公众参与野生动物保护法治的困境和出路

Dilemma and strategy of public participation in the rule of law in wildlife protection

在“一路象北”事件中,尽管中国政府和民众对野生亚洲象采取的各种积极保护措施值得世界称赞,但重新审视和科学规划野生动物栖息地应是当务之急,而公众参与法律制度的完善对于野生动物及其栖息地保护意义重大。公众参与野生动物保护立法,能够表达其对野生动物保护及与此相关的公共安全事务的愿望、意见和利益诉求;公众参与野生动物保护执法,可降低行政部门监控违规行为及其影响的成本,并减轻起诉违规者的部分负担;在野生动物保护中引入公益诉讼制度,不仅契合公共利益保护的目标,还能通过确保公众有序开展和参与野生动物保护公益诉讼,弥补现有野生动物保护机制的不足。目前,尽管《野生动物保护法(修订草案)》在风险防范和生物安全保护等方面取得重大进展,但却未对“公众参与”原则与制度的构建给予足够重视。公众参与制度在中国野生动物保护立法、执法、司法等法律运行环节的不完善,一定程度上影响了人与自然的和谐相处、野生动物栖息地的保护及生物多样性的维持。因此,法律应保障公众享有一定的野生动物保护参与权。在立法阶段,应明确法案起草、论证、审议全过程的公众参与,保障公众参与的主体、范围、渠道多元及进行立法前评估,以增强立法权威性;在执法阶段,完善野生动物保护信息公开制度,保障公民举报权并完善中央环保督察制度;在司法阶段,明确规定野生动物保护公益诉讼制度,对社会组织提起的野生动物保护公益诉讼提供法律依据和相关支持。

In the event that made headline news entitled ‘Wild Asian elephants migrating northward in southwest China’,although all the protective efforts made by the Chinese government and Chinese people deserve praise from all over the world,the event reveals the imperative to re-examine the condition of China’s wildlife habitats and China’s plan to protect these habitats.The legal instrument of public participation is of great significance for this purpose.Public participation in wildlife protection legislation allows the public to express their concerns,opinions,and interests in wildlife protection and public safety matters related to it.Public participation in wildlife protection law enforcement helps reduce the administrative cost of monitoring violations and their impacts and relieves some of the burden of prosecuting violators.Allowing public interest litigation in wildlife protection not only fits the goal of promoting public interests,but also makes up for the shortcomings of the existing legal regime of wildlife protection.The mechanism of public interest litigation also allows the public to participate more effectively and in an orderly manner.At present,although the revised draft of the Wildlife Protection Law has made significant progress in risk prevention and biosecurity protection,the draft has not paid enough attention to the principle of ‘public participation’ or the construction of related legal infrastructures.Subpar public participation in China’s wildlife protection legislation,law enforcement,and judiciary have,to a certain extent,negatively affected the harmony between human and nature,the protection of wildlife habitats,and the maintenance of biodiversity.Therefore,the law should be improved to guarantee that the public has certain rights of participating in wildlife protection.In lawmaking,public participation should be allowed in the drafting,deliberating,and processing of the bill.It is necessary to legally define the right,scope,and diversified channels of public participation.It is also preferable to allow public participation in pre-legislative evaluation,in order to enhance the public support and the authority of the legislation.In law enforcement,it is necessary to improve the information disclosure system for wildlife protection,to protect citizens’ rights to expose and report violations,and to improve public participation in the central environmental protection inspection system.In judiciary,it is necessary to clearly stipulate the system of public interest litigation for wildlife protection.There should be a legal basis to support public interest litigation filed by environmental organizations.