Abstract:

With the promulgation and implementation of the Ecological and Environmental Code of the People’s Republic of China, the development of China’s environmental rule of law has officially entered the era of codification. The research focus of environmental law has correspondingly shifted from legislative theory to interpretative theory. The independent development of environmental law hermeneutics has become a core proposition for enhancing the autonomous knowledge system of environmental law and ensuring the uniform and accurate implementation of the Code. Constrained by traditional sectoral law interpretative paradigms and a path dependence on transplanting Western legal theories, current environmental law hermeneutics faces practical difficulties—such as insufficient adaptability, inadequate alignment with local contexts, and a lack of systematic interpretative capacity—making it difficult to respond to the specific needs of China’s environmental governance. To address this, the systematic implementation of autonomous hermeneutics is achieved by integrating interpretivist and functionalist methodologies, constructing a trilateral interactive interpretative framework of“law – policy – practice,”and promoting the harmonious coordination of multiple normative systems. This approach enhances the application efficacy of environmental law norms through an interpretative solution tailored to Chinese practice, providing a methodological guarantee for developing the rule of law in ecological civilization.

Key words: autonomous knowledge system: environmental law hermeneutics, conceptual transformation