Environmental Law

Author: / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2000-11-01
Features: Summary of this chapter
The value foundation of the national environmental law is "sustainable development." Sustainable development is a new development concept and value. The concept of sustainable development requires that when contemporary people pursue their own development, they must ensure that the regenerative capacity of nature is not damaged and that the choice space for future generations to utilize natural resources is not narrowed. The value of sustainable development is also reflected in both the relationship between humans and nature and the relationship between contemporary people and future generations. In a sense, humanity has broken through the values of the industrial era of the past few centuries and, in many aspects, has demonstrated the revival, return, and elevation of ancient moral and cultural traditions under new historical conditions. The environmental laws of the United States and France are worth referencing. For example, the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act requires the government, as the environmental trustee of contemporary people, to fulfill its responsibilities to future generations, ensuring that all Americans live in a safe, healthy, stable, and culturally and artistically pleasant environment, preserving the natural integrity of important national heritage. The French environmental laws regarding animals, nature reserves, national parks, scenic areas, etc., are also worth referencing. China's environmental law has had two parallel legislative tracks since the beginning. From 1984 to 1989, the focus of environmental legislation was on the protection and rational use of environmental elements. Starting in 1989, the focus shifted to the prevention and control of environmental pollution. China's current environmental legislative system includes both legislative by the People's Congress and administrative legislation. Legislative by the People's Congress is divided into national legislative by the People's Congress and local legislative by the People's Congress; administrative legislation includes central administrative legislation and local administrative legislation. China's environmental law has not yet explicitly defined the environmental rights of citizens, and the protection of these rights is weak. There are still many gaps, and a large number of administrative regulations and departmental rules are actually superseded by local and departmental policies, effectively reducing the authority of environmental laws. This significantly undermines the implementation of the law.
Keywords: environmental law system, environmental jurisprudence, sustainable development, Western environmental law, international environmental legislation, cooperation, environmental legal regulations, environmental administrative regulations
Discussion Questions:
1. What is the value foundation of environmental law in developed Western countries?
2. What contradictions and issues exist in international environmental legislation cooperation, and how should they be resolved?
3. What is the environmental legal system of China?
4. What problems exist in China's environmental jurisprudence?
The Basic Environmental Law refers to a comprehensive environmental law formulated by a country's specialized legislative body, which stipulates the purpose, tasks, scope of regulation, basic environmental policies, principles, and basic systems of environmental law. It comprehensively regulates major issues such as environmental rights, environmental protection, the rational use of natural resources, and sustainable development. The Basic Environmental Law can also be called an Environmental Protection Law, and it serves as the legislative basis for other environmental laws. Many countries around the world have enacted Basic Environmental Laws, such as the United States' National Environmental Policy Act and Japan's Basic Environmental Law.
Section: Characteristics, Purpose, and Role of China's Environmental Protection Law
1. Characteristics of the Environmental Protection Law
The Environmental Protection Law refers to the set of legal norms formulated or adopted by a state and enforced by state coercion. It encompasses laws and regulations related to the protection and improvement of the environment, the prevention of environmental pollution and other public hazards. The Environmental Protection Law can be broadly or narrowly defined.
- Broad Definition: The broad definition of the Environmental Protection Law refers to the set of legal norms formulated or adopted by a state regarding the protection and improvement of the environment, the prevention of environmental pollution and other public hazards. It includes not only the Environmental Protection Law but also other single environmental protection laws, administrative regulations, departmental rules, local regulations, supplementary provisions in other laws, and international environmental conventions to which China has participated or signed.
- Narrow Definition: The narrow definition refers specifically to the Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China formulated by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
The Environmental Protection Law has the following distinctive characteristics:
(1) Extensiveness
The extensiveness of the Environmental Protection Law is reflected in three aspects: the objects of protection, the social and legal relationships it regulates, and the subjects involved.
- (1) Broad objects of protection. The objects of environmental protection are the overall environmental elements that directly or indirectly affect human survival and development, including the atmosphere, water, oceans, land, mineral resources, forests, grasslands, wildlife, natural relics, cultural relics, nature reserves, scenic areas, cities, and rural areas. In other words, from land to the sea, from soil to the atmosphere, from animals to plants, from water bodies to various minerals, from underground to outer space, all living and ecological environments are included in the scope of protection.
- (2) Broad social relationships. The Environmental Protection Law regulates very complex social relationships. It involves civil, criminal, and administrative relationships arising from production, circulation, and daily life, as well as litigation relationships and international environmental relationships.
- (3) Broad legal relationship subjects. Due to the broad social relationships it regulates, the Environmental Protection Law involves a wide range of subjects, including natural persons, state organs, enterprises, public institutions, social organizations, individual industrial and commercial households, contractual households in rural areas, and partnership organizations. It also involves national and international organizations.
(2) Comprehensiveness
Due to its inclusion of disciplines such as environmental science and law, the Environmental Protection Law is highly comprehensive, with significant cross-disciplinary integration. It comprehensively applies the research achievements of natural and social sciences, reflecting not only the laws of the socialist market economy but also ecological laws. At the same time, the legal measures stipulated in the Environmental Protection Law involve various methods such as economic, technical, administrative, and educational approaches, making it highly comprehensive.