¡¡¡¡JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese judges have punished a large
number of criminals for jeopardizing the environment and handled 21,015 cases
from 1998 to 2001, a grand Chinese justice said here Monday.
¡¡¡¡Zhang Jun, grand justice and vice-president of the Supreme People's Court
of China, said at the Global Judges Symposium that the average annual growth
rate of the environment cases stood at 25.35 percent.
¡¡¡¡Addressing more than 120 chief justices from 61 countries, he said, Chinese
judges have provided strong judicial environment protection guarantee, winning
them universal respect and acclaim from the Chinese people.
¡¡¡¡Environment protection is China's basic state policy. It is also China's
option in implementing the sustainable development strategy.
¡¡¡¡Up to now, China has promulgated seven environment protection laws and over
120 regulations to ensure the better life for the world's largest population of
1.3 billion and the sustainable development,
¡¡¡¡China also concluded or acceded to over 30 international environmental
pacts and formulated over 400 environmental standards.
¡¡¡¡The environment laws and regulations cover a wide range of fields,
including atmosphere pollution, water pollution, solid waste, noise pollution
and industrial pollution.
¡¡¡¡Especially, the Chinese grand justice added, the Criminal Law was amended
in 1997 for the first time and added 14 criminal charges to the section on the
crime of jeopardizing environmental resources.
¡¡¡¡Under such a law system, he said, the Chinese government has effectively
prevented and controlled the impact of economic development upon the environment
and avoided serious effect and damages on environmental quality.
¡¡¡¡Since China's opening to the outside world and the economic reform in 1979,
a large amount of foreign investment has flowed into the country, the domestic
economy has been full of vigor and vitality after adopting the socialist market
economy, thus leadingto a higher economic growth of 8-10 percent in the past two
decades.
¡¡¡¡Zhang said that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the
environmental problem emerging with the population growth and economic
development. It has regarded environment protection as one of the most important
aspects in improving people's living standards.
¡¡¡¡In August 1992 after the UN Conference on Environment and Development, the
Chinese government tabled 10 major countermeasures in regard with environment
and development and setthe road of sustainable development as the inevitable
choice of China for today and the future.
¡¡¡¡In March 1994, the Chinese government also published the White Book on
China 21st Century: Population, Environment and Development, which put forward
the general strategy, countermeasures and active program of sustainable
development.
¡¡¡¡According to Zhang, Chinese judges have provided strong judicial guarantee
for national environment protection. Environment protection judicial activities
are carried out in ordinary courts.
¡¡¡¡Judges engaging in environment protection case trials try the cases in the
criminal, civil or administrative court in accordancewith the case category.
They have received systematic training on environment protection criminal, civil
and administrative laws andregulations.
¡¡¡¡The world's most powerful judges met here Sunday to launch an international
effort to strengthen the implementation of environment-related laws on the eve
of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).
¡¡¡¡A total of 121 judges and senior government officials from 61 countries in
Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North Americaare to take action at the
first global judicial assembly with a focus on the environmental laws.
¡¡¡¡The judges are going to put forward the presentation of the Johannesburg
Principles for further strengthening national level implementation of
environmental law in the context of sustainable development in the first-decade
of the 21st century at the three-day global judges symposium. Enditem
¡¡¡¡ --by Chen Ming
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