To mark World Environment Day on June 5, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) released a batch of typical cases of procuratorial public interest litigation in ecological environment and resource protection. These cases aim to guide procuratorates at all levels to execute justiciability-guided standards to enhance precision and standardization in order to make greater contributions to the green transformation of economic and social development on all fronts through high-quality public interest litigation prosecution.
From January 2024 to May 2025, procuratorates nationwide handled a total of 74,000 cases of public interest litigation related to ecological environment and resource protection, including 61,000 cases of administrative public interest litigation cases and 13,000 civil public interest litigation cases. Among them, they initiated public interest litigation prosecution for over 6,700 cases, which accounted for approximately 57 percent of the total cases of public interest litigation they handled across various sectors. Their efforts have effectively promoted the resolution of numerous prominent issues related to ecological environment protection, and demonstrated the governance effectiveness of procuratorial public interest litigation.
The 10 released cases, all initiated by procuratorial organs, include six administrative public interest cases and four civil public interest cases. These cases address issues such as water pollution, solid waste and hazardous waste pollution, soil pollution prevention and control, as well as the protection of farmlands, mineral resources, wetland ecosystems, nature reserves and marine resources.
The cases released reflect the procuratorates' efforts in serving major national regional strategies and strengthening cross-regional cooperation in the protection of ecology and environment, highlighting the rigorous supervisory role of prosecution through justiciable, precise and standardized litigation. In addition, they emphasize the holistic protection of the ecosystem and promote long-term ecological governance and environmental protection.
The SPP's Public Interest Litigation Procuratorial Department stated that procuratorial organs will continue to focus on key areas in ecological conservation, provide procuratorial services to intensify efforts in the battle to prevent and control pollution, improve the system regarding ecological and environmental prosecution and enhance their procuratorial capabilities. By fully leveraging the function of public interest litigation prosecution, procuratorates will better serve the green transformation of economic and social development on all fronts and the building of a Beautiful China.
