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Crimes against the environment often go unpunished in countries all around the world. Why so? And how can this be improved? John Vervaele, professor of criminal law at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ, presented his findings at an international conference in Madrid in the context of the 25th UN climate summit.

Vervaele, is the president of the international criminal justice organisation AIDP and addressed the participants of this conference, organised in collaboration with the Spanish Senate on 4 December 2019. Other speakers included Laurant Fabius, chairman of the UN climate conference in Paris and professor Mireille Delmas-Marty.

With a case on illegal fishing, the so-called illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and a case on illegal trade in hazardous waste, Vervaele explained to the participants where the opportunities and problems lie, in the criminal protection of the environment .

Environment and ecosystems deserve a better criminal protection

In many countries, including Europe, this protection has been legally anchored in the law since the 1960s, but the enforcement is weak and inadequate. Offenses against the environment are mainly seen as misdemeanor, rather than crime, for instance the lack of a permit (for fishing).

Vervaele: "Only in exceptional cases, if the infringement costs lives, can it be prosecuted for core crimes such as manslaughter and murder. But then a direct causal link is often required between intentional behaviour and damage. Criminal responsibility for guilty omission, negligence, or reckless management is rarely accepted. And there are countries where criminal liability of legal persons for environmental crimes is not accepted."

Criminal responsibility for guilty omission, negligence, or reckless management is rarely accepted in crimes against the environment.

According to Professor Vervaele, the fact that the environment is not seen as a core interest by legislators has quite a few practical consequences:

• Given the low penalisation, many investigative powers stay unused;
• In many countries it is not a priority for investigation and prosecution and therefore there is no specialist and interdisciplinary approach;
• Thus, the instruments for international cooperation in criminal cases do not apply.

Dual approach for better enforcement

The environment does not stop at the border, but the interpretation of criminal protection is largely national, Vervaele notes. "When determining the interest that needs to be protected, national legislators do not think in terms of transnational, international or common interest."

Vervaele advocates a dual approach:

• Strengthening criminal enforcement at a national level by giving environmental protection a central place in the Penal Code;
• Adopting international conventions providing for the criminal enforcement of eco-crimes and of ecocide (the environmental counterpart of genocide)

John Vervaele is Professor of economic and European criminal law at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ, Professor of European Criminal Law at the College of Europe in Bruges and president of international criminal justice organisation AIDP.