Environmental Courts and the Development of Environmental Public Interest Litigation in China

Abstract

This Article examines the development of specialized environmental courts in China. These courts have served as a way for local governments to signal seriousness about environmental protection, raise environmental awareness, and test out modes of public interest litigation. Environmental courts have helped to address problems of judicial technical capacity, but they ultimately fail to resolve more serious weaknesses in China’s court system, such as the lack of judicial independence.

Keywords: China, environment, environmental protection, courts, public interest litigation, litigation, rule of law