The Government and the Court Jointly Strike Up the “Marine Melody”

　　To the northeast of China,the vast Yellow Sea ripples with endless azure waves. Looking out at the tranquil port, Shusen  Wang, the general manager of Weihai Dongwan Company, couldn"t calm down — his company was being sued.

　　It was a business involving a marine pasture project, with the crux lying in a long-delayed inspection report. Yet, during the trial, the Qingdao Maritime Court discovered a management blind spot within this new-emerging industry.

　　This seemingly simple case has been given a deeper meaning: in the context of promoting the construction of a strong marine province, how to help the company involved to embark on the road of law-abiding and compliant operation as soon as possible? And how to further standardize the regulatory system to serve and safeguard the high-quality development of the marine economy

　　Lately, courts in Shandong Province have fully launched the linkage mechanism with the government at the provincial level, effectively linking law-based administration and fair justice, so as to achieving positive interaction, complementary advantages and superposition of effectiveness. New ideas had been brought to the handling of the case.

　　The Shelved Marine Ranching

　　Marine Ranching is a new model for the development of marine fishery, aptly dubbed as the “blue granary”. According to the national plan for the construction of marine ranching demonstration zones, it is planned to establish 178 national-level marine ranching demonstration zones across the country by 2025. As a large coastal province, Shandong has vast maritime areas, and the development of the marine ranching industry has been in the forefront of the country.

　　Located on the shores of the Yellow Sea, Dongwan Company has caught the broad prospects of marine ranching. The company has been engaged in the construction of sea ranch platforms since a few years ago, and the cooperation with Yantai Haisheng Company began during this period. At that time, Haisheng Company planned to invest in the construction of a comprehensive recreational fishery marine ranch project, and commissioned Dongwan Company to build a fiberglass marine ranch platform.

　　However, after the platform was completed and delivered for use, Dongwan Company  received a notice of closure and rectification issued by the relevant authoritieson the grounds that it "did not obtain an inspection certificate."

　　The two companies failed to settle their dispute arising from this inspection certificate. Haisheng Company believed that the order to cease operations for rectification was due to Dongwan Company"s failure to complete the inspection, so they filed a lawsuit before court, demanding the termination of the contract, the return of construction funds, and compensation for operating losses. Dongwan Company, on the other hand, felt innocent, stating that “The platform has already been delivered, and the inspection has nothing to do with us.”

　　The focus of the dispute seemed to be merely on who should bear the obligation of inspection for the platform, which seemed not to be very complicated. However, Junli Guo, the judge of the Qingdao Maritime Court who undertook the case, felt it was far from simple. “Information shows that there are many similar cases, and this is not the only one.” After obtaining evidence such as the approval, acceptance and release of financial subsidies from several relevant institutions, Junli Guo found that who bears the inspection obligation is only a symptom, and the real crux is the prominentproblems such as the lack of inspection norms and standards for this new thing, ocean ranch.

　　The judges are keenly aware that this problem may have become an institutional obstacle to the development of the marine ranching industry, "the case seemsnotbig, but it is related to theplanning and management of the ocean, which is a major matter. Therefore, a judgment aloneis certainly not enough to solve the problem."

　　The judges decided to take a step further.

　　The Dilemma of “Can not Inspect, Dare Not Use”

　　This step was not taken easily. In order to promote the healthy development of the marine ranching industry, the People"s Courts have an unshirkable obligation, but relying on the courts alone,  sitting in the courtroom and handling cases by cases, the effectwill certainly not yield good results. What is the right solution?

　　In 2023, On the basis of summarizing and analyzing the work of adjudication and enforcement, courts in Shandong conducted in-depth research on strengthening the linkage between the government and the courts. The courts have made joint efforts in various fields, such as multi-dimensional dispute resolution, environmental resources, and intellectual property rights, and have effectively solved a number of key and difficult problems through wide-ranging interactions with government at all levels,

　　Ride a wave of the linkage between the government and the courts, a correct solution was found for the marine ranching case.

　　The Qingdao Maritime Court and the Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs immediately initiated the linkage mechanism between the government and the courts, conducting joint research activities to thoroughly survey the construction and operation of marine ranch across the province and systematically review the historical evolution, current development, and existing practical problems of the pilot work.

　　The research results were somewhat unexpected: As of June 2023, 30% of marine ranches in Shandong were forced to cease operation due to the inability to conduct inspections, which has become a major obstacle to the development of the marine ranching industry.

　　The key cause of the problem lies in the rapid development of the marine pastures, a new-emerging industry,thus related inspection standards and norms fail to keep pace timely. In addition, the management mechanism of marine ranching platform has not yet been clearly standardized, resulting in a dilemma where some platforms are in a situation of “cannot inspect, dare not use”.The fiberglass platform developed by Dongwan Company is a typical one.

　　In other words, the issue with inspecting the platforms involved in the cases is not “who will handle it,” but rather the problem of lacking standards to rely on— regardless of who handles it, the inspection certificate cannot be issued, or more precisely, “there is no starting point to handle it.”

　　“In the absence of inspection standards, once the judicial rule of ‘the construction contract for marine pastures can be terminated where the inspection is not possible’ is established, it will bea huge blow to the pilot work of marine ranchingacross the province,”said Junwen Song, a member of the Qingdao Maritime Court’s Leading Party Members’Groupand vice president of the Qingdao Maritime Court.In the end, the court made a first-instance verdict, rejecting all the plaintiff’s claims. Meanwhile, efforts to improving the inspection rules and smoothing the management mechanism in coordination with the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs is also being carried out intensively.

　　Emphasis on “Coordination”, Key in “Action”

　　At the time, a meeting was held in Shandong Province: On November 27, 2023, Shandong Province held the first coordination meeting of the arrangements for the implementation of the provincial government and courts" linkage. The meeting was of high specification and wide coverage. Naixiang Zhou, Vice Secretary of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee and Governor of Shandong Province, attended and delivered a speech. Relevant leaders from the Provincial Party Committee, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People"s Congress, and the Provincial Political Consultative Conference, as well as relevant departments and units of the provincial government, key officials from relevant units stationed in Shandong, and the "top leaders" of cities and counties (cities and districts), and all members of the three-level courts attended the meeting. The meeting emphasized that the linkage between the government and the courts is a benign interactive mechanism for the government and the courts to coordinate and resolve conflicts in accordance with the law. It is an effective way tosystematically, holistically, coordinately, and comprehensively implement thelaw-based governance and an innovative work with significant meaning.

　　Basedon the previous promotion of the linkage between the government and the courts, this meeting aimed to promote the institutionalization, normalization, and full coverage of the linkage between the government and the courts, marking the full launch of the normalization of the mechanism for the linkage between the government and the courts at the provincial level.

　　Taking the linkage deeper, the case of the marine ranching took a crucial step. At the end of 2023, after thorough visits, research, and analysis, a judicial opinion titled Promoting the High-level Construction of Marine pastures to Support the Strategy of Building a Strong Maritime Province was sent from the Qingdao Maritime Court to the Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Aiming at the latent problems in the inspection and supervision of the marine pasture industry, it proposed four targeted suggestions: “Applying theexecuted judicial rules of marine pastures,” “Implementing an open management mechanism for marine pastures,” “Piloting local inspection standards for marine pastures,” and “Promoting the innovative practical experience of marine pastures.”

　　The linkage between the government and the courts emphasizes on “coordination,”with the key lying in “action.”

　　This judicial suggestion was fully adopted and immediately implemented。 The Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs organized a special meeting at primary time. After due consideration to the historical background and respect for objective facts, following the principles of “handling special cases with special methods” and encouraging innovation, the current fiberglass marine ranching platforms in the province have been allowed to temporarily operate normally without issuing relevant inspection andregistration certificates, which cleared all obstacles for subsequent similar marine ranching projects under construction.

　　“It’s Finally Dawn”

　　So far, the cause of Haisheng"s inability to operate normally due to the failure of the platform in question to be inspected has been eliminated. In February of this year, the Shandong Provincial High People"s Court rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgment. Haisheng Company"s project had begun rectification. If the retification runs smoothly, the project will be put into operation; Dongwan Company had also shaken off the burden and gained more confidence in innovative research and development. Shusen Wang felt that "it’s finally dawn."

　　However, the chain reaction triggered by the linkage between the government and the courtshad just begun. The Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs also issued a Notice on Standardizing the Operation and Management of Fiberglass Marine RanchingPlatforms, clearly stating its support for cities to take the lead in trial operations and actively explore inspection, confirmation, and certification models to ensure the standardized, safe, and healthy operation of offshore fishery facilities. This was undoubtedly a good news for the entire marine ranching industry.

　　"In the future, neither the users nor the builders of marine ranching platforms need to worry anymore." In this way, the people"s court, through the trial of one case, effectively bridged administrative legality and judicial fairness, established judicial judgment rules for marine ranching cases, and ultimately promoted the province"s marine ranching management to a benign operating order. Currently,  Regulations on the Construction and Management of Marine Ranches in Shandong Province had been included in the local legislative plan, and the Qingdao Maritime Court will continue to follow up on the implementation of judicial opinions and provide support for the legislation and management of marine ranch.

　　With the "addition" linkage, leverage the "multiplication" effect, and finally achieve a win-win situation. The marine raching case recorded the footprint of Shandong courts’ implementation of the normalized linkage mechanism between the government and the courts, and reflected the proactive performance of Shandong courts in fulfilling their duties according to the law.

　　Currently, Shandong is comprehensively promoting the substantive and efficient operation of the linkage between the government and the courts. Min Huo, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the High People"s Court of Shandong Province, stated that in order to prevent the occurrence of problems such as "linkage without action", courts in Shandong are further improving relevant system and mechanism, continuously promoting the deepening and solidifying of the work of the government-judiciary linkage through the establishment of normalized coordinated meeting mechanisms and other means.

　　Emracing the sea and you will see flower blooming, Wang Shusen"s heart felt much brighter. In 2023, China"s marine economy witnessed a strong recovery, with the national marine gross domestic product reaching 9.9097 trillion yuan, a 6% increase over the previous year. He believed that the development of the marine ranching industry, like the dreamy ocean, would have vast prospects.