First, environmental public interest litigation originated in the United States in the 1970s, and was adopted by many developed countries, becoming an important means to protect the environment and realize environmental rights and interests. Environmental public interest litigation includes environmental public interest civil, administrative and criminal litigation. Public interest litigation is a term from Roman law: unless there are specific provisions in the law, citizens can bring lawsuits aimed at protecting public interests. In 1960s, with the development of American public welfare movement, the term "public interest litigation" was widely used. The proposal of public interest litigation has broken the restriction of traditional litigation law on "interested parties".

Second, in 1970, the Clean Air Act of the United States stipulated the plaintiff qualification for environmental public interest litigation for the first time, among which the famous civil litigation clause stipulated that anyone (including the American government, administrative organs, companies, enterprises, various social organizations and individuals) can bring a lawsuit against air pollution, without any restrictions on the interests of citizens, that is, the plaintiff does not need to prove any legal interests or interests. In addition to the United States, Britain is also an early country to establish environmental public interest litigation. In the 1980s, Britain's pollution control law stipulated that "anyone can bring a lawsuit on the grounds of public nuisance". In order to strengthen the state's intervention in environmental pollution litigation, Britain has also established a class action system for public health inspectors representing public interests.

Three, with the rapid development of China's economy, the problem of environmental pollution has become increasingly prominent, and the environment and ecology have been seriously damaged, forming an environmental crisis to a certain extent. This crisis not only endangers people's lives and health, but also seriously restricts the healthy development of China's economy and social stability. Although China has not yet formed a unified concept of "environmental public interest litigation", Article 55 of the Civil Procedure Law has stipulated that: for acts that pollute the environment, infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of many consumers and harm the public interests, the organs and relevant organizations prescribed by law may bring a lawsuit to the people's court; In performing their duties, the people's procuratorate may bring a lawsuit to the people's court if it finds that it undermines the ecological environment and resource protection, infringes on the legitimate rights and interests of many consumers in the field of food and drug safety, and other acts that harm the public interests. Where an organ or organization mentioned in the preceding paragraph brings a lawsuit, the people's procuratorate may support the prosecution.

References for the above contents:

VIP。 Wang Yalin website. My opinion on environmental public interest litigation;

Journal of Hubei Police Officer College,No. 12, 20 13, Discussion on plaintiff qualification in environmental public interest litigation in China;

Western Law Review No.4, 20 1 1, local practice and institutional enlightenment of environmental public interest litigation in China;

People's Republic of China (PRC) civil procedure law.