Changes in the criminal law protection of the environment according to the proposal for a new directive
2022
Abstract
Ihe paper analyzes the proposal for a new directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law that should replace the existing Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on the protection of the environment through criminal law. It focuses on the main changes that the proposal brings.
Special emphasis is laid on the extension of the Article 3, which proposes to set some new environmental crimes as for example illegal timber trade, and on the articles proposing the harmonisation of criminal sanctions. Attention is also brought to the articles related to more effective environmental crime investigations.