Eight tribunals set up to handle environmental, ecological cases

Eight courts in Beijing have set up tribunals to handle lawsuits related to the environment and ecology on Monday, as the capital's new step to advance ecological civilization by rule of law.

One tribunal is located at the Beijing No 4 Intermediate People's Court, while the other seven are at district-level courts, including in Fangshan, Mentougou, Yanqing and Pinggu.

In December 2019, the Beijing High People's Court named its first civil division to focus on hearings concerning the environment and ecology.

"So far, courts at the high, intermediate and grassroots levels all have tribunals for handling environmental lawsuits, which signals that a professional adjudication team has been formed in the city," An Fengde, vice-president of the high court, told a news conference on Monday.

He said that establishing these new tribunals ahead of China's first National Ecology Day, which will fall on Tuesday, will help the country in its efforts to promote environmental conservation for the construction of an ecological civilization.

"The tribunals will also make our case hearings involving environment and ecology more professional, to better fight polluters and repair the environment more effectively," he said.

Data released by the high court on Monday showed that courts across Beijing have heard roughly 900 environmental cases every year since 2021, mainly concerning noise pollution, waste dumping, illegal fishing, illegal occupation of farmlands and illegal hunting.

On June 28, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislative body, designated Aug 15 as National Ecology Day.