City courts deal with 721 environmental cases
Between January 2020 and May 2021, Shanghai courts heard 721 environmental and natural resources cases, according to a press release on Friday.
They included 442 criminal cases, 61 administrative litigation cases, 29 civil cases and 189 non-litigation administrative enforcement cases, with 672 cases concluded.
Most criminal cases were related to the protection of aquatic biological resources in fisheries. Others included smuggling of wild animals and solid and hazardous waste, and environmental pollution caused by illegal dumping or the discharge of sewage containing heavy metals.
The civil cases were mainly about light, noise, air, water and soil pollution, as well as problems caused by product packaging violations.
Administrative cases mainly involved the law enforcement, such as the illegal discharge of sewage and waste gas by enterprises, and punishments for violating the environmental protection requirements on construction sites.
The non-litigation administrative enforcement cases were mainly penalties made in the enforcement of ecological environment and greenery and sanitation laws.
Among the cases heard by Shanghai Third Intermediate People's Court and four grassroots courts, criminal cases accounted for 61 percent, and civil and administrative cases 4 percent and 8 percent, respectively.
Most of the criminal cases were in the field of aquatic resources protection and accounted for 80.2 percent of the total environmental and resource criminal cases heard by the Shanghai Railway Transportation People's Court.
In 2019, Shanghai Higher People's Court designated Shanghai Third Intermediate People's Court, the district courts of Qingpu, Jinshan and Chongming and Shanghai Railway Transportation People's Court to hear environmental and natural resources cases from 2020.
Judges at a press conference on Friday announce the number of environmental and natural resources cases dealt with by city courts since January last year.
