Construction Plan for a Rapid Testing Laboratory for Public Interest Litigation

In recent years, procuratorial organs have actively carried out public interest litigation and achieved remarkable results, winning recognition from all sectors of society. However, investigation and evidence collection in public interest litigation cases, especially on-site inspection, appraisal and forensic identification in environmental damage cases, have long been difficult points in practice. To address this challenge, win the battle against pollution, better safeguard the fundamental interests of the people and ensure a safe and happy living environment, Zhang Xueqiao, Deputy Procurator-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, has pointed out that technical testing and appraisal play an **initial and fundamental role** in public interest litigation case handling. They are decisive in discovering case clues, establishing cases, defining rights and interests, and initiating litigation. To resolve the difficulty of forensic identification, which severely restricts the long-term development of environmental public interest litigation, the Party Group of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate has stressed the need to strengthen coordination and cooperation with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and other competent departments. The aim is to promote the establishment of a number of judicial appraisal and testing laboratories for ecological environment, food and drug public interest litigation at the provincial procuratorial level, as well as simple and rapid technical testing rooms at the municipal branch level. Nevertheless, a survey of provincial-level procuratorial organs reveals that in the early stage of laboratory establishment, there is **no unified standard for the allocation of investigative equipment**, and problems such as insufficient equipment are widespread. This makes it difficult to adapt to the increasingly severe situation of environmental damage and food and drug-related crimes.

The new-type laboratory for public interest litigation is an integrated solution developed in light of the technical, personnel and resource conditions facing public interest litigation investigation and testing. By adopting advanced testing equipment and cutting-edge information technology to deliver intelligent auxiliary functions, it improves the case-handling capacity of procuratorial organs in public interest litigation while ensuring the quality and efficiency of investigation and testing through multiple measures. The construction of the new-type public interest litigation laboratory follows the principles of **aesthetics, effectiveness and convenience**, realizing guided experimental procedures and full-chain data presentation. It integrates both fixed laboratory rapid-testing capability and mobile rapid-testing capability. The new-type public interest litigation laboratory is capable of testing in the fields of **water quality, soil, atmospheric ecological environment, pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables, food safety, health product safety, biosafety, daily chemical products, natural resources and other areas**. Through modular zoning, it builds full-coverage testing capacity; supported by an intelligent laboratory platform and big data mining, it achieves whole-process and full-lifecycle management of investigation and testing. The rapid-testing laboratory for public interest litigation is equipped with rapid-testing instruments such as **food and drug safety detectors, soil heavy metal detectors, multi-parameter water quality analyzers, composite gas detectors and sound level meters**, as well as auxiliary equipment including sampling tools, sample storage boxes and portable public interest litigation on-site investigation kits. Through on-site sampling and on-site testing, it can quickly and preliminarily determine the pollution type and scope of on-site water, soil and atmospheric dust, as well as toxic and harmful substances and illegal additives in food and drugs. It plays an important role in handling various types of immediate public interest damage cases such as environmental pollution, illegal mining and food and drug safety violations, providing reliable technical support and guarantee for public interest litigation.