Research On Public Interest Litigation For Food Safety In China

AS the SANLU incident occurred, there are unprecedented attention to food safety had been paid, and the latest Law of Food Safety was enacted. Although the government involved in civil compensation actively, it is still the focus of judicial reform to explore a kind of authority, reasonable and effective system of providing full civil relief for the victims. In our society recently, it has become a new model in promote the reform and progress of China’s rule of law and reveal illegal behavior through the Public Interest Litigation. The Public Interest Litigation for Food Safety can not only to provide the maximum protection of the diet and health of our citizens, but also to provide the supervision and restriction in the entire food production, processing, circulation and sales. And ultimately to ensure national food security and public interests, safeguard social fairness and justice. Through the different subject and content of lawsuit, it can ensure the national public interests for food security and safeguard the fairness and justice for our society in the end.Firstly, the basic theory is researched in this paper. The concept, principle and function of the Public Interest Litigation for Food Safety is defined ultimately, through analyzing the relationship between the public interest of food safety and its litigation purpose, as well as its legitimacy (i.e, the necessity and feasibility). Subsequently, the present situation in the Public Interest Litigation for Food Safety of China is researched, which includes that there are so many lack in the lawsuit qualification, the claim, the scope of accepting cases and supporting measures in the Public Interest Litigation for Food Safety in China.Then through comparative research method, the representative systems in the protection of food safety in foreign countries are compared and referenced in the paper. It enumerated and compared to Germany as representation of the civil law system, and to the United States as representation of the common law system. There are so much merit we can use for reference such as the multiple prosecute proceedings, the initiative reform of court, and the operating mechanism which is incentive and constrained in the mean time.The core content of the paper is going to establish and consummate the Public Interest Litigation for Food Safety in China, through consummating three aspects which are the prosecution procedure, judicial procedure and supporting measures. Specifically, there are so many concrete measures to be established and consummated, which are the choice of plaintiffs standing and claim, the specification of the scope of accepting cases, and the application of the burden of proof, the testacy proceedings, the speedy trial proceeding. Meanwhile, the public interest court is going to be established and some concrete supporting measures is going to be consummated in this paper, in order to accomplish the protection in the national food safety and health, and the public interest for food safety in our country.