[Media to look at procuratorial]Gansu Legal News: Casting a Procuratorial Shield for Clear Water and Green Mountains——Tianshui Procuratorate Exploring and Improving Ecological Procuratorial Public Interest Litigation Work Documentary

　　(Gansu Legal News September 10, 2022Day 2nd Edition)

In recent years, Tianshui City’s procuratorial organs, based on the public interest procuratorial function, have been continuously exploring and improving the working mechanism of ecological procuratorial public interest litigation in the new era, highlighting the handling of public interest litigation cases in the field of ecological environment and resource protection, strengthening the judicial protection of ecological environment procuratorial, and casting procuratorial protection for lucid waters and lush mountains. Shield, to provide a strong judicial guarantee for the construction of a beautiful and happy new Tianshui.

　　Strengthen Mechanism Construction to Promote Diversified Co-governance

In recent years, the procuratorial organs of Tianshui City have strengthened cooperation and communication with administrative functional departments, built a work pattern of “internal and external cooperation” for co-governance of the ecological environment, actively connected with relevant units such as courts, environmental protection, water conservancy, forestry, etc., and strengthened information sharing, situation reporting, and procuratorial suggestions. Rectification implementation and other aspects of communication. Jointly carry out the special action of “Joining Hands to Clear the Four Chaos and Protect the Mother River” with the River Chief Office and the Water Affairs Bureau, urge the rectification of the four chaos problems in rivers and lakes, establish a working mechanism of “River (Lake) Chief + Prosecutor General”, and work together to promote Rectification of ecological environment problems of rivers and lakes. Combined with the procuratorial work in Tianshui and the actual situation of environmental resource protection, in April this year, the Tianshui City Procuratorate and the Municipal Ecological and Environmental Protection Committee jointly issued the “Work Regulations on the Coordination and Cooperation between the Ecological Environment Damage Compensation Mechanism and the Procuratorial Public Interest Litigation (Trial)”, which established the city’s ecological environment. The working mechanism of linking the administrative handling of environmental damage compensation with the procuratorial public interest litigation, and intensifying efforts to protect the ecological environment. At the same time, the public interest observer system was promoted, and 96 public interest observers were selected from front-line workers such as deputies to the National People’s Congress, members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, government officials, lawyers, and cadres of the two rural committees, to serve as the “eyes” and “outside brains” of ecological environmental protection in public interest litigation. “Probe” to assist and supervise the procuratorial organs to carry out public interest litigation work, form a joint force to protect public interests, and promote the high-quality and efficient handling of ecological environment public interest litigation cases.

　　Fully and proactively perform duties, live up to the beautiful green mountains

The Tianshui City Procuratorate has made great efforts to practice the development concept of “Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”, give full play to its functional role, take the initiative to act, and paint a beautiful picture of green mountains on the hot land of Emperor Xi’s hometown.

Recently, the public interest litigation prosecutors from the Tianshui City Procuratorate went to Luojiagou, Huaniu Town, Maiji District to conduct a return visit. The nearby villagers pointed to the mountains covered with vegetation and said to the prosecutors: “Look, the pits dug by the three quarries turned out to be the same. It’s all filled up, the muck in the pile has been cleaned up, and the trees that have been planted have all survived. Looking around, the mountains are green and the mood has improved.”

The three quarries mentioned by the villagers are all located in Luojiagou. Due to the continuous mining activities for many years, the mining area of ​​the mining area is large, and timely and effective environmental restoration measures have not been taken. The topography and ecological environment have harmed national interests and social public interests. The Maiji District Procuratorate found clues about the case and transferred it to the Tianshui City Procuratorate for review. Tianshui City Procuratorate actively and proactively performed its duties, and focused on strengthening cooperation with administrative agencies. After proper communication with administrative agencies, the natural resource management department carried out emergency restoration of the mine environment. Tianshui City Procuratorate filed civil public interest lawsuits against three quarries. The three quarries are required to bear corresponding civil liability. The case was mediated by the court, and the three quarries legally paid more than 3.499 million yuan for the environmental restoration and treatment of the mine, truly realizing a “win-win” between ecological restoration and legal case handling.

　　Responding to people’s livelihood concerns and boosting rural revitalization

In the process of handling public interest litigation cases related to ecological environment and resource protection, the Tianshui City Procuratorate focused on the interests of the people, reflected the people’s wishes in a timely manner, and earnestly safeguarded the rights and interests of the people, winning unanimous praise from the people.

Dongshun Canal is one of the six major irrigation canals of 10,000 mu in Wushan County, and undertakes the task of irrigating nearly 12,200 mu of farmland. During the performance of public welfare protection duties, the officers of the Wushan County Procuratorate found that some sections of the Dongshun Canal were filled with garbage and silt, and some villages along the line directly discharged domestic garbage and sewage into the canal, causing the 3.9-kilometer canal to be blocked and dried up, making it impossible to pass through. Although there is a small amount of water in some canal sections, the water quality is seriously polluted and the stench is unpleasant. The irrigation canal has gradually become a “garbage canal” and a “sewage canal”. The irrigation water for nearly 4,000 mu of farmland cannot be guaranteed, and the living environment is seriously affected. The crowd reacted strongly.

In order to solve the “stubborn disease” of garbage accumulation in Dongshun Canal, the Wushan County Procuratorate attached great importance to it. The chief prosecutor organized a hearing to fully demonstrate the problems existing in Dongshun Canal, build consensus from all parties, and issued a procuratorial notice to relevant functional departments. Suggest. Relevant functional departments attached great importance to it, held a dredging and maintenance deployment meeting in Dongshun Irrigation District of Wushan County and organized rectification work, with a total of 12,000 cubic meters of silt cleared. On July 1, the entire Dongshun Canal was restored to water.

　　Actively practice innovation and explore ecological restoration

Tianshui City Procuratorate promotes ecological environmental protection work with the trinity of “public interest litigation, ecological restoration and social governance”, builds an ecological procuratorial model of “professional legal supervision + restorative judicial practice + socialized comprehensive governance”, and strives to restore the damaged ecological environment . Following the completion of the city’s first procuratorial public welfare forest base covering an area of ​​200 mu in Qin’an County, in 2022, Tianshui City’s procuratorial organs will further strengthen inter-departmental collaboration and actively build a second public welfare forest and achieve phased progress. Public interest litigation will be replanted. The green base is about to “add new green” to build a strong ecological security barrier.

In addition, the Tianshui City Procuratorate actively explored alternative ways of labor compensation to restore the damaged ecological environment. As a result, Zhang, a villager in Maili Town, Wushan County, changed from a “destroyer” of an ancient tree to a “guardian” of the mountain forest.

It turned out that Zhang accidentally caused a fire when he was going to the grave, causing the surrounding trees to be destroyed and destroying the ecological environment, and he should be liable for compensation according to law. After filing a civil public interest lawsuit against Zhang, the Tianshui City Procuratorate learned that the defendant, Zhang, had financial difficulties and no fixed income, and was unable to pay for the loss of the ecological environment. Even if the court supports the prosecution’s claim, the judgment will be reduced to a dead letter. In order to ensure that the damaged public welfare is effectively protected, the undertaker prosecutor actively coordinated with the forestry department and proposed an alternative restoration plan in which Zhang provided forest management and protection labor services. Under the auspices of the court, the Tianshui City Procuratorate conducted pre-trial mediation with the defendant Zhang, and invited representatives of the Forestry and Grass Bureau and cadres at the village and town levels to negotiate, taking into account factors such as restoration needs, enforcement effects, and the obligor’s ability to perform, and finally, The two parties signed a mediation agreement on labor compensation. Zhang will compensate for the damage to the ecological environment in the form of labor compensation, and provide 33 months of management and protection labor for the designated forest land. The month is not less than 22 days. During this period, the town government and village committee where they are located shall supervise their forest protection work.