Litigation better protects range of public interests

The protection of public interests has achieved remarkable results, with the number of cases handled increasing steadily and the fields of public interest litigation becoming more diverse, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said on Thursday.

Procuratorates have focused on the protection of the environment and national resources, as well as food and drug safety, as such cases accounted for 69.1 percent of those handled, said Gong Ming, a member of the SPP's Procuratorial Committee.

Procuratorates nationwide handled 169,000 public interest litigation cases last year, up 12.3 percent year-on-year, the SPP said.

Handling of such cases led to the recovery of about 28,700 hectares of damaged woodlands, arable land, grasslands and wetlands last year, along with 32,000 hectares of polluted land and about 10,500 hectares of polluted water. They also led to the investigation of 480 metric tons of shoddy food and 1.4 tons of fake and smuggled drugs.

Prosecutors sought 590 million yuan ($93.4 million) in compensation for environmental damage from polluting enterprises and individuals.

A cross-region jurisdictional system for public interest litigation involving major rivers and lakes has been formed, and 21 provincial-level regions in the Yangtze River Basin initiated a coordination mechanism to protect the environment.

Other fields of public interest litigation, including the protection of State-owned property, transfer of State-owned land use rights, and protection of minors and the rights and interests of heroes, martyrs and soldiers, were improved, and procuratorates are exploring new fields, Gong said.

To ensure procuratorial suggestions and court judgments in public interest litigation cases are fully implemented and the problems are resolved, the SPP also asked procuratorates to review the cases and supervise the implementation of judgments.

In one case mentioned by the SPP, the Muguo township government in Liupanshui, Guizhou province, illegally dumped waste near a dam without approval.

Liupanshui's Zhongshan district procuratorate filed a case in January 2019 and sent a procuratorial suggestion to the government, requesting that it handle the waste and eliminate pollution. Two months later, the township government replied that the waste had been properly treated, and a follow-up review by the procuratorate found that was true.

However, after another review in June 2020, it was discovered that the township had dumped even more waste at the same site again, causing serious damage to water, air and soil.

In October 2020, the procuratorate initiated administrative public interest litigation against the township government. In April last year, a local court ordered the government to fulfill its duty to supervise the disposal of the garbage. The township eventually removed about 3,000 tons of waste and restored the environment.

Hu Weilie, head of the SPP's eighth procuratorial office, said public interest litigation deepens the protection of the rights and interests of specific groups such as the disabled, women and the elderly, and promotes the construction of barrier-free environments.

Efforts to prevent the online infringement of personal information will be also strengthened, Hu said.