Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases Involving Damage to Black Soil Resources
Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases Involving Damage to Black Soil Resources
Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases Involving Damage to Black Soil Resources
Fa Shi [2025] No. 7
April 30, 2025
Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases Involving Damage to Black Soil Resources, adopted at the 1946th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on March 25, 2025, and the 51st Meeting of the 14th Procuratorial Committee of the Supreme People's Procuratorate on April 11, 2025, is hereby issued and shall come into effect on May 6, 2025.
Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases Involving Damage to Black Soil Resources
(Adopted at the 1946th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on March 25, 2025, and the 51st meeting of the 14th Procuratorial Committee of the Supreme People's Procuratorate on April 11, 2025, effective from May 6, 2025)
To legally protect black soil land and punish crimes involving damage to black soil land resources, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the Black Soil Land Conservation Law of the People's Republic of China, and other laws, the following interpretation is issued regarding the application of law in handling such criminal cases:
Article 1 Where a violation of land management regulations meets any of the following circumstances, such act shall constitute the illegal occupation of cultivated land that alters the use of the occupied cultivated land and causes damage to it, as prescribed in Article 342 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China:
(1) Unlawfully occupying black soil land for construction activities such as building houses, kilns, or graves, or excavating lakes for landscaping purposes;
(2) Unlawfully occupying black soil land for activities such as sand excavation, quarrying, mining, or soil extraction;
(3) Unlawfully occupying black soil land for purposes such as discharging pollutants or piling up waste, resulting in serious pollution of the black soil land;
(4) Other forms of unlawful occupation of black soil land that alter the use of the occupied land and cause damage to it.
Where any of the violations set forth in the preceding paragraph meets any of the following circumstances, it shall be deemed to meet the criterion that “the area involved is relatively large and a large area of such land is damaged" as stipulated in Article 342 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China:
(1) Unlawfully occupying and damaging three mu or more of black soil land designated as permanent prime farmland, or six mu or more of black soil land not designated as permanent prime farmland;
(2) Unlawfully extracting 500 cubic meters or more of black soil from black soil land designated as permanent prime farmland, or 1,000 cubic meters or more from black soil land not designated as non-permanent prime farmland;
(3) Unlawfully occupying and damaging black soil land, or unlawfully extracting black soil from black soil land, although the quantity involved does not meet the threshold set forth in either subparagraph (1) or (2), the total area converted based on corresponding ratios reaches either threshold; or
(4) Within two years after being subject to two or more administrative penalties for illegal occupation of farmland, again unlawfully occupying and damaging black soil land in a quantity that reaches half or more of any of the thresholds specified in subparagraphs (1) through (3).
Article 2 Unlawful mining of black soil designated as mineral resources in violation of the Mineral Resources Law, where the circumstances meet those set out in the first paragraph of Article 343 of the Criminal Law, shall be convicted and punished for the crime of illegal mining.
Article 3 The discharge, dumping, or disposal of radioactive waste, waste containing infectious disease pathogens, toxic substances, or other hazardous substances, in violation of national regulations, which causes severe pollution to black soil land and meets the circumstances specified in the first paragraph of Article 338 of the Criminal Law, shall be convicted and punished for the crime of environmental pollution.
......
Fa Shi [2025] No. 7
April 30, 2025
Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases Involving Damage to Black Soil Resources, adopted at the 1946th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on March 25, 2025, and the 51st Meeting of the 14th Procuratorial Committee of the Supreme People's Procuratorate on April 11, 2025, is hereby issued and shall come into effect on May 6, 2025.
Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases Involving Damage to Black Soil Resources
(Adopted at the 1946th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on March 25, 2025, and the 51st meeting of the 14th Procuratorial Committee of the Supreme People's Procuratorate on April 11, 2025, effective from May 6, 2025)
To legally protect black soil land and punish crimes involving damage to black soil land resources, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the Black Soil Land Conservation Law of the People's Republic of China, and other laws, the following interpretation is issued regarding the application of law in handling such criminal cases:
Article 1 Where a violation of land management regulations meets any of the following circumstances, such act shall constitute the illegal occupation of cultivated land that alters the use of the occupied cultivated land and causes damage to it, as prescribed in Article 342 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China:
(1) Unlawfully occupying black soil land for construction activities such as building houses, kilns, or graves, or excavating lakes for landscaping purposes;
(2) Unlawfully occupying black soil land for activities such as sand excavation, quarrying, mining, or soil extraction;
(3) Unlawfully occupying black soil land for purposes such as discharging pollutants or piling up waste, resulting in serious pollution of the black soil land;
(4) Other forms of unlawful occupation of black soil land that alter the use of the occupied land and cause damage to it.
Where any of the violations set forth in the preceding paragraph meets any of the following circumstances, it shall be deemed to meet the criterion that “the area involved is relatively large and a large area of such land is damaged" as stipulated in Article 342 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China:
(1) Unlawfully occupying and damaging three mu or more of black soil land designated as permanent prime farmland, or six mu or more of black soil land not designated as permanent prime farmland;
(2) Unlawfully extracting 500 cubic meters or more of black soil from black soil land designated as permanent prime farmland, or 1,000 cubic meters or more from black soil land not designated as non-permanent prime farmland;
(3) Unlawfully occupying and damaging black soil land, or unlawfully extracting black soil from black soil land, although the quantity involved does not meet the threshold set forth in either subparagraph (1) or (2), the total area converted based on corresponding ratios reaches either threshold; or
(4) Within two years after being subject to two or more administrative penalties for illegal occupation of farmland, again unlawfully occupying and damaging black soil land in a quantity that reaches half or more of any of the thresholds specified in subparagraphs (1) through (3).
Article 2 Unlawful mining of black soil designated as mineral resources in violation of the Mineral Resources Law, where the circumstances meet those set out in the first paragraph of Article 343 of the Criminal Law, shall be convicted and punished for the crime of illegal mining.
Article 3 The discharge, dumping, or disposal of radioactive waste, waste containing infectious disease pathogens, toxic substances, or other hazardous substances, in violation of national regulations, which causes severe pollution to black soil land and meets the circumstances specified in the first paragraph of Article 338 of the Criminal Law, shall be convicted and punished for the crime of environmental pollution.
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