英语新闻| 法官对砍伐古树采取严厉措施

Chinese courts have been required to strengthen penalties against those that damage or destroy trees that are more than 100 years old.

中国法院被要求加大对破坏或毁坏百年以上树木的违法者的惩罚。

The Supreme People's Court, China's top court, issued an interpretation of the Criminal Law on Monday, with clarification on how to handle criminal cases involving forest resources.

周一，中国最高人民法院，即中国最高法院，对刑法进行了解释，明确了如何处理涉及森林资源的刑事案件。

"We've frequently seen cases in the past few years in which people have cut down, destroyed or even poisoned old trees," said Yu Haisong, an official from the top court's research office.

最高人民法院研究室官员喻海松表示：“过去的几年里，我们经常看到有人砍伐、破坏甚至毒害老树的案例。”

In one case, three people, surnamed Ouyang, He and Li, were imprisoned and fined after being found to have drilled into camphor trees to inject pesticides from April to December in 2021 in Hunan province to fell them, Yu said.

他说，2021年4月至12月，欧阳、何和李在湖南省钻孔灌毒致古樟树死亡，被监禁并罚款。

"They poisoned seven such trees in total, and then benefited from the plant sales," he said, revealing that one of the trees was sold at a price of more than 338,000 yuan ($46,600).

喻海松说：“他们共毒死古樟树7株并出售牟利”他透露，其中一棵树的售价超过33.8万元（合4.66万美元）。

Five of the felled trees were more than 500 years old, and the other two were also over 300 years old, he added.

他补充说，被砍伐的五棵树木有500多年的历史，另外两棵也有300多年的历史。

The three defendants were convicted of damaging key national protected wild plants.

三名被告被法院以危害国家重点保护植物罪判刑。

Ouyang was sentenced to five years in prison and fined 20,000 yuan; He was jailed for four and a half years and fined 20,000 yuan; and Li was jailed for three and a half years and fined 10,000 yuan.

欧阳被判有期徒刑五年，并处罚金人民币二万元；何有期徒刑四年六个月，并处罚金人民币二万元；李有期徒刑三年六个月，并处罚金人民币一万元。

"Ancient trees have special historical, cultural, scientific and ecological value, so it's essential and urgent to increase efforts to protect them and prevent behaviors that harm tree resources," Yu said.

喻海松表示：“古树具有特殊的历史、文化、科研、生态价值，因此必须加大保护力度，谨防危害树木资源的行为。”

While calling on judges to protect old trees in line with those on the country's list of key protected wild plants, he cited the interpretation, noting that for those that aren't listed, judges are allowed to punish criminals based on research of the species, ages, and the historical and cultural value of the damaged trees.

在呼吁法官按照《国家重点保护野生植物名录》保护古树名木的同时，他援引解释，指出，对于不在名单上的，法官可以根据涉案树木的树种、树龄以及历史、文化价值等因素，综合评估社会危害性，依法定罪处罚。

The 20-article interpretation will take effect on Tuesday, China's first National Ecology Day.

这份20条的解释将在周二，即中国的首个全国生态日生效。

Zhou Jiahai, deputy head of the top court's research office, said that such a legal document enables judges to get tough on crimes involving the damaging of forest resources and meet the demand for forest protection.

最高人民法院研究室副主任周加海说，这份法律文件使法官可以严厉打击破坏森林资源的犯罪，契合森林保护的要求。

"It's the latest move to further implement the central leadership's requirement on the construction of an ecological civilization," he added.

他补充说：“这是进一步实施中央领导层对建设生态文明的要求的最新举措。”

Data released by the top court on Monday showed that from 2018 to last year, more than 64,000 criminal cases involving the damage or destruction of forest resources were concluded, with punishments handed down to over 82,000 defendants.

最高法院周一发布的数据显示，从2018年到去年，已经结案的涉及损坏或毁坏森林资源的刑事案件超过64000件，对超过82000名被告进行了惩罚。

Court

英/kɔːt/美/kɔrt/

n.法院

Jail

英/dʒeil/美/dʒel/

v.监禁