Guard the blue sea and blue sky

From June 9 to 10, the 2021 "China Coast Guard Forum" Academic Symposium was held at the Coast Guard Academy. Dozens of experts and scholars from the Maritime Power Bureau of the Foreign Affairs Office of the CPC Central Committee, the National Defense University, the Chinese Public Security University, the China Coast Guard Bureau and other relevant departments, military academies and research institutions, based on the reality of the construction of the coast guard discipline system, conducted in-depth discussions from multiple dimensions such as personnel training in coast guard institutions, marine fisheries law enforcement management, and maritime security, and widely solicited opinions on major practical issues related to the construction and development of coast guard, such as strengthening the construction of coast guard institutions, ensuring maritime law enforcement work, and improving marine management capabilities. Provide intellectual support for safeguarding national maritime rights and interests.

Based on realistic demands

"Factors such as sea breezes, waves, and currents keep the marine environment in dynamic change at all times, ranging from dredging, sea sand, catches, fishing nets, to bills, mobile phones, knives and other items that may be dumped into the sea and cause evidence to be lost, bringing difficulties to coast guard law enforcement inspections and maritime crime forensics." Guo Jinwen, an investigator from the frontline of law enforcement at the Guangxi Coast Guard, said.

In June 2018, when the Coast Guard ship attacked to intercept the target ship, the drug traffickers immediately dissolved the methamphetamine in the seawater, creating an obstacle to the investigation and evidence collection of maritime crimes. "The life of the law lies in its implementation, and the authority of the law lies in its enforcement." In the special seminar on "Maritime Crime Investigation and Collaborative Supervision", Guo Jinwen believed that based on the system of laws and regulations and the actual tasks of the Coast Guard, the presumption rules were concretized, which reduced the difficulty of maritime law enforcement and solved the problems encountered in maritime investigation and evidence collection.

"Inviting the staff of the Coast Guard to participate in the academic forum is to face the practical problems in the process of maritime law enforcement, play a role as a bridge from theory to practice, and answer questions for law enforcement case officers on the front line of the mission." Li Yongjin, director of the Coast Guard Research Center of the Coast Guard Academy, said that academic discussion and exchange activities are an important carrier for uniting and serving the vast number of Coast Guard institutions and their staff, and the forum is based on the practice of Coast Guard law enforcement, adhering to the problem orientation, strengthening theoretical traction, and actively promoting the dissemination and transformation of scientific research and academic achievements.

"The special evidence rules solve the practical problem of the difficulty of law enforcement and evidence collection by coast guard agencies, and also clarify the scope of application and boundary restrictions, respect and protect the rights of counterparts, and embody the due value of the law to safeguard fairness and justice" "Special provisions are made in the form of laws for the rapid handling of maritime administrative cases, providing legal basis support for simplifying redundant processes, improving law enforcement efficiency, standardizing law enforcement procedures, and promoting civilized law enforcement..." Investigators, law enforcers, and case handlers from the front line of each sub-bureau's mission express their opinions. Speaking freely, they enthusiastically discussed the institutional norms and guarantees brought about by the creation of the new law, and were full of confidence and hope for the construction of the rule of law in the Coast Guard.

Safeguard legitimate rights and interests

"The law empowers the Coast Guard to carry out maritime fisheries law enforcement duties, and the public's sense of identification and expectation for the coast guard to carry out maritime fisheries supervision is rising." Zhang Wenliang, a civilian from the Comprehensive Law Enforcement Section of the First Bureau directly under the China Coast Guard, said.

The supervision of the seasonal fishing moratorium is an important part of the coast guard agency's maritime fishery law enforcement, with the bottom trawling of motorized fishing vessels as the jurisdiction boundary, and through the organization of joint special law enforcement actions, it has built a law enforcement coordination platform for cooperation and exchange between coast guard agencies and fishery departments. At present, China's fishery is in the transition period from traditional fishery to modern fishery, in the face of many bottlenecks in traditional fishery administration, based on national laws and departmental administrative rules, it provides a strong guarantee for coast guard agencies and local fishery administration law enforcement agencies to jointly improve the efficiency of maritime law enforcement.

According to the 2019 Bulletin on the State of China's Marine Ecological Environment, the amount of marine debris dumped nationwide in 2019 was 191.17 million cubic meters. As a qualified entity authorized by law, the coast guard agency and its staff shall perform the law enforcement duties of pollution of marine dumping waste and damage to the marine environment in accordance with the law, and have the right to require the vessels involved to suspend navigation operations, berth at designated locations, prohibit departure from ports, and maintain normal marine production and operation order.

Zhang Wenliang deeply felt the legal effects brought by the promulgation and implementation of the new law to coast guard personnel in performing their duties according to law. Since April 20, 2021, the China Coast Guard, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Transport, and the State Forestry and Grassland Administration have jointly launched a seven-month special law enforcement action for the protection of the marine ecological environment in "Bihai 2021", in which local coast guard agencies and other law enforcement departments complement each other, give full play to the advantages of their respective law enforcement teams, form an effective synergy, crack down on illegal acts, and guard the blue sea and blue sky.

"Clarifying the specific tasks and functions of the Coast Guard agency with national laws has opened the curtain on the performance and comprehensive construction of china's coast guard in accordance with the law." In particular, the establishment of a special chapter on 'Support and Collaboration' reflects the attention and care for the Coast Guard agencies and their supporting facilities, including the implementation of funds, facility construction, equipment systems, personnel, management needs, information systems and other aspects. Gu Kaihui, a researcher at the Legal Research Institute of the Armed Police Research Institute, said that while the law entrusts the coast guard with functions, it fixes all kinds of guarantees required for the performance of duties in the form of provisions, which escorts the coast guard institutions in performing their duties according to law, and at the same time provides a broad space for in-depth cultivation, which meets the requirements of the times for safeguarding maritime rights and interests.

Provide intellectual support

"Academic research aims to shift from focusing on static legislation to dynamic rule of law, putting the new law into consideration of the entire national security system, and constantly improving the top-level design with the development of the times." Li Yongjin introduced that while strengthening the legal awareness and rule of law thinking of the Coast Guard in performing its duties, the forum focused on the role of its think tank and provided decision-making advice for the professional construction of coast guard disciplines and the construction and development of coast guard. Since its inception in 2013, the forum has invited more than 300 industry scholars such as Luo Yuan and Yin Zhuo to participate, forming more than 1,000 theoretical research results such as ideological and innovative papers and monographs, and becoming a high-quality dialogue platform for prospering coast guard academic research and carrying out academic exchanges on sea-related issues.

Li Yongjin said that with the help of disciplinary advantages and professional qualities, the participating experts tracked the latest developments in international research, summarized the laws of maritime law enforcement, deepened theoretical research, helped relevant personnel clarify the legislative logic behind the provisions, provided useful reference for law enforcement practice, and contributed to the rule of law to maintain marine security. (Wang Shizhuo)

Source: China Youth Daily