The establishment of the standard of proving should not only protect fairness and justice, but also improve the efficiency of litigation, save
litigation resources, and achieve the balance between economic cost and
economic benefit. In the provisions on Evidence in Civil Procedure amended
in 2019, the standard of proving for procedural matters such as withdrawal
is more likely to be adopted, which indicates that the standard of proving in
civil procedure in China is gradually becoming hierarchical. According to
different cases, standards of proving of corresponding degree are adopted,
such as roughly presumption and apparent proof in civil law countries, and
“clear and convincing proof ” in common law countries, etc. These hierarchical
standards of proving provide ideas for the hierarchical standards of proving of
civil procedure in China. Taking the environmental tort lawsuit as an example,
different levels of standards of proving should be applied to different subjects of
proving to balance the litigation status of the original defendant. For different
facts to be proved, different standards of proving are adopted to better realize
the legislative purpose of environmental tort litigation.