Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims (CLAPV)

An Introduction

The Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims is a non-governmental environmental protection organization established in October 1998. It was approved by China University of Political Science & Law and registered with the Chinese Judicial Ministry. The center is managed by professors and assistant professors engaged in researching and teaching environmental law from the China University of Political Science and Law. These professors volunteer their time, as do legal experts and scholars from Peking University, Peking Normal University, Peking United University, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Law Institute who are interested in environmental and natural resources law. Professor Wang Canfa, a professor in environmental law from China University of Political Science & Law, is presently the director of the Center.

CLAPV’s Mission

The mission of the Center is multifold:
◇ to bring together practitioners, legal experts, scholars, lawyers, and environmental protection administrative and enforcement personnel to conduct focused, interdisciplinary research on difficult theoretical and practical questions of environmental law;

◇ to develop domestic and international exchanges;
◇ to train environmental law enforcement and court officials;
◇ to increase public awareness of environmental laws;
◇ to improve environmental legislation and enforcement practices,
◇ to improve the practice of environmental and natural resource law by providing legal assistance and protecting the environmental rights and interests of pollution victims.

Current Projects

1. Offers legal advice for pollution victims through a telephone hotline, answers letters from pollution victims and provides them with free legal advice.

2. Runs a “Lawyer's Mailbox,” in cooperation with China Environmental News, which publicly answers reader’s letters regarding questions of environmental law.

3. Cooperates with relevant law firms to undertake environmental cases, which involve particularly complicated or important environmental legal questions. The center pays for part the legal and administrative expenses for pollution victims who are unable to pay for their own expenses because of pollution damages.

4. Conducts research on important issues regarding legislation and enforcement of environmental law in China. Offers policy recommendations to relevant organizations about improving legislation and enforcement processes based on the results of this research.

5. Offers training for judges and lawyers who are engaged in enforcing environmental laws. The goals of the training courses are to increase institutional and professional capacities and improve enforcement of environmental law.

6. Cooperates with relevant news media to advance public awareness of environmental law by providing materials and holding public lectures.

7. Organizes international and national seminars on environmental legislation and enforcement to promote international and domestic academic exchanges.

Organizational Structure

The Center is divided into the Consulting Department, the Litigation Department, the Research and Exchange Department, and the Administrative Department. The duties of the respective departments are providing legal advice, arranging for legal representation in pollution victims' compensation cases, organizing research seminars, national and international, on environmental law, and managing day to day administrative duties.
Funding
The Center raises funds to provide free legal consultation services and to hold training course by collecting donations from international and domestic organizations or individuals, which take an interest in environmental protection. Cooperation with national or local institutions and research project grants provide the funds for research projects. The use of the Center's funds is under the joint supervision of the China University of Political Science & Law and the donors.
Conditions of Ability
China University of Political Science & Law is an university which specialize in the research and education concerning law and politics. There are not only many firstclass experts and scholars in each branch of the classic law but also some scholars who have deeply studied the environmental law, a new branch of law. There is a teaching and research section and a master training base in environmental law.
The university owns a Fada Law Firm in Beijing City, composed of more than 120 lawyers, which has offered a deal of free services for the society.

New Projects

After the center opened the "pollution victim legal assistance hotline" on November 1st, 1999, evoke repercussions in China. With the Center's help, some of these environmental complaints have been resolved through administrative channels and some through judicial channels by filing court cases.
Various newspapers and TV news stations have reported on the Center's activities, including CCTV , Beijing People's Broadcasting Station, China International Broadcasting Station, Beijing TV, China Environment News, China Lawyer News, Beijing Economic News, China Youth Daily, China Green Times, Legal Daily, Beijing Legal News, China Daily, Beijing Daily, Procuratorial Daily and Worker’s Daily.