Changjiang Daily:

In recent years, the SPP and provincial procuratorates have handled public interest litigation cases directly, drawing much attention from the public. Why were these cases directly handled by the SPP and provincial procuratorates? What role did they play? Thank you.

Hu Weilie:

Thank you. In recent years, the SPP and provincial procuratorates have focused on major decisions and arrangements of the Party and the state, and have directly filed some public interest litigation cases involving extensive areas and serious harm, which cannot be handled effectively by lower-level procuratorates. You are a reporter from Changjiang Daily. So, for example, some trans-river and trans-regional cases involving major rivers and lakes which have harmed public interest cannot be handled effectively by a single local procuratorate, and so the SPP and provincial procuratorates have directly handled the cases. In 2021, the two levels of procuratorates handled a total of 110 cases, giving full play to the unique value of the system that direct handling of cases contributes at a higher level with wider coverage and scope to raising the efficiency of national governance and serving and safeguarding high-quality development. The public interest litigation cases directly filed and handled by the SPP and provincial procuratorates are major and complex cases extending nationwide or across a province, involving entities of oversight at a relatively high level, and important cases across administrative divisions of provinces and cities, or across river basins. For example, the SPP directly handled the exemplary cases of Wanfeng Lake and Nansi Lake concerning ecological and environmental damage, fully demonstrating the power of the rule of law in handling cases by higher-level procuratorates. As far as the exemplary case of Nansi Lake is concerned, the Nansi Lake basin involves 34 counties and cities across Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan and Anhui provinces. According to the water area, the Nansi Lake basin is divided into different regions that are managed separately. As the priorities, methods and specific standards of management vary greatly, no one province or place can address the issue alone. The task force of the SPP focused its efforts on the root causes such as inconsistent pollution treatment standards in the basin and inconsistent tempo of treatment of river sections in different places. It filed 205 exemplary cases, urging the whole river basin to work together to reverse the problem of pollution treatment, restoring clear water to the lake, and promoting the eastern routes of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project to be put into operation. In the exemplary case of Wanfeng Lake, the SPP overcame the stubborn problem that illegal cage culture caused pollution in river basins. At the same time, it proactively extended its function of handling cases and worked with the departments of ecology and environment, water resources, agriculture and rural affairs and so on to address problems concerning people's livelihoods in areas lifted out of poverty, removing the last crucial hurdle in turning lucid waters and lush mountains into invaluable assets.

As things stand now, the SPP and provincial procuratorates' direct handling of these cases has shown unique value.

First, the advantages of the integration of procuratorial organs have been better utilized and the different advantages of the four levels of procuratorial organs in handling cases have been given full play. The higher-level procuratorial organs conducted in-depth demonstrations and strong supervision. Meanwhile, the lower-level procuratorial organs made use of advantages in human resources and geographical advantages, conducting thorough investigations and implementation to better solve the trans-river and trans-regional problems harming public interest.

Second, systematic governance has been enhanced. In handling public interest litigation cases, the procuratorial organs do not work alone. Instead, they take win-win and all-win as their goals and coordinate all forces to forge synergy for protecting public interest by performing legal supervision, activating the administrative regulation system, and strengthening regulation efficiency. The handling of cases by the SPP and provincial procuratorates is conducive to promoting the solution to common problems in the field, industry and region from a higher level and making up for weak links in social governance.

Third, overall efficacy of case handling has been improved. By handling cases directly, higher-level procuratorates obtained a deep understanding of the problems and difficulties in the case handling process and so can issue guidance to lower-level procuratorates that is more targeted and effective. By participating in the handling of major, difficult and complicated cases of the higher-level procuratorates, primary-level procurators could also improve their professionalism. Therefore, those working in primary-level procuratorates received training and improved their quality, thereby raising the quality and efficiency of case handling.

Thank you.