The Supreme People’s Court has set up an environmental tribunal and clarified in its new Opinions which parties are able to pursue cases, the courts of first instance and the rules on litigation fees and funds.

In response to the recent amendment of the PRC Environmental Protection Law (New EPL) which is to come into effect on January 1 2015, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) held a news conference on July 3 2014 and published the Opinions on Fully Strengthening Environment and Resource Related Adjudication to Provide Strong Judicial Protection for Promoting the Achievement of Ecological Civilisation (Fa Fa [2014] No 11) (Opinions). These reiterate a number of important principles in Chinese environmental judicial practice, such as the reversal of the burden of proof, and also clarify certain issues related to environmental trials.