Research On Problems Concerning The Recourse Subject For Marine Ecological Damage Liability

Marine ecological damage has occurred in China in recent years.Together with global climate change, land pollution, the marine environmental pollution and destruction has become another major threat to human’s sustainable development, accompanied by a series of marine environmental pollution and ecological damage. Establishing a proper recourse mechanism for marine ecological damage liability is not only the necessary guarantee to deal with the increasing number of marine ecological damage cases, but also the effective exploration for compensation scheme of ecological damage. Besides it can provide a prerequisite for the acceptance and execution of the marine ecological damage compensation cases.According to China’s current laws and regulations, the provisions concerning the main subject of the marine ecological damage liability are relatively scattered. Certainly, on the whole, the recourse subject system constituted by the executive authorities, prosecutors,environmental organizations has been relatively stable, and less controversial. However, the obscure and non-detailed provisions resulting in incomplete recourse system that troubles several parties,which has led to many conflicts and problems in judicial practice.Foreign laws explicitly express their legal attitudes towards the recourse of marine ecological damage, that is, the public interest shall prevail. For the determination of the recourse subject, foreign laws tend to take executive authorities as the subject of recourse, and when authorities fail to or are negligent to act, foreign laws consider social organizations or individual citizens to claim recourse. These foreign laws provide tentative perspectives and references for us to perfect the recourse system of marine ecological damage liability. A suitable recourse subject is the basis and prerequisite for the recourse of marine ecological damage. It requires the consideration of various factors to determine if the subject is an adequate recourse subject. In the case of satisfying certain conditions, China’s current legal provisions and judicial practice allow the administrative departments, inspecting authorities or environmental protection organizations to become the main subject in the process of recourse of marine ecological damage. Limited by the current development of public interest litigation system, individual citizens cannot become a suitable recourse subject of marine ecological damage liability.The establishment of the recourse subject system of marine ecological damage liability allows us to make it clear who is the appropriate subject in cases of marine ecological damage, so as to ensure that the damage can be accounted in time to prevent the further expansion of ecological damage and provide the necessary guarantee for the restoration of marine ecological system.