Investigating the Scope of the Criminal Law of Green Crimes in Compliance with the Goals of Sustainable Development (SDG17)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Candidate in Environmental Law, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Professor of Law, Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran (ABRII), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Faculty of Law, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/eiap.2022.158596

Abstract

Nowadays, new crimes involving the environment and natural resources are also referred to as green crimes. The main purpose of this paper is to identify and evaluate the scope of criminal law in this area in terms of sustainable development goals. The method of this research is content analysis. Initially, an attempt was made to give a general description of the subject by examining the types of such crimes and the environmental punishment approaches. After reviewing the statuary laws and previous researches, the initial findings are explained and analyzed to determine the scope of criminal law in the environment and natural resources and to find the relevant legal challenges. Consequently, the applicability of the criminal laws to the Sustainable Development Goals has been examined. It is concluded that although the environmental criminal law in terms of the diversity of laws, has been generally able to cover relevant issues, because of multiplicity of regulatory policies, lack of an appropriate enforcement mechanism on the one hand and failure to resolve some legal uncertainties such as unnecessary dependency of environmental crimes on their results on the other hand, it has not been successful to fully achieve the goals of sustainable development. Therefore, the success of criminal law in protecting the environment requires complementary and effective measures, including determining an appropriate approach to environmental punishment, recognizing criminal liability for legal entities violating environmental laws, and establishing and strengthening modern and advanced regulatory bodies.
 

Keywords


Abdollahi, M. 2007. The Criminal Protection of Environment: A Reflection on the Requirements of the Criminal Environmental Law. Environmental Sciences. 5(1):97-117 (In Persian).‌
Abedi, Z.; Riahi M. & Salehi, S. 2015. Economic Analysis of Environmental Crimes in its Implementation and Problems. J.Env. Sci. Tech. 16(4):175-187 (In Persian).
Akrami, F.; Karimi, A.; Abbasi, M. & Shahrivari, A. 2018. Adapting the Principles of Biomedical Ethics to Islamic Principles and Values in the Context of Public Health Policy. Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies. 17(49): 46-59 (In Persian).‌
Blaustein, J.; Pino, N.W.; Fitz-Gibbon, K. & White, R. 2018. Criminology and the UN Sustainable Development Goals: The need for Support and Critique. British Journal of Criminology. 58(4): 767-786.
Brisman, A. & South, N. 2018. Green Criminology and Environmental Crimes and Harms. Sociology Compas. 13(1): 120-136.
Carolyn, R. 2008. Models for Protecting the Environment for Future Generations. SEHN. Pp.1-46.
Dabiri, F.; Poorhashemi, S.A.; Khalatbari, Y. & Zarei, S. 2016. Formation and Development of "Future Generation Rights" Concept in International Environmental Law. J.Env.Sci. Tech.18 (3): 165-179 (In Persian).
Editorial. 2018. Americas’ Federally Financed Ghettos. The New York Times. Apr. 8: SR8. Published online as “America's Federally Financed Ghettos” on Apr. 7, 2018, Available at https://www.nytimes.com/ 2018/04/07/opinion/sunday/americas‐federally‐financed‐ghettos.html.
Emery, A. & Watson, M. 2004. Organizations and Environmental Crime: Legal and Economic Perspectives. Managerial Auditing Journal. 19(6): 741-759.
Faure, G. & Visser, M. 2003. ‘Law and Economics of Environmental Crime: a Survey’ in: Sjögren, H. & Skogh, G. (eds). New Perspectives on Economic Crime. Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar. pp. 57–75.
Fredericks, S.E. 2012. Justice in Sustainability Indicators and Indexes. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology. 19(6): 490–499.
Hajivand, A.; Mirkamali, A.; Safari, F. & Sarvai S.O. 2018. Government Criminal Responsibility for Environmental Crimes in Iran: Necessities and Challenges. Environmental Sciences. 16(2):65-82 (In Persian).
Heydarzadeh, E. & Mozafarizadeh, S. 2014. Prevention of Environmental Offenses. Journal of Biological Ethics. 3(7): 163-192 (In Persian).
Iran’s Third National Communication to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 2018. Available at: https:// unfccc.int/ sites/ default/ files/ resource/Third%20National%20 communication %20 IRAN.pdf.
Jambozorg, M.; Pournouri, M.; Poorhashemi, S.A. & Bavand, H. 2019. Components and Challenges in Codification of the Indices for Environmental Crimes as an International Crime. J.Env.Sci.Tech. 21(4): 258-278 (In Persian).
Javaherian, Z.; Fateh Vahdati, S.A.; Rahmati, L. & Zamani, L. 2017. Sustainable Development Goals, Tehran, Samt Publication (In Persian).
Kates, R.W.; Parris. T.M. & Leiserowitz, A.A. 2005. What is Sustainable Development? Goals, Indicators, Values and Practice. Environment. 47(3):8–21.
Khanpour, L.; Rahimi, M.M. & Peyvandi. R. 2019. Analysis of the Role of Iranian criminal laws in the Protection of Environment and the Sustainable Development of Tourism Destinations. New Attitudes in Human Geography. 11(4): 59-8 (In Persian).
Lynch, M.J. 2020. Green Criminology and Environmental Crime: Criminology that Matters in the Age of Global Ecological Collapse. Journal of White Collar and Corporate Crime. 1(1): 50-61.
Mirkamali, A. & Hajivand, A. 2017. Analyzing the Prevention of Environmental Crimes in the Light of the United Nations Guidelines based on the Ethical Principle of Prevention of Harm.‌ Bioethics Journal. 7(26): 61-75 (In Persian).‌ 
Pain, N. 1995. Criminal Law and Environmental Protection- Overview of Issues and Themes in: Gunningham, N.; Norberry, J. & McKillop, S. (eds). Environmental Crime: Proceeding of a Conference held 1-3 Sep. 1993, Hobart. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Rabani, H.; Jalalian, A. & Pournouri, M. 2020. Typology of Environmental Crimes in Iran’s Natural Geography. GeoRes. 35 (2):117-128 (In Persian).
Rees, H.; 2010. Can Criminal Law Protect the Environment? in: South, N. & Beirne, P. (eds.), Green Criminology. London: Ashgate Publication: pp. 409-427.
Refinitiv Report. 2020. Global Sustainable Development, Available at: https://www.refinitiv.com/en/media-center/press-releases/2020/june/refinitiv-announces-sustainability-report-outlining-progress-on-2020-targets.
Samavati Pirouz, A. 2010. A Critique of the biosafety law with emphasis on criminal approaches. Medical Law Journal. 4(12): 149-167 (In Persian).
Taghizadeh Ansari, M. 2016. Environmental Right in Iran. Tehran, Samt Publication. Sixth Edition (In Persian).
The Biosafety Act of 2009. 11 Articles. Adopted by the Islamic Parliament of I.R. IRAN. Available at: https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/136265 (In Persian).‌
The Clean Air Law of 2017. 34 Articles. Adopted by the Islamic Parliament of I.R. IRAN. Available at: https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/1030618 (In Persian).‌
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of IRAN of 1979. 177 Articles. Adopted by the Islamic Parliament of I.R. IRAN. Available at: https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/content/iran_constitution (In Persian).‌
The Environmental Protection Law of 1974. 21 Articles. Adopted by the Islamic Parliament of I.R. IRAN. Available at: https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/97090 (In Persian).‌
The Hunting and Fishing Law of 1967. 31 Articles. Adopted by the Islamic Parliament of I.R. IRAN. Available at: https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/96050 (In Persian).‌
The Islamic Penal Code of 2013. 728 Articles. Adopted by the Islamic Parliament of I.R. IRAN. Available at: https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/845048 (In Persian).‌
The Law of Protection and Exploitation of Fisheries Resources of 1995. 23 Articles. Adopted by the Islamic Parliament of I.R. IRAN. Available at: https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/92543 (In Persian).‌
The Law on Conservation and Exploitation of Genetic Resources of 2018. 9 Articles. Adopted by the Islamic Parliament of I.R. IRAN. Available at: https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/print_version/1076978 (In Persian).‌
The Law on the Sixth Five-Year Economic, Cultural and Social Development Plan for 1396-1400 - Sixth Five-Year Development Plan (2016-2021) of 2017. 124 Articles. Adopted by the Islamic Parliament of I.R. IRAN. Available at: https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/1014547 (In Persian).‌
The Wastes Management Law of 2004. 23 Articles. Adopted by the Islamic Parliament of I.R. IRAN. Available at: https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/94060 (In Persian).‌
The Water Law and the Manner of Water Nationalization of 1968. 66 Articles. Adopted by the Islamic Parliament of I.R. IRAN. Available at: https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/96242 (In Persian).‌
The Law on Conservation and Exploitation of Forests and Rangelands of 1967. 67 Articles. Adopted by the Islamic Parliament of I.R. IRAN. Available at: https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/96108 (In Persian).
Zhang, B.; Cong, C.; Junzhan, G.; Junzhan, G. & Ting, L. 2016. A New Environmental Protection Law, Many Old Problems? Challenges to Environmental Governance in China. Journal of Environmental Law. 28(2):325–335.