Study On The Key Component Of Punitive Damages For Ecological Environmental Damage

Article 1232 of China’s Civil Code stipulates the punitive compensation system in the field of ecological environmental protection,which is a legal response to severe ecological environmental problems and also shows China’s confidence and determination to prevent and control ecological environmental risks with the strictest system.However,due to the principle and generality of this article,the punitive damages system faces many controversial issues in the process of legal application,one of which is whether one of which is whether the ecological environment damage can be applied and how to apply punitive damages.Therefore,the Supreme People’s Court has promulgated relevant judicial interpretations,providing a specific normative basis for the application of the punitive damages system for ecological and environmental damages.Different from environmental infringement that infringes on private interests,ecological environmental damage infringes on the public interest of the environment,but the provisions in the judicial interpretation focus on resolving environmental private interest damage infringement disputes,while the provisions on remedies for public interest damage to the ecological environment are more general and vague,and if directly applied to specific cases,it is likely that there will be errors in the application of law.Focusing on the perspective of "constituent elements",combining with the current legal provisions,and analyzing the current situation of judicial determination,we can find that there are the following problems in the constitutive requirements of punitive damages for ecological environment damage:First,in terms of the main elements,the subject of the right of claim is uncertain and the subject status of the procuratorial organs,social environmental protection organizations and local governments is not clear;Second,in terms of subjective elements,it is flawed to determine that subjective intent lacks systematization and the exclusion of "gross negligence" from punitive damages on the basis of unlawful damages;Third,in terms of the elements of conduct,there are loopholes in "positive action" and the application of excluding "passive inaction" has defects;Fourth,in terms of the requirements of the result,the content of the damage consequences and the determination of severity is unclear.Aiming at the existing problems,it should be improved from the following aspects: First,in terms of subject requirements,clearly define the scope of the subject of the right to claim,and specify the subject position of procuratorial organs,social environmental protection organizations and local governments;Second,in terms of subjective elements,The criterion of subjective intention should be optimized,and the sphere of application of punitive damages should include "gross negligence";Third,in terms of the elements of conduct,the scope of determination of the illegality of the act should be specified,and "passive omission" should be included in the scope of application of punitive damages;Fourth,in terms of the requirements of results,it is necessary to clearly define the aftermath of ecological environment damage and quantify the judgment criteria for severity of the damage consequences.