Prosecution Under the Amended Environmental Crime Directive

Dr Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, gave a presentation on prosecution under the amended Environmental Crime Directive at an information event organised by Green Legal Impact and Stop Ecocide Germany on the new EU environmental criminal law. He began by describing the special features of criminal prosecution in the environmental sector and the reason for the first-time inclusion of criminal prosecution provisions in the Directive. He then gave an overview of the regulations on resources and training, co-operation between authorities, the national strategy for combating environmental crime and statistical data. The presentation ended with examples of challenges and approaches to implementing the directive in Germany.

The webinar "Meilenstein der Rechtsgeschichte? Das neue EU-Umweltstrafrecht. Bedeutung für Deutschland, Europa und weltweit" focussed on the new version of the EU Directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law (Directive (EU) 2024/1203). Further presentations were dedicated to the significance of the Environmental Criminal Law Directive, the status of environmental criminal law in Germany, the European perspective on the reform process of the Environmental Criminal Law Directive and an outlook on possible developments. Around 100 people took part in the online event, which ended with a discussion round.