Study On Consultation System Of Compensation For Ecological Environment Damage

As a new environmental dispute resolution mechanism,the Consultation System of Compensation for Environmental Damage has the characteristics of short cycle and simple procedure compared with the litigation system,which expands the way to solve the cases of ecological environmental damage.On December 17,2017,the government issued the Renovation Policy for the Compensation Institution for Environmental Damage,bringing the pilot activities of the compensation institution for environmental damage into the public’s view.In addition,the General Office of Ecological and Environmental Affairs of The State Council issued Ten Typical Cases in April2020,requiring local governments to learn from its experience and practice to continuously promote compensation system for ecological and environmental damage.Local governments at all levels carry out consultation system strictly in accordance with the requirements of documents,and more and more cases are solved through consultation system.However,the consultation system is in the pilot stage.Its theoretical basis is not mature and governments at all levels have too much discretion in the law enforcement process.The main problems include the following points.Firstly,the legal nature of ecological environment consultation is vague.The main theories include civil act theory,administrative act theory and mixed act theory.Secondly,the scope of consultation is narrow.The right holder of compensation is only provincial and prefecture-level government,and the jurisdiction scope of each level government is not specified.Thirdly,the application of consultation is not clear.The start time and termination circumstances of the consultation procedure are not distinct,and the frequency and duration are not uniform.Fourthly,consultation and related litigation link mechanism is not perfect.Fifthly,we have loopholes in supervision mechanism.Consultation supervision subjects are uneven.Information disclosure is not comprehensive.Post-consultation evaluation procedures are not perfect.The United States,Japan and France,as early countries to carry out environmental legislation,provide reference experience for the construction of China’s consultation system,including clarifying the scope of consultation subjects,improving consultation procedures and improving public supervision channels.Based on foreign legislative experience,this paper puts forward the following suggestions for improvement.Firstly,clarify the legal nature of consultation.Secondly,expand the scope of consultation subjects,including clearly defining the scope of compensation obligation.Thirdly,the implementation requirements of consultation should be clarified by adjusting the starting time of consultation,reasonably setting the duration and frequency of consultation,and clarifying the termination conditions of consultation.In addition,the linkage mechanism between consultation and environmental litigation will be improved to ensure rational allocation of judicial resources.Finally,the consultation and supervision mechanism of compensation for ecological environmental damage should be improved to effectively implement the consultation system by clarifying the scope of supervision subjects,perfecting the information disclosure system and perfecting the post-consultation evaluation procedure,so as to safeguard the social and public interests representing environmental justice.