This year marks the 20th anniversary of the proposal of the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", also known as the "two mountains" concept. On Aug 27, the National Conference on Advancing Eco-Environmental Prosecution Work was held in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province.
During the conference, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) released a series of typical cases regarding prosecution for eco-environmental damage, highlighting the procuratorial authorities' commitment to upholding the "two mountains" concept to effectively leverage the four major procuratorial functions of criminal, civil, administrative, and public interest litigation, thus supporting the development of the "Beautiful China" initiative.
The 10 newly released cases include five public interest litigation cases, three criminal prosecution cases, one civil protest case, and one administrative non-litigation enforcement supervision case.
In terms of criminal prosecution, the cases emphasize a stringent approach, focusing on punishing crimes that damage the eco-environment. The procuratorial authorities have intensified efforts to combat ecological damage and environmental pollution by launching special supervisory campaigns and prioritizing supervision over key cases.
In the realm of public interest litigation, the cases underline the importance of justiciability in guiding the handling of the cases to enhance the quality and effectiveness of public interest protection of the ecological environment. The procuratorial authorities actively use consultations and procuratorial recommendations to urge administrative departments to fulfill their duties and make necessary corrections. If administrative departments fail to act accordingly as the response period expires, they will be prosecuted. In this way, judicial value is highlighted through litigation.
In addition, the procuratorial authorities have strengthened supervision of litigation to improve the quality and effectiveness of law enforcement and administration of justice in the environmental and resources sectors. This ensures that they handle cases strictly in accordance with the law while fulfilling their supervisory roles, thus promoting strict and fair enforcement and justice by other law enforcement and judicial bodies.
The cases also underline the importance of deepening collaborative efforts to promote systematic governance of the ecological environment.
