Public interest litigation promotes barrier-free environment

Prosecutors at all levels across the country in recent years have carried out public interest litigation to promote a barrier-free environment for people with reduced mobility.

From 2019 to March 2021, procuratorial organs across the country filed and handled 803 public interest litigation cases for barrier-free environment construction, issued 643 pieces of pre-litigation suggestions and settled 29 cases through pre-litigation consultations, Supreme People's Procuratorate announced Friday.

The action effectively helped improve the construction of barrier-free facilities, including blind pathways, barrier-free ramps and elevators, and solved the problem of poor management over these facilities, said Hu Weilie, director of the Procuratorate's eighth prosecutor's office.

China currently has 85 million disabled people and 260 million elderly people over 60 years old, forming a huge demand for barrier-free surroundings.

Although construction of a barrier-free environment does not fall under the statutory field of public interest litigation, it is an important part of the exploration of new areas of public interest litigation and the Procuratorate has issued specific guidelines for local regions to actively carry out such practice and protect the rights of special people, Hu said.