Hear petitions, or face penalties: China's environmental watchdog
26/12/2006 17:36
China's environmental watchdog will help handle from now on environmental
petitions to avoid being involved in court litigation again.
"In cases of
unclear or mixed jurisdiction, we will take up the petitions first to save
trouble of the petitioners," said Yang Chaofei, director of the Policy, Law and
Regulations Department of the State Environmental Protection Administration
(SEPA).
The SEPA has recently formulated a policy that expands the variety of
environmental petitions it handles after losing a lawsuit against it in June
2006, brought up by 82 aquafarm owners in Wenzhou, east China's Zhejiang
province.
The owners found that their aquafarms had been polluted by plants
in a nearby industrial zone, causing an economic loss of about 170 million
yuan(about US$21.2 million). In June 2005, they asked the Zhejiang provincial
environmental protection bureau to address the incident. However, long after
receiving the request and the pollution was verified, the bureau still didn't do
anything about it.
Acting in accordance with the Administrative
Reconsideration Law, the aquafarm owners filed a request to the SEPA in August
2005, asking it to reconsider the issue and order the provincial organ to carry
out its duties within a set time.
China adopted the Administrative
Reconsideration Law in 1999, allowing people to petition to the higher
authorities to correct mistakes of the low ones.
The SEPA turned down the
reconsideration request, saying the matter was not within its scope of
administrative reconsideration. It argued that the provincial environmental
protection bureau was not in the position to fine the industrial zone and the
bureau has handed down the case to the Wenzhou city environmental protection
agency.
The aquafarm owners then sued the SEPA at Beijing Intermediate
People's Court in September 2005, asking the court to revoke the decision of the
SEPA of not reconsidering the issue.
The court supported the claim of the
aquafarm owners, ruling that the SEPA must make a new decision on the
reconsideration request.
The court said the key point was that the aquafarm
owners had the right to demand the provincial environmental protection bureau to
protect their legal property, yet the bureau had failed to do that.
Yuan
Yulai, attorney for the plaintiffs, said that it was a win for the 82 aquafarm
owners and also a win for the law. It further reminded people that the society
is progressing towards the rule of law.
"It tells people that in a country
ruled by law, they can always resort to law to protect themselves. It also
reminds government departments that they must administer by law and be active in
solving problems," said Yuan.
"Otherwise, they face lawsuits any moment," he
said.
Yang Chaofei said the administrative reconsideration process allows the
government a chance to examine its acts and correct its mistakes.
That's
better than going to the court.
According to Yang, environmental petitions
are rising at a 30 percent annual rate in China.
Xinhua
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