China Daily, Beijing, June 9. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Ministry of Water Resources jointly held a press conference on the 9th with the theme of “Strengthening Water Administrative Law Enforcement and Procuratorial Public Interest Litigation Cooperation, and Jointly Maintaining National Water Security”. Opinions on the Collaborative Mechanism for Administrative Law Enforcement and Procuratorial Public Interest Litigation” (hereinafter referred to as the “Cooperation Opinions”), as well as typical cases of procuratorial public interest litigation in the water-related field. Zhang Xueqiao, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and Wei Shanzhong, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Water Resources attended the press conference and introduced the relevant situation.
Zhang Xueqiao introduced that the Supreme People’s Procuratorate guided the procuratorial organs at all levels to perform their duties in accordance with the law by deploying special activities, directly filing cases and handling major cases, and improving working mechanisms, especially exploring and promoting the “He (Lake) Chief + Chief Prosecutor” collaboration mechanism. Procuratorial organs and water conservancy departments cooperate closely and have accumulated rich experience in water environment management. In order to deepen the cooperation between the procuratorial organs and the water conservancy department, better play the role of procuratorial public interest litigation, and improve the level of protection and governance of rivers and lakes, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Ministry of Water Resources jointly issued the “Cooperation Opinions”.
The “Cooperation Opinions” consists of four parts, focusing on the meaning, field, mechanism and guarantee of cooperation between water administrative law enforcement and procuratorial public interest litigation. In terms of fields, the “Cooperation Opinions” summarizes the practice of water administrative law enforcement and procuratorial public interest litigation cases, and clarifies five key areas of cooperation, including flood and drought disaster prevention, water resources management, river and lake management, water engineering management, and soil and water conservation, and lists some Typical illegal situation. In terms of mechanism, the “Cooperation Opinions” clarifies the working mechanism in terms of consultation and judgment, special actions, clue transfer, investigation and evidence collection, and case report. Water administrative departments or river basin management agencies, together with procuratorial organs, strengthen law enforcement and judicial linkages, and jointly carry out special actions in areas with frequent water violations, key river basins, and sensitive areas, and jointly list and supervise the handling of major and complex issues.
“By strengthening the cooperation between water administrative law enforcement and procuratorial public interest litigation, give full play to the supervision, support and guarantee role of procuratorial public interest litigation, promote the benign interaction between water conservancy departments and procuratorial organs, form a joint force of administrative and procuratorial protection, jointly crack down on illegal acts in water affairs, and improve river The level of lake protection and governance.” Wei Shanzhong said that the next step will be to work with the Supreme People’s Procuratorate to promote the construction of a working system of upper and lower coordination, horizontal cooperation, and complete support, and continuously improve the level of cooperation between water administrative law enforcement and procuratorial public interest litigation, and jointly maintain national water security.
According to reports, since 2018, procuratorial organs across the country have handled more than 17,000 water-related administrative public interest litigation cases. Focusing on the protection and governance of large rivers and ensuring the high-quality development of water conservancy in the new stage, at the press conference, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Ministry of Water Resources jointly released 10 typical cases. Among them, there are 4 cases in the field of water resources protection, including the administrative public interest litigation case of the Procuratorate of Yangquan City, Shanxi Province urging the construction of the Longhuakou Reservoir in Yu County, etc.; 2 cases in the field of flood safety, including the Procuratorate of Yuecheng District, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province v. Wang Moujia and other seven persons who endangered the safety of Qiantang River and seawall flood control criminal incidental civil public interest litigation; 2 cases in the field of water ecological protection, including Jiangsu Jianhu County Procuratorate v. Zhang Moumou et al. The criminal incident of illegal sand mining in the Yangtze River incidental civil public interest litigation, etc.; 2 cases in the field of river shoreline protection, including the administrative public interest litigation case of the Jiangjin District Procuratorate of Chongqing urging the rectification of Mibangtuo Wharf’s encroachment on the shoreline.
[Editor in charge: Qi Lei]