Ensuring the Implementation of the Ecological Environment Code: The Supreme Court Releases Its First Supporting Judicial Interpretation

To effectively address the issues of connecting the new and old laws following the implementation of the Ecological and Environmental Code and to ensure its comprehensive and accurate enforcement, the Supreme People's Court issued a set of provisions regarding the temporal validity of applying the "Ecological and Environmental Code of the People's Republic of China" on August 6. This is the first judicial interpretation accompanying the Ecological and Environmental Code, which will come into effect on August 15, in line with the Code. According to the introduction, the provisions consist of 13 articles, strictly adhering to the principle of non-retroactivity as outlined in Article 104 of the Legislative Law and the exception for beneficial retroactivity, clarifying the general standards and specific rules for courts to apply old and new laws in ecological and environmental cases after the implementation of the Code. This provides clear judicial guidance for ecological and environmental legal practice.