Judicial organs should thoroughly implement the idea of ecological civilization and the rule of law, and at the same time severely punish violations and crimes that damage the protection of environmental resources in accordance with the law with actual case handling, and do a solid job of judicial protection of ecological and environmental resources, strengthen interaction, exchanges and cooperation, and make concerted efforts to promote the construction of a general pattern of rule of law for the protection of a good ecological environment.
Building a beautiful China is an important goal of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way, and it is related to the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. In July 2023, the general secretary of the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection emphasized that "relevant departments should conscientiously implement the list of responsibilities for the construction of ecological civilization, strengthen the division of labor and responsibility, strengthen coordination and linkage, and form a strong joint force for joint management." "The important deployment of the general secretary contains the idea of building a beautiful China through coordinated governance, and provides important guidance for the judiciary to protect lucid waters and lush mountains.
As an important participant, the judicial organs should thoroughly implement the idea of ecological civilization and the rule of law, and severely punish the illegal crimes that destroy the protection of environmental resources in accordance with the law, and do the judicial protection of ecological environment and resources at the same time, strengthen interaction and cooperation, and make concerted efforts to promote the construction of a good ecological environment and the rule of law.
Judicial organs should strengthen the coordination of goals and establish the concept of consciously serving the overall situation. In the process of performing their duties and responsibilities in accordance with the law, they should consciously integrate judicial work with serving the overall situation and justice for the people, always put the protection of the ecological environment and resources in a prominent position, give full play to judicial functions, and continue to deepen the construction of a beautiful China. On the one hand, it is necessary to extend the authority in accordance with the law within the discretionary space provided by law, pay attention to restorative justice, combine the punishment of environmental resource violations and crimes with the construction of ecological civilization, insist on paying equal attention to crime and governance, and promote enterprises to take measures such as technological improvement and compliance system improvement, so that the people can enjoy material civilization and spiritual civilization in the beautiful natural resource environment on the basis of punishing violations and crimes in accordance with the law and doing a solid job in the restoration of ecological and environmental damage. On the other hand, through the proper handling of environmental resource impact cases, we actively practice the green development concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", and encourage enterprises and individuals to actively carry out ecological and environmental governance, so as to "make the sky bluer, the mountains greener, the water clearer, and the ecological environment better".
Judicial organs should strengthen policy coordination and establish the concept of the strictest rule of law. China's economic and social development is moving from a stage of growth as the main goal-oriented to a stage of coordinated development of growth goals, people's livelihood goals, and security goals. The construction of ecological civilization also faces problems such as regional coordination, coordination of departmental interests, and coordination between economic transformation and green transformation. Judicial organs bear important responsibilities such as resolving social contradictions, maintaining social stability, serving economic development, promoting social harmony, and realizing fairness and justice, and should adhere to the concept of systems in judicial work, establish the idea of "a game of chess", coordinate the policy relationships between different natural elements such as resources, environment, and ecology in the protection of different regions and departments, and promote coordination of relevant policies between regions and departments. On the one hand, based on the principle that it is most conducive to the high-quality development of the economy and society, the high-level protection of the ecological environment, the protection of the environmental rights and interests of the parties, and the fair and efficient handling of cases, judicial policy documents and typical cases have been jointly released, and the concept of "all elements, all links, and all chains" to punish environmental resource violations and crimes has been established through policy guidance. On the other hand, through the application of policies in judicial adjudication, we should respond to people's livelihood concerns, give full play to the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the judiciary, improve the forward-looking, targeted and effective nature of judicial adjudication work, strive to reduce frequent and high-incidence cases, and increase the punishment of environmental problems that the people have strong reactions to, so that the people's sense of gain, happiness and security in the beautiful ecological environment will be more fulfilling, more secure and more sustainable.
Judicial organs should strengthen departmental coordination and establish the concept of multi-party collaborative governance. The ecological environment is a multi-dimensional and complex system, which has the dual attributes of natural system and social system. As a unified natural system, ecological environmental protection requires the implementation of integrated protection and restoration of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands and sands, so that they form a closely interdependent and closely linked organic chainAs a unified social system, ecological environmental protection requires the coordinated development of production and consumption, green and development, urban and rural areas and regions, domestic and international, and so on. The people's courts should strengthen coordination and cooperation with departments such as for public security, procuratorate, and judicial administration, and actively promote judicial cohesion and cooperation through regular meetings to jointly carry out conflict and dispute resolution, research and resolution of outstanding problems, and make concerted efforts in areas such as unifying law enforcement and judicial standards, transferring case leads, enforcing environmental restoration, pursuing responsibility for harms, and publicizing environmental protection rule of law, to jointly promote unity and cooperation among multiple departments, division of labor and responsibility, and achieve a win-win, multi-win, and win-win situation for environmental resource protection law enforcement and justice and source governance. At the same time, it is also necessary to optimize the supervision mechanism for the operation of judicial power, strictly implement the mutual restraint mechanism between judicial organs, adhere to the basic principles of the law and the innocence of suspected crimes, and effectively ensure that the construction of a beautiful China is carried out on the track of the rule of law.
Judicial organs should strengthen dynamic coordination and establish the concept of consultation and sharing. The collaborative governance of the ecological environment is dynamic and gradual, and it cannot be immutable or achieved overnight. First, clarify the subject's rights and responsibilities. Adhere to the principles of "whoever damages will repair", "whoever pollutes will be treated", and "whoever is derelict in his duties will be responsible", clarify the rights and responsibilities of each responsible entity, and build a general pattern of joint management and environmental protection with the participation of multiple entities. Second, optimize the information sharing mechanism. Make full use of technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, establish cross-regional, cross-level, and cross-departmental data exchange platforms, clarify the scope and form of information sharing, standardize and unify law enforcement and judicial standards, transfer of case leads, environmental restoration enforcement, and accountability for damages, and other mechanisms, to improve the unity, standardization, coordination, and accuracy of judicial governance of the ecological environment. Third, create a social atmosphere of co-construction and sharing. Carry out publicity work on the judicial protection of environmental resources law enforcement, promote the continuous improvement of the awareness of the rule of law and environmental protection in the whole society, and reverse the work situation of "doing the best and watching the masses" through demonstration effects, judicial suggestions, labor compensation, etc., so that the public can actively participate in the protection of the ecological environment.
People do not live up to the green mountains, and the green mountains will not live up to the people". The protection of the rule of law in the ecological environment is related to the people's livelihood and well-being that is most beneficial to the people, and the judicial organs should implement the strictest system and the strictest rule of law, coordinate governance, and do a good job in the "combination punch" of the rule of law in the construction of ecological civilization, protect the lucid waters and lush mountains, and jointly paint a beautiful picture of China.
*: People's Court Daily.
Authors: Sun Benxiong Yi Xiao (Author's Affiliation: Law School of Beijing Institute of Technology, People's Procuratorate of Gulin County, Sichuan Province).