公民提起环境民事公益诉讼可行性研究

Feasibility Study on Citizens Filing Environmental Civil Public Interest Litigation

摘要: 环境民事公益诉讼根本目的在于维护环境公共利益，公民作为环境利益的直接相关者，其参与诉讼对完善国家环境治理体系具有不可替代的价值。本文界定核心概念，明确环境民事公益诉讼的公益属性与公民原告资格的本质——公民以环境公共利益归属主体身份主张司法救济的法律地位。基于环境权、公众参与及环境公共信托理论，阐释公民参与诉讼的法理正当性。通过梳理发现，我国现行立法构建“以法定机关和符合条件的社会组织为主体”，尚未明确公民原告资格。司法实践中，公民起诉立案率极低，面临主体资格认可度低、举证困难等困境。从理论、现实与制度三维度论证表明：公民参与契合权利救济逻辑。研究认为，赋予公民原告资格具备充分依据，可为完善多元协同公益保护体系、助力生态文明建设提供理论支撑与实践指引。

Abstract: The fundamental purpose of environmental civil public interest litigation is to safeguard the public interest of the environment. As direct stakeholders of environmental interests, citizens’ participation in litigation holds irreplaceable value for improving the national environmental governance system. This article defines the core concepts, clarifies the public interest attribute of environmental civil public interest litigation and the essence of citizens’ plaintiff qualification—the legal status of citizens to claim judicial relief as the subject of environmental public interest. Based on the theories of environmental rights, public participation and environmental public trust, it explains the legal justification of citizens’ participation in litigation. Through a review, it is found that the current legislation in China constructs “with statutory authorities and qualified social organizations as the main body”, and has not yet clearly defined citizens’ plaintiff qualification. In judicial practice, the filing rate of citizens’ lawsuits is extremely low, and they face difficulties such as low recognition of subject qualification and difficulty in presenting evidence. From the three dimensions of theory, reality and system, it is argued that citizens’ participation is in line with the logic of rights relief. The research holds that granting citizens’ plaintiff qualification has sufficient basis and can provide theoretical support and practical guidance for improving the multi-party collaborative public interest protection system and promoting ecological civilization construction.