Innovative measures to improve environmental law enforcement in China

Abstract

This article examines innovative measures aiming to improve environmental law enforcement in China, with a focus on the “collaborative enforcement” mechanisms that include EPB–PSB collaboration, compulsory case transfer, and multi-party collaboration through environmental courts. Joint enforcement action by the Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB), the police and the institutionalization of the environmental police emerged as local responses to the weak enforcement powers granted to EPBs and the consequent difficulties they encounter on routine basis. The compulsory case transfer mechanism aims to tackle the problem of “substituting administrative penalty for criminal liability” as a result of administrative inaction. By strictly constraining administrative discretion, the compulsory case transfer mechanism seeks to ensure that potentially liable parties are investigated, prosecuted, convicted and penalized in a timely manner so as to deter violations. The multi-party collaboration through the operation of environmental courts is both innovative and highly controversial. Such collaboration is innovative in the sense of combining civil, criminal and administrative jurisdictions in a specialized environmental court, recognizing the standing of procuratorates and environmental NGOs to sue in public interest litigations, and alleviating financial burdens for plaintiffs in such litigations to foster more and better use of public interest litigations to protect the environment. It is, however, controversial as the strong emphasis on multi-party collaboration among the EPB, the police, procuratorate and court prior to trials has blurred the boundaries of administrative, investigative, procuratorial and adjudicative powers in operation. While these innovative measures are not flawless and should not be seen as panacea to clean up China’s damaged environment, they do offer hopes of improved and strengthened environmental law enforcement at least in the short term.