An Empirical Study On Administrative Disputes Of Government Environmental Information Disclosure Based On Judgments

Government environmental information refers to the environmental information recorded and preserved in a certain form,produced or obtained by environmental protection administrative organs in the course of undertaking e nvironmental protection functions.The disclosure of government environmental information has a special significance that is different from disclosure of government information in other fields.The "Environmental Protection Law" in 2014 which sets up a spe cial chapter to stipulate "information disclosure and public participation",and the newly revised "Government Information Disclosure Regulations" in 2019,both of which provide the legal basis for the public applying for government environmental information disclosure,environmental authorities mak ing decisions on the application matters and the applicant filing an administrative lawsuit.Empirical research on the issue of "administrative disputes over government environmental information disclosure" has c larified the following three aspects of judicial practice disputes: First,whether the information materials on which environmental administrative punishments are based fall within the scope of government environmental information disclosure.The definitio n of procedural information should follow the judgment standard of "administrative procedure theory".Since the environmental protection administrative punishment procedure has been completed,the information material based on it should be characterized as administrative law enforcement case file information.When it comes to the review of the legality of the non-disclosure of information in the administrative law enforcement case,the environmental protection agency that is being sued should bear the burden of proof during the review process,and the court should comprehensively review whether the environmental protection administrative agency violates the legal provisions on statutory disclosure.The second is whether the whistleblower has the qualifications as a plaintiff to request the government’s environmental information disclosure on the investigation and handling of the reported matter.Under the premise that "legal interest" becomes the criterion for judging plaintiff eligibility,the core norm for determining whether the whistleblower has an interest in the behavior of the defendant is "whether it is to protect his own legitimate rights and interests".When the judicial review makes a negative answer,The qualification of the plaintiff should also be denied,and the dispute with the environmental protection administrative organ should be resolved by resorting to the " Complaints Regulations".The third is how to solve the dilemma of the burden of proof allocation of the negative fact that the government environmental information applied for by the applicant does not exist.It is advisable to adopt a two-tier framework to clarify the rules of proof: firstly,the defendant is obliged to prove "unable to obtain through reasonable search",and if it reaches the standard of evidently superior evidence,it is presumed that it does not bear the unfavorable result of inability to provide evidence;then,the relevant clues of the preliminary evidence submitted by the plaintiff show that the information involved in the case was produced or kept by the defendant,and it only needs to meet the standard of preponderance of evidence.At this time,if the defendant fails to provide counter-evidence to refute,the defendant’s reply behavior is not legal.Courts are at the end of government environmental information disclosure governance.In addition to the various in-litigation rules established by fair and strict judicial review,it also needs to go back to source governance,such as Improving applicants’ awareness of prudent exercise of rights,optimizing the system of government’s environmental information management and disclosure,strengthening administrative reconsideration supervision and other supporting mechanisms.