The Protection Of The Environment Through Criminal Law

Continuing the AIDP’s tradition in examining how to improve the protection of the environment through criminal law, this volume addresses various challenges and scientific concerns in relation to environmental crime. It touches upon a range of topics, from biodiversity to corporate criminal liability to jurisdictional or prosecutorial problems, and explores multiple national and regional enforcement systems, drawing from best practices. It brings together key proceedings of the Second AIDP World Conference on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law (Bucharest, May 18-20, 2016) organised by the International Association of Penal Law (AIDP) in collaboration with the Romanian Association of Penal Sciences, the Legal Research Institute of the Romanian Academy of Sciences and the Ecological University of Bucharest.

"Yingyi Situ and David Emmons in Environmental Crime address a neglected area in Criminology and Criminal Justice and do so with masterful attention to details of environmental law, law enforcement, enthralling examples and up-to-date cases. Well-written, scholarly and incisive in its commentary and stellar in organization, their work will be well received by both undergraduate and graduate students." - Frank E. Hagan, Ph.D., Chair, Graduate Program in Administration of Justice, Professor of Sociology/Criminal Justice, Mercyhurst College, Pennsylvania We and our environment are at risk. Air, water, and soil pollution, hazardous waste disposal, global warming, acid rain, and reduction of the ozone layer threaten the natural environment and endanger people's health. Within the last decade, however, environmental violations have been defined as crimes and violators viewed as criminals; and criminal prosecution of the accused and criminal sanctions against the convicted have accelerated. This accessibly written book examines the criminalization of environmental wrong-doing. Designed as a textbook for environmental crime courses at the undergraduate or beginning graduate levels, it is comprehensive and logically organized. The text explores the nature, causes, investigation, prosecution, and prevention of environmental crime. Special emphasis is placed on the human, economic, social, and psychological impacts of the environmental crime by corporations, criminal organizations, the government, and individuals. Although examples throughout the book reflect not only North America but the world, a final chapter is devoted to global environmental law. The chapter also reviews promising approaches being used by other nations in fighting environmental crime.

Environmental Criminal Liability and Enforcement in European and International Law assesses the legal, theoretical and practical implications of interstate cooperation aimed at harmonising environmental criminal law standards. The book analyses the rationales for criminalisation of environmental offences and the approaches to harmonisation under specific European and international legal instruments.

Protecting the environment from pollution and other risks is now a central concern for citizens and governments. In recent years criminal law has replaced civil and administrative law at the forefront of environmental protection, because of its deterrent effect. This Convention criminalises pollution that causes or may cause serious damage or injuries. As many pollution incidents cross national borders, the Convention also aims at facilitating their investigation and prosecution at the international level. The Convention supplements the Convention on Civil Liability for Damage Resulting from Activities Dangerous to the Environment (Eruopean treaty series 150, 1993, ISBN 9287123209)

This provides not only a summary of the criminal prosecution of environmental law in the various countries, but also addresses differences and similarities in practice with respect to environmental criminal law. A critical analysis of the answers is also provided."--Jacket.

Environmental harms exert a significant toll and pose substantial economic costs on societies around the world. Although such harms have been studied from both legal and social science perspectives, these disciplinary-specific approaches are not, on their own, fully able to address the complexity of these environmental challenges. Many legal approaches, for example, are limited by their inattention to the motivations behind environmental offences, whereas many social science approaches are hindered by an insufficient grounding in current legislative frameworks. This edited collection constitutes a pioneering attempt to overcome these limitations by uniting legal and social science perspectives. Together, the book’s contributors forge an innovative socio-legal approach to more effectively respond to, and to prevent, environmental harms around the world. Integrating theoretical and empirical work, the book presents carefully selected illustrations of how legal and social science scholarship can be brought together to improve policies. The various chapters examine how a socio-legal approach can ultimately lead to a more comprehensive understanding of environmental harms, as well as to innovative and effective responses to such environmental offences.

"Environmental crime is a growing challenge for policy makers and law enforcers. This is an important and timely study which examines in depth how environmental crime is treated at national level within the European Union and the impact of the 2008 EU Directive on environmental crime on national systems. It will be required reading by anyone concerned with making environmental law more effective." Richard Macrory, Emeritus Professor, University College London The aim of this important new collection is to explore how environmental crime is controlled and environmental criminal law is shaped and implemented within the European Union and its Member States. It examines the legal framework, looking in particular at Directive 2008/99/EC, and the specific competences of the EU in this domain. In addition, it provides a detailed analysis of environmental criminal law in seven Member States, focusing inter alia on the basic legislation, the way in which environmental pollution is criminalised and the main actors in place to enforce environmental criminal law. In so doing, it provides a much needed explanation of the evolution of environmental criminal law in Europe at Union level and how this is implemented in selected Member States.