On Consumer Public Interest Litigation

Public interest litigation has become the concerning topic in the legal profession in China. Although the new "civil procedural law" marked the legal status of public interest litigation, mostly focused on principle provisions. The revised "consumers’rights and interests protection law" has made a seamless relationship with civil procedural law, making a guarantee for consumer public interest litigation. Therefore, consumer public interest litigation is gradually obtaining development and complement in the path of practice.The consumer public interest litigation points to that the violation of public interest was accessed to court by specific state organs and organizations, and investigated by the court through judicial channels, so as to protect the interests of the public. The significance of consumer public interest litigation lies in three aspects-realizing the social fairness and justice, maintaining a good order and improving the efficiency. In addition, the specific characters of plaintiff qualific ation, litigant claim and legal effect of judgments of consumer public interest litigation are presented, and non-direct interested party was provided with plaintiff qualification, where its theoretical grounds lies in the legal undertaking and the sue interest theory. According to laws, investigating and prosecuting apparatus are entitled to plaintiff qualification. As long as others social communities are capable of enjoying the rights of litigation, we can motivate social enthusiasm to protect public interest; besides, as subjects of litigation spread the discuss about rightness, and carry out analysis of particularity of litigation claims and validity of judicial decision. Litigation claims of consumer public interest litigation gives priority to omission request, if conditions allow, request for compensation for damages can be permitted, cautiously using request for punitive damages. Moreover, the characteristics determine the moderate expansion of law’s efficacy and judgment, so as to relieving uncertain groups’interestCompared with the traditional principles of litigation, our analysis of consumer public interest litigation system is mainly from the litigation rights equality, the restrictions of adversary system and principle of disposition. The final part concentrates on the respect of China’s consumer public interest litigation, so as to improving and completing the system of evidence, and finally, offering some constructive suggestions for building of the procedural system, such as legitimacy of individual citizen’s consumer public interest litigation.