On 19 Aug. 2021, China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) released the 29th batch of guiding cases, clarifying the procedures and methods in procuratorial public interest litigation.

There is a total of five guiding cases, covering issues relating to marine environment protection, preservation of natural relics and traditional villages, control of solid waste pollution, and prevention of high-speed rail safety hazards.

As one of the guiding cases, the administrative public interest litigation case concerning multi-region issues (Jian Li No.113, 检例第113号), presented how Zhengzhou Railway Transportation Branch of Henan People’s Procuratorate supervised the rectification of illegal building of small reservoirs that endangered the operation safety of high-speed railways. According to the guiding case, the determination of the procuratorate’s jurisdiction over such cases shall take full account of the nature and field of the case, the extent of damage to public interest, the authorities requiring coordination and other factors. For the cases involving railway transportation across multiple administrative regions, which require coordination with the railway authorities, relevant local governments and their functional departments for the solution, a railway transportation branch of people’s procuratorate may be designated for jurisdiction.