环境民事公益诉讼的界限

The Boundary of Environmental Civil Public Interest Litigation

我国立法引入了环境民事公益诉讼的概念,但未对其进行界定。学界对其下定义从“公共利益”一词的语义分析入手,而“公共利益”本身含义含混多变,充满争议,既无法明确界定公益诉讼的范畴,也难以回应实践中环境民事公益诉讼保护利益多元、司法权是否过度侵入立法权和执法权的问题。对环境民事公益诉讼的界定应采取功能主义的路径,将其置于与传统诉讼的差异,以及司法权与立法权、行政权关系的背景下进行。由于代表人诉讼制度遇冷,因此除普遍性利益之外,我国环境民事公益诉讼还为集合性利益提供保护。此外,环境民事公益诉讼还承担着一定的政策形成、补充执法与监督行政的功能。

Environmental civil public interest litigation has been introduced into Chinese legal system without definition.Scholars define it via the literal interpretation of public interest.However,the meaning of public interest is vague and controversial.It cannot define the scope of public interest litigation,and cannot answer the question why a variety of interests is protected by environmental public interest litigation in practice and to which extent judicial power can invade into the scope of legislative and executive power.A functional approach should be followed in defining environmental civil public interest litigation,considering the relationship between traditional litigation and pubic interest litigation,as well as the relationship between three types of powers.Because of the limited use of representative litigation,environmental civil public interest litigation should not only protect diffuse interest,but also collective interest.It also plays a role in policy making,as well as supervising and complementing executive powers.