The case of Shangrao Municipal People’s Procuratorate vs. Wan Xyong & Nanchang XX Mining Co., Ltd. civil public-interest litigation
The case of Shangrao Municipal People’s Procuratorate vs. Wan Xyong & Nanchang XX Mining Co., Ltd. civil public-interest litigation
[Basic facts]
On the protection and development belt of Wuyishan National Park lies Wangcun Village, Wuyishan Town, Yanshan County, Jiangxi. In August 2018, landslides occurred in the mountains near Xianrentang of the village, east of the river, and Wan Xyong, in the name of Nanchang XX Mining Co., Ltd. (“XX Mining Company”), signed an agreement with the villagers’ committee, in which the two parties agree that XX Mining Company funds the harnessing of geological hazards, and the waste rocks thus generated will be processed and sold by the company. This geological hazard harnessing project was approved for engineering and construction, and at the same time the license for the use of 1.8877 ha woodlands was obtained. Wan Xyong, without obtaining forest harvest license and mining license, destroyed the non-profit forest in the mountains and illegally dug sand for processing and sales. Investigation shows Wan Xyong destroyed 19,171 square meters of non-profit forest outside the approved range of operation by illegal mining and illegal encroachment on farmland, occupied 3,789 square meters of farmland to store excavated sand, destroyed 5,626 square meters of forest in the approved range of operation, and extracted 43,190 cubic meters of mineral resources. Yanshan Primary People’s Court made out a criminal judgement, convicted Wan Xyong of the crime of illegal mining, and sentenced him to a fixed-term imprisonment of two years and five month and a fine of 200,000 yuan. Expert examination shows Wan Xyong’s illegal mining and illegal encroachment on farmland have caused ecological environment damages that will cost more than 910,000 yuan to repair and a loss in ecological service function worth 49,000 yuan. Shangrao Municipal People’s Procuratorate then brought a civil public-interest litigation to the court.
[Judgement]
Shangrao Intermediate People’s Court, Jiangxi, argues that Wan Xyong, the defendant, signed in the name of XX Mining Company a geological hazard harnessing agreement with the villagers’ committee to apply for the use of the woodlands, obtained the approval for the geological hazard harnessing project, and effected illegal mining and illegal farmland encroachment in the name of XX Mining Company; Wan Xyong and XX Mining Company were in agreement in their intention of the infringing act, therefore they committed a joint tort and should bear joint liabilities. The court thus made out the judgement: Wang Xyong and XX Mining Company jointly bear the ecological environment restoration costs of more than 910,000 yuan and the ecological service function loss of more than 49,000 yuan, and publish their apologies on national media outlets. The judgement has already taken effect.
[Significance]
This is a typical case of punishing by law illegal exploitation of mineral resources under the disguise of harnessing geological hazards in the national park protection and development belt. The defendant pretended to be harnessing geological hazards on the protection and development belt of Wuyishan National Park, effected illegal mining activities, and seriously imperiled the park’s ecological service function and ecosystem stability. The people’s court adheres to the most stringent rule of law and orders the malefactor, who was already punished for criminal responsibilities in another case, to bear the compensation liability for having damaged the ecological environment; and adheres to the policy of damage entailing penalty and compensations being comprehensive, and takes into consideration of not only the losses in minerals and other natural resources but also the restoration of the damaged ecological environment in the mining area and the loss in ecological service function. This case will set a meaningful example for guiding the coordinated preservation, development and livelihood around national parks and improving the overall protection of national park ecological environment.
