Research on the Application of the “Daily Penalty” System in Marine Environmental Protection Administrative Penalties: From the Perspective of Illegal Marine Pollution Discharge

Abstract

The revision of the Marine Environment Protection Law in 2016 introduced the “daily penalty” system, providing a powerful legal weapon against illegal marine pollution discharge. However, the unique characteristics of the maritime law enforcement environment present numerous difficulties in its application: ambiguous criteria for determining “refusal to rectify,” difficulty in ascertaining the starting point for calculating the continuous violation period, and challenges in preserving evidence under special circumstances. This paper reviews the institutional evolution and normative structure of the “daily penalty” system, focuses on the characteristics of illegal marine pollution discharge, and explores the subjective and objective criteria for determining “refusal to rectify,” the rules for establishing the starting point of a continuous violation, and special evidence collection mechanisms under adverse weather conditions and risks of evidence destruction. Based on this analysis, it proposes institutional recommendations to improve the application of the “daily penalty” in marine environmental protection, aiming to promote its standardized operation in maritime law enforcement practice.