On Issues Of Environmental Protection Organizations Participating In Civil Public Interest Litigation Relating To Environment Protection

Article55of the Civil Procedure Law of PRC amended in2012formally established the institution of Chinese environmental protection organizations (the "EPOs") lodging a civil public interest litigation in respect of environment protection (the "Litigation"), however, due to the EPOs’less experience in civil public interest litigation, such an institution shall still be subject to further exploration and/or perfection by continuous and plentiful practice.For this purpose, this article will make a study on several issues for EPOs to participate into the Litigation, based on the theory and practice of the foreign and domestic non-governmental group engaging into the civil public interest litigation. Besides the preface and the conclusion, this article is composed of the following four chapters:Chapter1is the fundamental theory of EPOs taking part in the Litigation. This chapter briefly analyzes the concept of the Litigation and makes the differences between the Litigation and the relevant litigation clear. Meanwhile, the necessity of EPOs participating into the Litigation is also analyzed.Chapter2elaborates the status of EPOs as a qualified plaintiff in the Litigation. This chapter firstly analyzes the diversification of the Plaintiff’s qualification in the civil public interest litigation and then points out that among the diversified qualified plaintiffs, the EPOs shall play a more important role than the procuratorial organ, and the environmental protect administration and the individual citizen in the Litigation.Chapter3summarizes the current situation of EPOs participating into the Litigation. This chapter introduces the present state of EPOs, the legislative status and judicial practice of EPOs taking part in the Litigation, and then sums up the obstacles of EPOs lodging the Litigation, and further points out that it is still a long way for EPOs to play a vital role in environmental protection through a way of lodging the Litigation.Chapter4discusses the system construction for EPOs participating into the Litigation. This chapter, in allusion to the problems EPOs encountered in the Litigation, attempts to establish the systems for the EPOs fully participating in the Litigation from the respects of specifying several litigant rules, perfecting the supporting system and strengthening the EPO’s self construction.