The possibility of tightening the guidelines on the criminal protection of the environment was discussed at a professional conference organized at the Faculty of Law of the University of Debrecen. The Indonesian expert who spoke at the event advocated the development of a common solution due to the global nature of the problem.
Is it possible to combat climate change by declaring activities involving serious environmental damage, such as air, soil, or water pollution, deforestation, illegal dumping of large amounts of waste, production of highly toxic substances, and trade with them? How effective can the firm legal answers and sanctions be to these questions? Can the perpetrators be held back? Krisztina Ficsor, assistant professor of the Department of Legal Philosophy and Legal Sociology of the Faculty, asked these questions at the joint program of the Faculty of Law of the University of Debrecen and the DAB Legal Working Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Unfortunately, climate change is a current and serious problem today, the effects of which we feel on our skin. In jurisprudence, we examine how we can fight against this phenomenon, even with criminal law regulations, how we can protect the environment with legal frameworks
– said Krisztina Ficsor.
According to the assistant professor, it is difficult to confront global warming with the tools of criminal law because, albeit to a small extent, many actions harm nature, which is an integral part of our everyday life, for example, we drive cars, eat food produced with the help of chemicals, pollute we wear clothes made in factories. From a legal point of view, it is difficult to determine in these cases who is responsible and who is the victim, as well as who bears what responsibility.
Krisztina Ficsor emphasized that due to the faster-than-expected deterioration of the climate situation, the European Union recently revised the directive adopted in 2008 on protecting the environment under criminal law.
They came to the conclusion that the member states failed to comply with these purchases. The number of investigative and indictment proceedings initiated in such cases is meager, and most often small, non-deterrent sanctions are applied. Therefore, they want to formulate a new, much stricter directive. It is doubtful whether this is the solution
– said the Faculty of Law assistant professor.
Dodik Setiawan Nur Heriyanto, a lecturer at Universitas Islam Indonesia and a former PhD student at the Faculty of Law, who registered online from Indonesia, summarized the experiences of an international conference on the topic in Yogyakarta in December.
He said that the Indonesian government strives to develop and industrialize the country, but this leads to the destruction and pollution of the environment. From the beginning of the 2000s until recently, Indonesia was considered one of the five largest deforestation countries in the world. In place of the burned areas, oil palms were planted, and the extraction of crude oil and other valuable raw materials began.
“Fortunately, it has now been possible to tighten the laws for the protection of the environment, the situation is improving, but the regulation is still incomplete, it is difficult to find a balance between economic and environmental protection interests,” explained Dodik Setiawan Nur Heriyanto.
He emphasized that such cross-continental events and joint thinking about the necessary environmental legislation are useful since climate change is also our common cause.
(unideb.hu)
