Study On The Qualification Of Plaintiff In Environmental Public Interest Litigation

The mechanism by which the market allocates resources is the most efficient distribution mechanism for human beings by far.In the environmental field,the limited nature of resources and the exclusivity of utilization,coupled with the market-oriented “economic man”,specializes in profit-seeking,resulting in “negative externalities” in resource utilization,namely pollution and ecological imbalance.In terms of government intervention in resource allocation mechanisms,public rights,institutional expansion,and power rent-seeking,so many phenomena show the failure of the government to allocate environmental resources.This further shows that when market means cannot solve the problem of "negative externalities",it is even more difficult for government means to achieve regulatory tasks.At this time,the third mechanism came into being,that is,the public participation mechanism,through the mass enforcement of the law by the public,to achieve the maintenance of environmental interests.The plaintiff is the initiator of the environmental public interest litigation process,but not everyone can be a true public interest litigation plaintiff,subject to the plaintiff qualification theory.The author believes that the study of environmental public interest litigation plaintiff qualification is of great significance in both theory and practice.In the construction of environmental public interest litigation system,the "environmental public trust" should be taken as its basic theory,and the environmental rights theory should be the theoretical basis of its substantive law to better realize the purpose of private enforcement of environmental regulations,so that when the government and market means are ineffective.To play the power of the public.Due to the relatively abstract legislation of plaintiff qualifications in China,many subjects cannot be used as plaintiffs in environmental public interest litigation.The public responsibility,preventive relief,and environmental responsibility state responsibility are the principles for confirming the qualifications of plaintiffs in environmental public interest litigation.At the same time,it is proposed to grant the plaintiff qualifications to citizens,environmental protection administrative agencies and future generations,and to relax the relevant conditions for environmental NGO as plaintiffs.Finally,according to the theory of litigation rights,the "claims of interest" elements,as the core elements of the plaintiff's qualifications,make substantive judgments on the qualifications of plaintiffs in environmental public interest litigation.