The Case of Mai X’s Illegal Occupation of Agricultural Land
[Keywords]
Restorative justice, ecological restoration, judicial protection order for cultivated land
[Basic facts]
From 2012 to 2015, Mai X, the defendant, as the contractor of the site clearing and Renli River dredging works near Wanning Station of Hainan High-Speed Railway, shipped building waste and excavated earth to the farmland near Shuibian Village, Wancheng Town, Wanning City, and levelled the filled land for private use. The judicial measurement shows that Mai X dumped solid waste in 8,333.97 square meters (approx. 12.50 mu) of basic farmland, and seriously destructed the planting conditions of the occupied land.
When the case was brought by Hainan Provincial People’s Procuratorate First Branch to the court, Mai X made no objections to the accused facts and the evidence of his crime. He voluntarily pleaded guilty and accepted the punishment, signed the Guilty Plea and Punishment Acceptance Agreement, and paid in the fine of 7,000 yuan. On May 27, 2024, Mai X signed the Letter of Commitment for Voluntary Restoration, and promised to restore the destructed land. His relatives, since May 28, 2024, have started the land restoration.
[Court judgement]
On June 5, 2024, Hainan First Intermediate People’s Court tried the case openly in Wanning City. The court held that Mai X, the defendant, violated the laws and regulations on land administration, illegally occupied 12.50 mu of basic farmland without having handled according to the law the approval formalities for the change of purpose of agricultural land, dumped solid waste in and levelled the occupied basic farmland for private use, changed the original purpose of a considerable amount of basic farmland as set out in the land use masterplan, and seriously destructed the planting conditions of the original basic farmland, and his act constituted the crime of illegally occupying farmland. Mai X reported to the court and confessed truthfully his criminal act, a circumstance that according to the law justifies lenient punishment, and he voluntarily pleaded guilty, accepted punishment, earnestly paid in the fine, and was willing to restore the ecology, which is another circumstance to justify lenient punishment. In accordance with the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, Articles 342, 52, 61 & 67(3), the Interpretations of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Laws in the Trial of Land Resources-Related Criminal Cases, Article 3, and the Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, Articles 15 & 201, the court sentenced Mai X to a fixed-term imprisonment of ten months for the crime of illegal occupation of agricultural land, and a fine of 7,000 yuan. The judgement was announced on the spot and has already taken effect.
Based on Mai X’s signed Letter of Commitment for Voluntary Restoration, Hainan First Intermediate People’s Court issued the Judicial Protection Order for Cultivated Land, ordering Mai X voluntarily perform his duty to protect cultivated land and restore ecology.
[Significance]
Cultivated land is precious wealth to the State as well as the material basis for the people’s livelihood and development. Basic farmland is quality cultivated land that according to the land use masterplan may not be occupied, and its illegal occupation and destruction by any entities or individuals are prohibited. In this case, the defendant illegally occupied basic farmland without having handled the approval formalities for the change of purpose of the farmland, and destructed the planting conditions of the cultivated land which falls within the scope of basic farmland according to the original plan. His act compromised the grain security, harmed the local ecological environment, violated the public interests, and should be severely punished by law. In the handling of this case, the court, in the first place, enforced the toughest system and the tightest legal protection to safeguard the ecological red line, punished by law the crime of destructing environment and resources, and deterred crimes by the punishment; and secondly, implemented the leniency-severity balanced policy in the administration of criminal justice and the philosophy of restorative justice, addressed the issue of ecological restoration first, and then meted out the punishment according to the defendant’s willingness, action and actual effect of the ecological restoration, promoting the timely and effective restoration of the destructed ecological environment.
