China Environmental Law

Kunming, capital of southwestern China’s Yunnan Province, has submitted a plan to City officials for the approval of a specialized court to handle environment-related lawsuits.  China Radio International reports that it will be a “trial” court, but the description of the court says that it

will be part of the city’s intermediate people’s court and will have jurisdiction over appeals by companies that have been found guilty of violating environmental laws in cities throughout the province.

It is proposed that court handle “criminal, civil and administrative cases related to environmental pollution. It also will assume responsibilities from the local environmental protection bureau which files lawsuits to carry out consequent execution after the ruling.”

The article states that

Many believe that the new court will greatly enforce the supervisory powers of the city’s environmental protection bureau, the article said.

It can’t hurt if you are a regulatory agency to have your own special court. While I wouldn’t necessarily be in favor of this kind of court in the US, in China the local environmental protection bureaus need all the help they can get so two cheers for this Kunming court.  They’d get three cheers if they would create a trial (or initial) level environmental court as well, and expand its jurisdiction to include private civil cases related to environmental injuries and damages, but this is a good start.