The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) released eight typical cases on judicial protection of land resources on June 24, ahead of the 36th National Land Day of China. The release aims to use these cases as examples to guide and clarify the application of the law, further enhance the quality and efficiency of case handling, and safeguard land resource security through high-quality and efficient performance of procuratorial duties.
The released cases cover various land types, including permanent basic farmland, high-standard farmland, natural grasslands, urban public forests, and collective forest areas in suburban areas. In terms of case categories, they encompass criminal, administrative and public interest litigation cases.
Among the eight cases, four are criminal cases concerning the illegal occupation of agricultural land. When handling such cases, procuratorial organs fully and accurately implemented the criminal policy of tempering justice with mercy and upheld the judicial philosophy of placing equal emphasis on both punishment and restoration in accordance with the law.
At the same time, they actively participated in social governance through case handling, issuing procuratorial recommendations to administrative law enforcement authorities to address regulatory loopholes, and promoting broader governance through the handling of individual cases. Of the remaining four cases, two involve procuratorial supervision over administrative non-litigation enforcement, and two are administrative public interest litigation cases.
The head of the SPP's Procuratorial Department for General Crimes stated that in recent years, procuratorial organs nationwide have fully performed their duties as national legal supervision bodies, severely punished illegal and criminal acts such as illegal occupation of agricultural land, and adhered to whole-process, all-factor and full-chain protection of agricultural land, effectively safeguarding national and public interests.
The official added that procuratorial organs will further strengthen their sense of responsibility, enhance coordination, improve working mechanisms, and fully leverage their functional roles in crime crackdown, supervision, restoration, and protection to uphold the red line of land resource protection. This will better support high-quality economic and social development and provide robust judicial safeguards for building a Beautiful China.
