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Recently, JAVY law firm senior partner Wang Wenyong and Tian Yujiang represented the first public interest litigation case involving the protection of cultural relics of the Great Wall brought by a public interest organisation. After unremitting efforts, the case finally reached mediation under the auspices of the court, which added new efforts to the cause of Great Wall cultural relics protection.

Volunteers of a voluntary service centre for cultural relics protection found that the transmission lines of a power supply company crossed the Great Wall at Jielingkou, and one of the power pylons was built on the Great Wall at the east side of Jielingkou, and the other power pylon was built within the protection scope of the Great Wall, and the existence of the two pylons infringed on the original features of the Great Wall and the infringement status continued to exist.

During the pre-litigation investigation stage, Lawyer Wang Wenyong and Lawyer Tian Yujiang personally travelled to the Great Wall at Jielingkou to conduct fieldwork and took a large number of photographs as evidence. At the same time, the two lawyers found in their research that a blogger's introductory video about the Great Wall at Jielingkou in the WeChat video number could exactly reflect the location of the two iron towers. At the same time, the two lawyers found in the literature the official release of the scope of protection of the Great Wall, as well as from the official reports confirmed that the Great Wall in question has been listed as a key section of the National Great Wall. After finding these important evidences, the two lawyers accepted the commission and formally filed the lawsuit.

During the litigation process, in order to prevent the unauthorised removal of the pylons that damaged the Great Wall, the two lawyers applied to the court for evidence preservation, which was supported by the court. For the repair and damage compensation, the two lawyers went through many expert meetings and site surveys, several times between the court and the site, and finally the court agreed to commission a professional organisation to carry out the appraisal.

And then, the court organised the experts on the defendant to implement the demolition and dismantling programme for evaluation, the two lawyers and experts put forward the dismantling programme can not fully protect the Great Wall of the opinion of the court entrusted with the qualification of cultural relics protection of hebei institute of construction and research as a restoration and dismantling of the programme developer. However, on the question of whether there is a loss of ecological service function, the two sides argued strongly. In response, the two lawyers searched for guiding cases, typical cases and similar cases, prompting the court to commission a team of experts to issue an expert opinion and determine the loss of ecological service functions.

The case was heard in public, and more than 40 people, including deputies to the National People's Congress, members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), administrative and law enforcement departments and social organisations, Great Wall protectors, and the news media, sat in on the trial. Under the auspices of the court, the two sides finally reached a mediation agreement.

The two lawyers said that the case is of great significance for the protection of the Great Wall and cultural relics, as well as the inheritance of Chinese cultural memory, while effectively balancing the protection of cultural relics with the economic development of the two legitimate legal interests. I hope to take this opportunity to further arouse more public attention to the protection of cultural relics, to promote the social subjects take the initiative to assume social responsibility for the protection of cultural relics, and to promote the formation of the whole society to protect cultural relics and heritage situation.

Qinhuangdao Intermediate Court reported on the trial of the case, and the People's Court of Shanhaiguan District of Qinhuangdao synchronously forwarded it (the public interest litigation case helped restore the Great Wall cultural relics to their original appearance).