Research On The Application Of Punitive Compensation For Environmental Infringement In China

Article 1232 of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China(hereinafter referred to as the "Civil Code"),introduced in 2021,pioneered the punitive compensation system for environmental infringement.In what context and based on what legislative intention is China introducing punitive damages in the field of environmental infringement.Article 1232 of the Civil Code only uses 42 words to outline the three major components of punitive damages: subjective intent,illegality of conduct,and serious consequences.The judicial practice of applying the punitive compensation system for environmental infringement is crucial for the governance and protection of the ecological environment,but for this institutional innovation,continuous exploration and optimization are still needed.Firstly,the essential attributes of punitive damages and the establishment of the subject of the right to claim have always been the focus of controversy in the academic community.Article 2 and Article 12 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of Punitive Compensation in the Trial of Environmental Infringement Disputes(hereinafter referred to as the "Judicial Interpretation")support the status of the subject of public and private interest claims.In this context,the same environmental infringement behavior may result in different claim subjects advocating for the application of punitive damages,and even the overlapping application of criminal fines,administrative penalties,and punitive damages,resulting in an embarrassing situation where the infringer’s assets cannot offset the punishment and violating the principle of "no two punishments for one matter".Therefore,it is necessary to distinguish different situations and coordinate the relationship between the public and private interest claim rights applicable to the environmental infringement punitive compensation system,Further compensation and relief for personal and property losses and private interests,by increasing the illegal costs of enterprises,punishing and deterring parties involved in polluting the environment and damaging the ecology,as well as potential environmental infringers,adhering to the principle of "no two penalties for one incident",also promotes the positive interaction between enterprises and the entire socio-economic development and environmental protection.Secondly,Article 1232 of the Civil Code strictly limits the subjective element of application to intent,excluding gross negligence.However,gross negligence often leads to consequences no less than subjective intent,and its disregard for life safety and ecological environment safety cannot be ignored.Therefore,it is necessary to include gross negligence in the subjective element of application of the environmental tort punitive compensation system.Once again,Article 4 of the Judicial Interpretation clarifies that if the infringee claims that the infringer bears punitive compensation responsibility,the burden of proof should be provided in three elements: subjective intent,illegality,and serious consequences.Obviously,this is different from the inversion of the burden of proof in compensatory compensation for environmental infringement,greatly increasing the difficulty of individual victims’ rights protection,Therefore,the allocation of burden of proof should vary depending on the subject of the right to request punitive damages for environmental infringement.Finally,Article1232 of the Civil Code only provides a "corresponding" ambiguous expression on the amount of punitive damages,and does not mention the amount,attribution,and management of punitive damages.Based on the theory and practical experience of other fields,China’s judicial practice has already explored the rules for the amount of punitive damages before the introduction of the Judicial Interpretation,constructed the calculation base and interval multiples of punitive damages,distinguished the calculation base of punitive damages for public and private interests,and set an upper limit of 2 times the interval multiples.The issue of who will manage and how to maximize the effectiveness of punitive damages,which have been awarded,is the key to walking the last mile well.Attributing punitive damages to the special public welfare fund account set up by the ecological and environmental regulatory authorities,introducing professional teams for management,and regularly disclosing the operation of the funds to the society.The court,procuratorate,ecological and environmental regulatory authorities,and the public jointly supervise the operation of the funds,in order to form a relatively complete supervision mechanism,play the role of punitive damages,and reduce the risk of fund management,Forming a new trend of everyone participating in ecological environment protection throughout society.In the civil public interest litigation case of ecological destruction in the image space center,the use of labor compensation to enforce partial punitive compensation liability is a beneficial exploration to create a diversified mechanism to replace punitive compensation liability.We look forward to exploring more flexible compensation mechanisms in the future and giving new vitality to the punitive compensation system.