DeHeng Represented Shenzhen's First Environmental Civil Public-Interest Litigation Lodged by an Administrative Organ

2021-11-19

On November 17, 2021, Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court heard an environmental civil public-interest litigation lodged by Shenzhen Bureau of Ecology and Environment against an electronics company. Dozens of deputies to the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress and members of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference attended the hearing, which was broadcast live on the website of China Court Trial Online. This was the first environmental civil public-interest litigation lodged by an administrative organ in Shenzhen and even Guangdong, and attracted wide social attention.

On March 11, 2020, the Bao’an Administrative Sub-bureau of Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment conducted an on-site inspection on the Defendant, and found leakage in its complex-waste water collection tank and acid waste liquid collection tank with high concentration of heavy metals, which caused serious pollution to the soil, groundwater and surface water. The Plaintiff’s pleading included the following:

1. Order the Defendant to stop illegal acts on the environment, remove the obstruction, eliminate the risk of harm to the environment and public interests, and make an apology to the public in the national mainstream media;

2. Order the Defendant to repair the damaged soil and groundwater, and compensate for the loss of service function thus caused during the period from the damage to the restoration to its original state, RMB1,160,095 (calculated provisionally until May 31, 2021, and the final cost shall be calculated and determined according to the method specified in Technical Guide for Assessment of Ecological and Environmental Damage);

3. Order the Defendant to compensate for the damage to the surface water environment and the value of the damaged soil resources, totaling RMB 10,981,800;

4. Order the Defendant to bear the appraisal fee, drilling and sampling fee, soil sample testing and analysis fee and lawyer’s fee, totaling RMB 426,100;

5. Order the Defendant to pay punitive damages of RMB 1,160,095;

6. Order the Defendant to bear the legal costs of the case.

This was the first case heard in Shenzhen with the Plaintiff claiming for punitive environmental damages according to The Civil Code. Lawyer Liao Mingzong of DeHeng’s Shenzhen Office represented the Plaintiff in court.

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