Seminar on Wetland Protection Law (Draft): encouraging environmental groups to file a public interest lawsuit
2021/3/9 15:51:00 本站

On 19 February, 2021, the Seminar on Wetland Protection Law (Draft), led by the Research Department of CBCGDF, was held in Beijing. The conference invited experts and scholars from the field of wetland ecology, environmental law and environmental justice to participate in the in-depth discussion focused on the draft and the problems existing in wetland protection. The conference was broadcast live on platforms such as Baijia, Weibo, and Bilibili of the CBCGDF.

 

The following is the speech shared by Luo Guangqian, the Presiding Judge of the Environmental Resources Tribunal of Court of Qingzhen, Guizhou.

 

In terms of system design, Wetland Protection Law should help build the ecological civilization, connect with judicial practices, and adopt a forward-looking perspective. It is suggested that the draft should be amended in the following aspects:

 

1. In Article 5, the responsibility of wetland management is divided into many different departments, such as those of natural resources, ecological environment, water resources, and agriculture and rural areas. It is suggested to authorize one department to exercise wetland management, so as to avoid unclear powers and responsibilities.

 

2. In Article 6, the public participation is limited to publicity and education on wetland protection. As an important principle of ecological and environmental protection, public participation should also include supervision, prosecution, filing public interest litigations, etc. In so doing, the public will be more encouraged to exercise their legal rights.

 

3. The adjustment of wetland protection planning should be restricted with stricter mechanism, so as not to allow for changes in planning, decided by former leadership, at one’s own will.

 

There are two ways in wetland management. One is to learn from foreign models (such as Sweden). The planning permission is reviewed and issued by the courts. The judicial review procedure is more complex and stricter than the administrative procedure, which makes it harder to change. But it is difficult to achieve judicial review in China. Second is to apply strict regulation procedures. For example, major regulation related to the construction of ecological civilization must be examined and approved by the people's congresses, so as to restrict the wanton adjustment of local Party committees and governments.

 

4. In the Paragraph 1 of Article 34, it only stipulates the circumstances under which restoration can be done. It is suggested that if restoration cannot be done or is not necessary, restoration shall be carried out in other places or compensation for ecological damage should be borne by the actors involved.

 

5. There are a number of prohibitive provisions in the draft, so to implement it the key. For one thing, when they detect illegal actions, the administrative departments can’t stop these illegal behaviors in a timely and effective way because of limits of administrative methods. For another, when the administrative departments are inactive, the public or civil societies can’t themselves stop illegal behaviors even if they spot such actions. So, the prohibition systems have been set up by China’s domestic environmental protection courts to stop such bad behaviors and protect the ecology. These systems also provide legal support for law enforcement.

Therefore, it is suggested that legislation learn experiences from this judicial practice and make it a law.


Translator/ Yanjun


Original Chinese article

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/M4TgMFu_G4Dq6_UGfigc3g


Contribution

https://www.paypal.me/CBCGDFChina

http://www.cbcgdf.org/English/ConfirmDonaTion/0.html