The first group of 52 voluntary lawyers promised to offer free
advice to victims of environmental damages and ecological
deterioration.
The All-China Environment Federation (ACEF), a non-profit
organization affiliated to the State Environmental Protection
Administration (SEPA), masterminded the legal-assistance campaign,
the Legal Daily reported on Tuesday.
The ACEF recruited the 52 lawyers from around the country and
trains them in better understanding of the urgency of environmental
protection at present in China, legal appraisal on environment
violations, effective ways of collecting pollution evidence for
lawsuits and better legal assistance to pollution victims, the
newspaper said.
Li Hengyuan, deputy secretary general of the ACEF, said the
federation hopes the voluntary efforts contributed by the lawyers
would help curb environmental destructions and aid the needed
people who suffer from such violations.
While China saw the world's fastest growing economic development
in the past three decades, environmental and ecological
deterioration becomes one of the major problems which could
sufficiently undermine prosperity resulting from the unprecedented
growth, Li said.
According to statistics gathered by the ACEF, Li said, formal
complaints lodged by pollution victims increased in recent years at
an average rate of 30 percent.
The National People's Congress Environment and Resources
Committee, the Ministry of Justice and Beijing University provide
academic and professional support to the group of voluntary
lawyers, the newspaper said.
(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2007)
