Handling of petitions, complaints standardized

Problem solved

For example, a case settled via a public hearing by the Bao'an District People's Procuratorate in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, involved a local company that emitted industrial waste gases during the production of enameled round copper wire.

The business is located on industrial land. However, the planning regulations for an area of land 110 meters from the factory were changed in 2014, which led to the construction of residential buildings.

In 2019, as residents moved in, they began to complain to the local environmental protection bureau about waste gas emissions. They lodged petitions with the relevant departments more than 1,000 times, and several mass disturbances occurred.

After a tip from the public, the procuratorate found that administrative inaction by the environmental bureau may have infringed on social and public interests, so it registered a case in October 2020.

After investigation, the procuratorate found that the bureau had failed to detect and stop the company from shutting down its waste gas treatment equipment without authorization. As the case involved a large number of people and concerned the local living environment, the procuratorate organized a public hearing in November 2020.

During the three-hour hearing, the responsibilities of local government environmental bodies were clarified, and the best solutions were discussed to ensure the quality of residents' lives and the normal operations of businesses.

After the meeting, the company agreed to fully reopen its waste gas treatment equipment and formulate a plan to relocate the factory.

Most of the company's machinery has now been moved to new locations, and representatives of the people who had repeatedly complained about the issue to the relevant authorities have signed an agreement promising not to lodge further petitions related to the issue.

Last year, procuratorial bodies nationwide received 895,000 petitions from members of the public, a decline of 1.2 percent year-on-year, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the highest related body.