An Empirical Study On The Distribution Of Burden Of Proof In Environmental Administrative Public Interest Litigation

Since the beginning of my country’s procuratorial public interest litigation pilot work,we have gained a lot of experience in the construction of the public interest litigation system.However,after the formal implementation of the procuratorial public interest litigation system,new theoretical and practical problems continue to emerge,especially the environmental administrative public interest litigation system.Among them,the construction of the burden of proof system is one of the key points in the construction of the environmental administrative public interest litigation system.What are the rules for the distribution of the burden of proof,what is the principle of the distribution of the burden of proof,who is the subject of the burden of proof,and what standard of proof should be adopted.There is still no unified point of view in the dispute.However,starting from the functional positioning of the environmental administrative public interest litigation system,the reasonable distribution of the burden of proof should be adhered to.The procedural burden of proof should be borne by the procuratorial agency,and the burden of proof for facts should be centered on distinguishing the types of administrative acts of the administrative agency,and the rules for the distribution of the burden of proof should be refined.When the administrative agency does not act,the burden of proof shall be carried out from the aspects of whether the administrative agency has statutory duties,whether the environmental public interest damages,whether there is a causal relationship between the environmental public welfare damage and the administrative agency’s omission,and whether the administrative agency responded to the procuratorial suggestion Distribution.When the administrative agency acts,there will be two situations in which the legal administration of the administrative agency causes environmental public welfare damage,and the illegal administration of the administrative agency causes environmental public welfare damage.At this time,it should be based on whether it has statutory duties and whether the administrative action is legal and reasonable.Whether the administrative behavior conforms to the principle of proportionality,and the causal relationship between administrative behavior and environmental damage.As a standard for judging whether the burden of proof is assumed,the proof standard should not always adopt the high probability standard,and should be decided according to the specific circumstances.In addition to specific regulations on the distribution of burden of proof,a supporting guarantee system is also needed to ensure that the burden of proof system can be implemented well.The guarantee system should be carried out from various aspects such as financial support and legal protection.