present at the symposium are officials from the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, the Supervisory and Judicial Affairs Committee of the NPC, the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the NPC, the SPC, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Water Resources, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the National Cultural Heritage Administration, the ACWF, and relevant departments of the SPP.
