Exclusive Dispute Resolution: An Empirical Study on Administrative Environmental Dispute Resolution in South-west China

摘要

Official statistics show that Environmental Protection Bureaus (EPBs) resolve the vast majority of environmental disputes in current Chinese society. This paper studies how the EPB administrative dispute resolution mechanism functions in practice, by investigating dispute resolution in S County in South-West China. It finds that this mechanism has four distinct characteristics, which can be summarized using the term "exclusive". This exclusive dispute resolution with a limited role for pollution victims is especially troublesome since the criteria for successful dispute resolution are markedly different between pollution victims and EPB officials. In conclusion the paper draws wider implications for dispute processing in China, arguing for a more inclusive and participatory resolution mechanism.