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  4. Environment and Resources Adjudication in China (2023)
Title in original language
中国环境资源审判 (2023)
Original language

Chinese, Simplified

Country
China
Date of text
Status
Decided
Type of court
National - higher court
Court name
Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China
Seat of court
Supreme People’s Court Headquarters, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
Reference number
N/A (Annual Report of the Supreme People’s Court; includes Guiding Cases Batch 38 – Nos. 212 to 216)
Files
English: Environment and Resources Adjudication in China 2023
Chinese: Environment and Resources Adjudication in China 2023
Link to full text
https://judicialportal.informea.org/node/10199
Justice(s)
Multiple
Relations to MEAs
Convention on Biological Diversity
Ramsar Convention
Basel Convention
Stockholm Convention
Relations to SDGs
Target 12.4
Target 12.5
Target 13.1
Target 13.2
Target 14.1
Target 14.2
Target 15.1
Target 15.5
Target 16.3
Target 16.6
Abstract
This official annual report issued by the Supreme People’s Court on 1 June 2024 reviews China’s environment and resources adjudication during 2023. It outlines five guiding concepts—law-based duty performance, green development, systematic protection, strict rule of law, and collaborative governance—and summarises judicial efforts to support pollution prevention, biodiversity conservation, and China’s “dual-carbon” goals. Nationwide courts accepted 258,555 environment and resources cases and concluded 231,830, including 6,219 public-interest lawsuits. The report details new 2023 judicial interpretations on ecological-environmental tort liability, criminal pollution, forest-resource crimes, and evidentiary standards; highlights the “three-in-one” integrated mechanism and cross-regional jurisdiction; and records cooperation with UNEP and other partners to strengthen environmental rule of law and sustainable development.
Key environmental legal questions
How courts operationalise the “three-in-one” system linking criminal, civil, and administrative environmental adjudication. How judicial interpretations standardise liability and evidence in ecological and environmental tort and criminal cases. How courts integrate ecological restoration, public-interest litigation, and government accountability into environmental governance. How judicial mechanisms support pollution prevention, biodiversity protection, and the transition toward carbon neutrality. How international judicial cooperation promotes rule of law for ecological civilisation.