A good ecological environment is the most inclusive livelihood well-being. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee and the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee proposed to strictly implement the compensation system for those responsible for ecological environment damage, strengthen the punishment of serious violations, and implement the punitive compensation system. In order to promote the effective implementation of the eco-environmental damage compensation system in the judicial field according to law, on January 13, the Supreme People's Court issued this year's Judicial Interpretation No. 1, that is, the interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the application of punitive damages in the trial of eco-environmental infringement disputes (hereinafter referred to as the interpretation). The punitive damages system requires the malicious wrongdoer to bear the compensation exceeding the actual amount of damage, so as to achieve the effect of fully relieving the injured party and punishing the malicious infringer. The implementation of punitive compensation system in the field of ecological and environmental protection and the severe punishment of ecological and environmental violations with bad circumstances and serious consequences will help to give better play to the prevention, deterrence and punishment functions of the law and better solve the problems of high cost of law-abiding and low cost of law-breaking in the field of ecological and environmental protection. In China's current legal system, not only the environmental protection law stipulates the punitive compensation system, but also the civil code has made clear provisions in the chapter on environmental pollution and ecological damage liability in the tort liability, that is, "if the infringer intentionally pollutes the environment and destroys the ecology in violation of the legal provisions, resulting in serious consequences, the infringed has the right to request corresponding punitive compensation." The interpretation issued by the supreme law is a further refinement of these laws. The interpretation stipulates that if a natural person, legal person or illegal organization damaged by environmental pollution or ecological damage requests the infringer to bear the liability for punitive compensation, the interpretation shall apply, which defines the scope of application of punitive compensation for ecological environment. Here, "environmental pollution" refers to the phenomenon that human beings directly or indirectly discharge more substances or energy into the environment than their self purification capacity, thus reducing the quality of the environment and adversely affecting human health, social material wealth and ecosystem; "Ecological destruction" refers to the ecological degradation caused by human activities and the resulting reduction in the number and quality of environmental elements, destruction of ecosystem functions and other phenomena. In the general environmental tort liability, the actor is not required to have subjective intention, nor to cause serious ecological and environmental consequences. However, for the punitive liability for ecological environment, the interpretation clearly stipulates the applicable conditions: the infringer has committed the illegal act of polluting the environment or damaging the ecology; The infringer has the subjective intention to pollute the environment or destroy the ecology; It has caused serious ecological and environmental consequences. At the same time, in terms of litigation procedure, the general environmental tort implements the rule of "inversion of the burden of proof", and there is no causal relationship between the legal subject causing environmental pollution or ecological damage and its behavior and the damage result; According to the provisions of the interpretation, if it is claimed that the infringer should bear the punitive liability for ecological environment, the rule of "who claims, who provides evidence" in the civil procedure law should be applied, and the infringed should bear the burden of proof in these aspects. It can be seen that the application of punitive liability is cautious in law and judicial practice, and is more strict in terms of constituent elements, applicable conditions and rules of proof. The interpretation also stipulates the rules for determining the amount of punitive damages for the ecological environment, that is, the amount of compensation for personal damage and property loss caused by environmental pollution and ecological damage shall be taken as the calculation base. At the same time, it also stipulates the rule that it shall not exceed twice the base. When determining the amount, the people's court generally considers the following factors: the degree of malice of the infringer, the severity of the consequences of the infringement, the interests of the infringer, the repair measures and effects taken by the infringer, etc. These Provisions are intended to prevent the amount of punitive damages from being abnormally high and resulting in de facto unfairness. With regard to the widely concerned issue of how the punitive liability applies to environmental public interest litigation, the interpretation stipulates that if the State stipulated organ or organization stipulated by law, as the representative of the infringed, requests to order the infringer to bear the punitive liability, the people's court may apply the above rules with reference, but adopt different rules for determining the amount of compensation, That is, the loss caused by the loss of service function from the damage of ecological environment to the completion of restoration and the loss caused by permanent damage to ecological environment function shall be taken as the calculation base. This provision reflects the difference between the compensation for the damage to the public welfare of the ecological environment and the compensation for the damage to the private interests of the environment. It can be seen that the interpretation issued by the Supreme People's court not only meets the internal requirements of strengthening the construction of ecological civilization and the rule of law, but also fully takes into account the needs of sustainable economic and social development, and defines the specific rules for the application of punitive compensation system in the judicial process of ecological environment, which will play a positive role in protecting the interests of the infringed's ecological environment. (Xinhua News Agency)