Officials to get tough on polluters as public anger rises over environmental scandals
Legal interpretation spells out tougher action against polluters in move seen as addressing seething public anger over environmental disasters
The mainland will lower the threshold for convicting polluters and punish them more severely as part of efforts by the new leadership to address growing public anger over environmental degradation.
The move follows a judicial interpretation of environmental protection provisions in the Criminal Law announced yesterday.
The Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly issued the document to clarify the criteria for convictions for environmental crimes, court spokesman Sun Jungong said. The tightened rules were expected to help environment officials obtain harsher penalties for offenders.
The interpretation, which comes into effect today, states that a person can be convicted if he or she causes pollution that seriously injures a person. Previously, an incident would have had to result in a death before a person was convicted.
And only one death arising from an incident will be enough to see a sentence increased, rather than three deaths.
Sun said the lowering of the threshold for convicting polluters demonstrated authorities' determination to "fight and deter environmental crimes".
Compared with the articles on pollution offences in the Criminal Law, which only give broad instructions, the interpretation details 14 activities that will be considered "crimes of impairing the protection of the environment and resources".