Some Issues About The Civil Public Interest Litigation Of Marine Environmental Damage

Since new Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China was added the regulation of public interest litigation in article55in the year of2012, the Standing Committee of NPC passed the latest revision of the Environmental Protection Law on April28,2014. It mentioned environmental public interest litigation and added an provision of social organizations instituting the legal proceedings of environmental public interest litigation. After that, if marine pollution accidents cause damage to the marine environment, environmental public interest litigation can be instituted. However, these new provisions relating to public interest litigation were too simple to guide the judicial practice, since they just recognized the public interest litigation had legitimacy and stipulated some kinds of the plaintiff presenting the litigation. Other related specific issues were not clear yet. If a plaintiff presents marine environmental public interest litigation with the guidance of these provisions, there will be a place of uncertainty in each aspect. This paper aims to research the establishment and application of the public interest litigation in marine environment damage cases. This paper analyzed some concrete substantial and procedural issues that exist in the public interest litigation, and suggest countermeasures which can perfect the system of civil public interest litigation on marine environmental damage.In addition to introduction and conclusion, this paper includes five parts.The first part discussed the importance of the civil public interest litigation on marine environmental damage, and presented the concepts of public interest litigation, environmental damage public interest litigation and civil public interest litigation on marine environmental damage. The author differentiated the environmental civil public interest litigation and environmental administrative public interest litigation, then pointed out the concept of civil public interest litigation on marine environmental damage. The author made a comparison between the public interest litigation and our representative action system to clear the connotation and extension of public interest litigation, pointing out they had an essential difference on maintaining public interests or private interests.The second part discussed the problem whether administrative organs can be a plaintiff to bring the civil public interest litigation of marine environmental damage lawsuit. The author analyzed the existing law of China and made a simple introduction of German system of team legal action, then summarized that administrative organs bringing civil public interest litigation lawsuit had disadvantages and loopholes. So the author hoped that Chinese_law clarifying the legal status of administrative organs on civil public interest litigation, and avoiding administrative organs to be a plaintiff in civil public interest litigation proceedings.The third part discussed the problem which social organizations could bring the civil public interest litigation of marine environmental damage. Firstly the author analyzed the revised provisions in the Environmental Protection Law and pointed out its application situation in judicial practice. Then the author came up with an idea that society should support the development of marine environmental protection organizations and set up a qualification standard for social organizations to be a plaintiff on civil public interest litigation of marine environmental damage.The forth part discussed the problem whether a citizen can participate in the civil public interest litigation on marine environmental damage lawsuit. By introducing American civilian litigation system, the author analyzed the advantages of a citizen to be plaintiff in civil public interest litigation. Then the author made a point that Chinese law could appropriately expanded the scope of plaintiff qualification on civil public interest litigation, and let citizens participate in the litigation.The last part discussed some specific questions on civil public interest litigation of marine environmental damage. Firstly, for the competent jurisdiction, the author’s views were that the cases of tanker persistent oil pollution public interest litigation should governed by the maritime court where the ship’s oil spill was, other marine environmental public interest litigation should establish a centralized system of jurisdiction and the maritime court where defendant committed the infringement had jurisdiction. Secondly, Chinese law should implement rebuttal burden of proof on the civil public interest litigation of marine environmental damage. Lastly, public interest litigation fund of marine environment damage should be consisted of judgment damages, defendant penalties, government’s financial fund and social contributions; when the defendant can not afford the costs of litigation before the lawsuit, or the defendant win his case at the end of the lawsuit, the costs related to the litigation should be paid by public interest litigation fund.