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Peaceful Mist and the Shadow of War: Environmental Crime and the International Criminal Court
Fri, September 13, 9:30 to 10:45am, Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest, Floor: 2nd floor, Library - reading room 1Abstract
Crimes against the environment, a relatively new concept, reflect the evolution of international criminal law. These crimes are causing devastation in the communities they are affecting, and ultimately threaten the future of the planet as we know it. Though there is widespread agreement that the environment must be protected, international enforcement systems are highly ineffective. At the same time in an attempt to protect our planet, environmental movements are sweeping the world at a faster pace than ever before, with a significant momentum for the criminalisation of ecological harm. However, there is no existing international criminal tribunal with special jurisdiction over environmental crimes. International tribunals, both permanent and ad hoc, play an important role in the promotion of global justice and peace. The society also assigns preventive, educational, and documentary tasks to scientific research. The framers of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Statute limited the scope of the court’s jurisdiction to genocide, war crimes, and crime against humanity. The aim of the paper is to in-depth analyses of the ways in which the ICC may effectively prosecute those who cause or contribute to the most serious environmental crimes. In his considerations, the author also took into account the doctrinal concept of ecocide, climate crimes, and crimes against future generations. The insufficiency of the contemporary legal framework and the merits of a new crime against the environment are exemplified by examples of peacetime environmental damage and the case of Russia's war in Ukraine. From a safety perspective, this study emphasizes the need to take into account the impact of these environmental crimes on the ecosystem as a whole. The research received funding from the National Science Centre (Poland) under the "PRELUDIUM-21" program (reg. no. 2022/45 /N/HS5/04118).