Environmental “Citizen Suits” in the Czech Republic

For several decades citizens of the Czech Republic have endured a severely degraded environment, stemming partially from reportedly lax enforcement of environmental protection laws. During this period, Czech citizens have lacked the right to litigate citizen suits as a means of increasing environmental enforcement and have never initiated civil litigation against a polluter. However, since 1958, Czech citizens have exercised the right to use citizen correspondence as a means of pursuing their legal interests by alerting government agencies to environmental problems. By Czech law, citizen correspondence obligates government agencies to respond to the cited environmental problems. This paper analyzes how environmental authorities responded to citizen correspondence related to water problems (e.g., drinking water contamination) during the years 1988 to 1992. Since responses may include enforcement actions—monetary fines, remediation requirements (i.e., mandatory cleanup), and correction requirements (e.g., replacement of a leaky storage tank), this type of legal action on the part of citizens approximates a citizen suit. By examining enforcement actions taken in response to these citizen suits, this paper is able to test hypotheses regarding the relationships among the three different types of enforcement actions and empirically identify the liability rule guiding each type of enforcement action.     

“内在价值”的含义与环境伦理学

在对"内在价值”进行描述和解释的时候,人们有不尽相同的认识.环境伦理学家对这个概念起码有三种不同用法.然而,按照刘易斯的价值分类法,所有环境伦理学家的"内在价值”概念的使用都是某种误会.实际上,所谓"内在价值”就是人的实践能力(创造)及这种能力的自我肯定(幸福).面对生态、能源和环境的全面危机,环境伦理学首先要解决的不是简单复述某些传统伦理,而是建立新的现代伦理,并对人自身的价值及其艰苦卓绝的创造价值过程有比较充分的认识.     

Democratic inclusiveness,climate policy outputs,and climate policy outcomes

In an ideal inclusive political system, all citizens are equally able to influence and challenge policies. We focus on how inclusiveness affects climate policies and outcomes. We argue that more inclusive systems should produce more policies in response to environmental threats and should have better outcomes. We test these hypotheses using panel and cross-sectional data relating to climate policy outputs and outcomes. The results suggest that inclusiveness is positively associated with policy outputs, but probably not with lower emissions of greenhouse gases. This pattern may relate to a lack of deliberation in systems, which are relatively inclusive in the narrower sense of pluralist democratic theory.     

Network Structure and Perceived Legitimacy in Collaborative Wildlife Management

The widespread supposition that collaborative management designs enhance legitimacy must be examined empirically, and the rich diversity of different collaborative arrangements should be better acknowledged in this endeavor. This study adopts a social network perspective and examines three state‐initiated and interest‐based collaborative management arenas in Swedish wildlife management: wildlife conservation committees (WCCs). Is there a link between social network structures in collaborative management arenas and the perceived legitimacy of output by policy stakeholders? This puzzle is addressed through social network analysis combined with survey data and interviews. The empirical results confirm the notion that collaborative arenas consisting of high network closure with many bridging ties across organizational boundaries enjoy a higher level of support among stakeholders directly involved in management, as members of the committees, than networks with a more sparse structure do. This type of well‐integrated network structure seemingly increases stakeholders’ understanding of other actors’ perspectives through deliberation. Contrary to what was expected, though, the empirical analysis did not verify the effect of linking, or outreaching ties between the committee members and the organizations that they represent, on the organizations’ support of WCC decisions. Given the rapid rise of collaborative designs in public administrations, the topic elaborated in this paper is urgent and further research is encouraged.     

加强中日韩交流 促进乡村发展

建设社会主义新农村、促进乡村发展,是中国今后一段时期全面建设小康社会的首要任务。该文介绍中国在农业与新农村建设方面的发展与面临的重大问题,作者对日本和韩国在促进乡村发展方面的经验的思考。重点强调农业与乡村建设是社会可持续发展的基础,确保粮食安全必须建设国家粮食核心生产区,乡村发展要保护环境、保护传统文化;要创建大学生到乡村工作的机制;中国在发展现代农业、建设社会主义新农村的进程中,有必要加强与日、韩两国的交流。     

浅论环境保护法中的公众参与原则

公众参与原则又称环境保护的民主原则,是环境法的精髓和灵魂,其作为构建环境保护法律制度的准则之一,有着深刻的理论基础和充分的必要性。我国以往的环境保护立法,对公众参与虽有一些规定,但与实现环境法目的所要求的公众参与相差甚远,公众参与制度并未真正建立。应从以下几方面着手构建和完善我国公众参与制度:1.通过立法确认环境权为公民的基本权利,并将环境权内容具体化;2.对公众参与环境保护制度的机制作出明确规定;3.提高全民族的环境保护法律意识;4.鼓励和支持环境保护团体开展环境保护活动;5.建立环境陪审员和环境案例听证会制度。     

室外艺术作品合理使用制度的反思

我国对于室外艺术作品所作的合理使用规定不仅过于简单,而且没有充分考虑到该种作品的特性,导致司法实务的判决出现极大争议。笔者试图通过各国的实践立法分析,结合该种作品特有的公共性、依附性,区别不同情形建立更为详细的室外艺术作品合理使用的标准,包括创作型使用、单一复制和环境结合型复制的使用。     

智能化环境行政执法探析

适应"互联网+"大数据时代环境法治建设需要,我国智能化环境行政执法迅速发展起来,但是受资金、技术和管理等因素制约,智能化环境行政执法还存在一些问题,如智能化监控设备归属权及定位模糊、监测数据不准确、监控与执法脱节等。为解决这些问题,我国应进一步完善相关的法律法规体系,明确在线监测主体,加大资金及技术投入的规范化管理,完善智能化环境行政执法的公众参与机制,进而解决环境行政执法中企业污染物排放量监控及环境责任承担的问题,使智能化环境行政执法成为大数据时代执法的重要形式。     

恢复性措施在环境刑事司法实践中的应用分析

环境犯罪不仅破坏了环境资源保护制度,也损害了生态法益,保护公共环境利益是刑法介入环境保护最根本的出发点。近几年来,随着环境司法专门化和环境司法理念的发展,越来越多的环境恢复性措施出现在环境刑事司法实践中。与传统惩治犯罪的刑罚措施不同,环境恢复性措施着眼于对受到损害的环境质量、生态系统进行修复。恢复性措施的应用让犯罪人更清楚地认识到其行为对环境的危害,督促犯罪人主动承担环境修复责任,有利于利害关系人的参与,实现社会和谐。但是,恢复性司法与传统司法在原则和理念等方面存在一定的冲突,实践中恢复性措施的应用带有一定的随意性,存在地区差异大、标准不统一、程序不规范等问题。环境恢复性司法必须根植于我国的刑事司法制度,不与刑法基本原则相违背,在此基础上注重对环境损害的救济及公众利益的考量,逐步完善环境恢复性司法的法律依据,增设环境刑罚辅助措施,鼓励法院发挥司法能动性,践行恢复性司法理念,创新恢复性措施,最大限度修复生态环境。     

检察环境行政公益诉讼受案范围的实证分析

检察环境行政公益诉讼的受案范围是一个理论和实践交叉的疑难课题,涉及被诉主体类型、被诉违法行为类型和诉讼拟救济利益类型三个核心要素。通过对已有检察公益诉讼案例的分析和理论比较可知,检察环境行政公益诉讼的被告类型应限于国务院或地方各级人民政府中对环境、生态、资源保护领域负有监督管理职责的职能部门,可以是单一被告,也可是共同被告,但一般多属于普通共同诉讼。被告的涉诉行为可能是环保领域的行政不作为,也可能是违法行使职权。检察环境行政公益诉讼应以救济环境公共利益为主,环境公共利益应区别于基于国家自然资源所有而产生的国家利益。