China inaugurates first environmental court

Special: Fight air pollution

Polluters will face increased fees

FUZHOU -- A special court for environmental cases was opened on Friday in East China's Fujian province. It is the country's first such specialized judiciary organ.

The court affiliated to the Fujian Provincial Higher People's Court has recruited 12 environmental, agricultural, marine and mineral experts as technical consultants.

Entrusted by the court, the consultants can appear in court as litigation assistants to provide technical consultation and interpretation.

Wang Chengquan, deputy chief justice of the high court, said Fujian was approved as China's first "ecological civilization demonstration zone" in April to explore and pilot judicial protection of the environment.

Since 2009, several county and city-level courts in the province have experimented in setting up divisions specializing in forestry, mining, water and resources, atmosphere and water pollution cases.

Wang said the courts have explored judiciary measures of protecting and restoring the environment, which instruct violators of environmental laws to shoulder responsibility for reparations after environmental damage.