The Pathway to Integrating Environmental Public Interest Litigation and Ecological Environmental Damage Compensation Litigation
The judicial practice of environmental damage relief presents a scenario where environmen-tal public interest litigation and ecological environmental damage compensation litigation run parallel.From the perspective of the relationship and distinctions between these two types of litigation,the ratio-nale for the absolute priority of ecological environmental damage compensation litigation is questionable.Addressing the theoretical foundation and practical challenges of their integration,it is essential to clari-fy the nature and scope of ecological environmental damage compensation litigation while delineating the responsibilities of administrative and judicial authorities before and during litigationand optimizing the col-laborative mechanisms among all litigation parties throughout the process.Judicial interpretation should further clarify the precedence of litigation between cases involving a significant risk of damaging the public interest in the ecological environment and those where substantial ecological and environmen-tal damage has already occurred,thereby better fulfilling the judicial protection role of ecological envi-ronmental damage relief in China and promoting the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature in the socialist modernization construction with Chinese characteristics.
environmental civil public interest litigationenvironmental administrative public interest litigationecological environmental damage compensation litigationintegration pathway