Presentation

Strategies in the Prosecution of Environmental Cases

This presentation commences by defining as well as highlighting certain aspects of environmental law. The necessity of having environmental legislation is discussed and an overview is given of its history and the classification of environmental law into 3 categories. Following onto this, is a discussion on the ingredients of administrative regulation and the relevant policies and application of standards. The next slide discusses the fact that criminal law supports environmental protection and then the concerns in relation to environmental justice in criminal law are discussed. Following onto this is a discussion of the uniqueness of environmental crime with the similarities and differences listed. A listing of certain categories of environmental crime follows and key principles of environmental crime is then discussed which includes strict liability, corporate and vicarious liability. In the final section under strategies, it talks about the focus on significant past, ongoing or potential acts (e.g.falsification of documentations etc) and follows with : formal cautioning of the alleged offender; as well as prosecution as a pressure point to compel compliance.