Citizen's participation: Important principle of environmental protection

Citizen's participation: Important principle of environmental protection
It means the environmental policies and environmental laws of a society should be made by democratic procedure that the public in the environmental law participates in the principle, allow, encourage and ensure the public to participate in environmental management, make an appraise and choose to government's administration behaviour, known as the democratic principle in the environmental law again. In theory, most scholars think it means ecological environment is protected and the reasonable exploitation of the natural resources must depend on wide the public that the public in Law on Environmental Protection participate in the principle Suffused with participating in, the public has the right to participate in solving the decision-making process of the ecological problem, participate in environmental management and carry on supervision to environmental administrative department and the unit, personal behavior related to ecological environment.

The citizen's environmental right requires that should reflect the public participates in the principle in the environmental law. Environmental right means the citizen demands to enjoy the right of clean environment and management public environmental affairs, roughly include environmental usufruct, right of being in know, right to participate in and ask for right, among them the environmental right to participate in is that the environmental weight wants one of the components. The environmental right to participate in requires our environmental law on the principle of citizen's participation, run through in all respects of environmental protection.

Citizen's participation can remedy market regulation and deficiency which the country intervenes effectively. As to environmental problem, only market regulation and country intervene it is far from enough, and does not say a great deal of drawbacks exist in the links of enforcing the law, in the current era for the development in science and technology with rapid change, market and country often can't make the fast and effective response to the new things in time. But the public is a person who bears directness of the environmental problem, their environmental interests impel them and discover the problems in time, control adverse effects such as environmental pollution,etc.. So, it helps to remedy market regulation and deficiency which the country intervenes that the public participates in the principle, promote environmental protection effectively.

Participate in the principle as to the public, the constitution of our country stipulates clearly: "The people through various routes and forms, manage the national affairs according to the legal provision, manage the economic and cultural undertakings, manage the social affairs. " This is that a citizen of our country participates in the constitution basis of environmental protection of resources.

In the intersection of our country and environmental law, the public it participates in principles to be mainly including three respects content: First, the right of being in know of information. The environmental information issued on April 11, 2007, implemented on May 1, 2008 discloses the method (tentative) It is the first intact department rule about environmental information is open in the real meaning of our country, it is a sign that the environmental information of our country discloses the legal system. In addition, article 5 of law of radioactive prevention and control of pollution, clean production promotes article 10, article 17 of the law to disclose having a clear regulation to environmental information. The second is the environmental authority to supervise. If article 6 of Law on Environmental Protection, regulations such as article 9, Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Water Pollution article 5, article 7 of law of prevention and control of pollution of ambient noise,etc. of polluting the environment and preventing and curing the law of solid waste, any unit and individual have the right to cause unit and individual that environment pollute go on, inform against, charge. Third, to involving the project planning draft, report of the public's environmental interests, express environmental evaluation's opinion. Article 11, article 21 and article 13 of law of prevention and control of pollution of ambient noise of evaluation assessment of environmental impact,etc. have a regulation to this.

Stipulating the range is more overall, but there is a weak point too to citizen's participation in the environmental law of our country, for instance too abstract, lack the concrete operability to stipulate, very difficult to carry out to put in place, lack systematic legislation,etc., lead to the fact the public participation intensity is relatively low in concrete practice.

Participate in the intensity for the public while strengthening the work of environmental protection of our country, carry out to the public and participate in the principle, more easy to promote the development of environmental protection undertaking of our country, it is necessary to improve the public's sense of participation through strengthening environmental protection and educating, improve the relevant system, promote and ensure the public environmental right to participate in. Can set about from several following respects specifically.

First, strengthen the environmental education. First of all, the public environmental sense of participation of our country is still very weak, it is lower to participate in the intensity. Though in recent years, our country's public environmental consciousness is strengthened to some extent, it is still relatively weak to participate in the consciousness of environmental protection voluntarily, old and with lower schooling crowd. As to this kind of situation, we should further strengthen the reform of the methods of propagation and education of environmental protection, to adopt different way by rural different from city crowd, reside, teach on happy, take, press close to public life, vivid the intersection of education and form further, make consciousness to participate in environmental protection carry out among the social all angles of life.

Second, improve the open information system. Environmental information discloses the important content that is a environmental right of being in know, and the right of being in know is that the public participates in the important prerequisite of environmental protection. The public only could participate in the environmental protection work effectively actually on the basis of understanding environmental information. Environmental information should not be on the principle that publicly, publicly in order to make an exception. However, in our country at present, environmental information is disclosed though has legal provision of written form, but also there are a lot of problems in the concrete practice, cause it and can't well implement. Unblocked message not only lets the public be unable to participate in environmental protection actually, is unfavorable to its enthusiasm for participating in environmental protection. So, it is institutionalized to participate in environmental protection to the public, we should set up effective environmental open information system.

Third, strengthen the procedure guarantee. Because regulations of citizen's participation are in the abstract aspect in the environmental law of our country, lack the concrete operation sequence, it is very difficult for the public to participate in the environmental protection work in practice. So, we should guarantee the public's effective participation of the environmental affairs with more concrete system and more feasible procedure, content substantially as legislating to stipulate range, application way, time limit of citizen's participation,etc. are procedural, ensure the public environmental right to participate in by legal means, make the public participate in the principle and realize effectively.


Citizen's participation: Important principle of environmental protection