Home  »  Crime types  »  Environmental crime  »  Environmental law

Environmental law

Laws that protect the environment are relatively new. The first true environmental laws in Australia were enacted in the 1970s. Since then, a myriad of statutes have been introduced across all jurisdictions to prohibit actions that harm the environment. Although research in this area is still developing, the AIC has compiled a comprehensive overview of environmental crime in Australia. It has also studied specific areas of concern such as marine crime, illegal logging, and bushfire arson. The AIC’s website offers an exhaustive collection of links to national and international environmental law sites.

---

Organisations

• Australian Centre for Environment Law
• Australian Network of Environment Defenders Offices
• Center for International Environmental Law
• Ecolex : a gateway to environmental law
• Environmental Law Institute

Links

• Environmental law resources
  Compiled by the Australian Parliamentary Library
• Environmental Law Programme
  United Nations Environment Programme

Enforcement, regulation and compliance

• Australia
• United Kingdom
• Europe
• North America
• International/other

Australia

• Department of the Environment and Heritage Compliance and Enforcement Policy
  Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2004
• Environmental crimes : offences and penalties in Victoria (PDF 137kB)
  Wayne Gumley. Corporate misconduct e-zine, 2003
• To fight environmental crime, together, and win (PDF 199kB)
  John Davies. AFP Platypus magazine, 2002

United Kingdom

• Environmental civil penalties : a more proportionate response to regulatory breach
  Centre for Law and the Environment, University College London, 2003
• Environmental crime and the courts (PDF 828kB)
  UK House of Commons, Environmental Audit Committee, 2003
• UK Parliament Environmental Audit Committee, Sub-committee on Environmental Crime

Europe

• International environmental enforcement initiative : Lessons learned from U.S-Belgian dialogue regarding environmental criminal enforcement (PDF 97kB)
  James A Morgule, et al. Seventh international conference on environmental compliance and enforcement, 2005
• National strategy for environmental legislation enforcement (Netherlands) (PDF 113kB)
  Fred Kok. Seventh international conference on environmental compliance and enforcement, 2005
• Criminal enforcement of environmental law in the European Union (PDF 437kB)
  European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law, 2000
• Environmental crime and punishment in Russia : law as reason for breach (PDF 179kB)
  Maria Ivanova. In: Frank Biermann, Rainer Brohm and Klaus Dingwerth (eds), Proceedings of the 2001 Berlin conference on the human dimensions of global environmental change "Global environmental change and the nation state", 2002
• Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law
  Council of Europe

North America

• Criminal punishment for environmental damage : individual and state responsibility at a crossroad
  Marcos A Orellana. Georgetown international environmental law review, Summer 2005
• International environmental enforcement initiative : Lessons learned from U.S-Belgian dialogue regarding environmental criminal enforcement (PDF 97kB)
  James A Morgule, et al. Seventh international conference on environmental compliance and enforcement, 2005
• Combining legal mandates with economics in the application of environmental law (PDF 107kB)
  Phyllis Harris. Seventh international conference on environmental compliance and enforcement, 2005
• Environmental crime update : what is the state of federal environmental crime enforcement? (PDF 256kB)
  Steven P Solow. 32nd Annual conference on environmental law, 2003
• Criminal enforcement of environmental law : stepping up crime prosecutions is crucial in the fight against environmental law violators
  Charles R Toy and A Michael Leffler. Michigan Bar Journal, December 2001
• Environmental crime review paper (PDF 311kB)
  Jennifer Suggs, US National Enforcement Investigations Center. 13th International forensic science symposium, 2001

Organisations

• Environment Canada, Environmental Law Enforcement Program
• North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation
• US Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal enforcement program

International / other

• Proceedings from the International conferences on environmental compliance and enforcement
  International Network on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement
• Penalties and other remedies for environmental violations : an overview (PDF 101kB)
  International Network on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement. Seventh international conference on environmental compliance and enforcement, 2005
• Strengthening the weakest links : strategies for improving the enforcement of environmental laws globally (PDF 817kB)
  Anita Sundari Akella and James B Cannon. Conservation International, 2004
• Law and economics of environmental crime (PDF 270kB)
  Michael G Faure and Marjolein Visser, 2003
• Crimes of (a) global nature
  Lisa Mastny and Hilary French. Worldwatch magazine, 2002
• International environmental crime : the nature and control of environmental black markets (PDF 850kB)
  Gavin Hayman and Duncan Brack. Workshop report, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 2002

Organisations

• Earth Justice
• Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
• Green Customs
• United Nations Environment Programme, Environmental Law Programme, Compliance and Enforcement Unit
• International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE)
• World Bank, environmental and natural resources law

Recent publications

• Environmental crime in Australia
  14 October 2010
• Following the proceeds of illegal logging in Indonesia
  24 March 2010
• Crime in the Australian fishing industry
  04 June 2009
• Weekly patterns in bushfire ignitions
  28 October 2008
• Environmental harm and crime prevention
  04 June 2008
• The connection between socioeconomic disadvantage and bushfire arson
  22 April 2008
• Proportion of deliberate bushfires in Australia
  06 March 2008
• The illegal trade in timber and timber products in the Asia-Pacific region
  01 January 2008
• A national study of crime in the Australian fishing industry
  01 January 2007
• Crime in the Australian fishing industry : key issues
  04 April 2005
• Marine crime
  06 July 2004
• Understanding non-compliance in the marine environment
  04 May 2004
• The illegal market in Australian abalone
  09 July 2002
• The illegal market in Australian abalone
  04 April 2002
• Improving environmental performance, preventing environmental crime
  04 June 2000

Recent events

• International Serious and Organised Crime Conference 2010
  18 October 2010
• Environmental crime
  01 September 1993