700 Green NGOs Can File Pro Bono Lawsuits, Official Estimates

(Beijing) – Some 700 non-governmental organizations are eligible to launch pro bono lawsuits over violations of environmental law, a Ministry of Civil Affairs official says.

Liao Hong, a vice director of the ministry's Administration of Non-governmental Organizations, made the comments at a press conference on December 6 in response to a judicial interpretation of the revised Environmental Protection Law. The changes have for the first time given NGOs the legal status required to take violators to court via suits lawyers handle for free or at a reduced charge for the public good.