PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT THROUGH CRIMINAL LAW

Because of the importance of the environment protection, the Republic of Slovenia seeks to reach effective legislative solutions that would enhance its preservation. Individual Member States contribute to the protection of environment in different ways and the European Union considers it an area where high level of protection is to be ensured. Violations having cross-border impact can be successfully fought only at the EU level. Different approaches of individual Member States facilitate the abuse of regulations to the offenders of environmental legislation. The proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of the environment through criminal law derives from the conviction that at the Community level, the criminal acts should be determined against which the same criminal law protection for the entire area of the Community would be provided. Within this framework, individual Member States will keep the competence to determine penal sanctions for thus harmonized definition of criminal acts. The Republic of Slovenia thus supports the earliest possible adoption of this Directive because by determining the criminal acts that will apply to all the Community, the present abuses made possible by the inconsistent criminal legislations of the Member States in the area of environment protection will be prevented.