Criminal Law as an Effective Tool to Protect Environment

Matić Bošković, Marina and Kostić, Jelena (2023) Criminal Law as an Effective Tool to Protect Environment. In: Bratislava legal forum 2023: Current Challenges of Criminal Law: proceedings. Právnická fakulta Univerzity Komenského v Bratislave, Bratislava, pp. 74-91. ISBN 978-80-7160-696-3

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Abstract

Air pollution in Serbia is 20 times higher than in EU member states, rivers are littered with waste, number of illegal dumps exist across the country, and that is only part of the environmental problems. Environmental crime is highly lucrative, it can be profitable as illegal drug trafficking, but the sanctions are much lower, and it is harder to detect and investigate. The danger of environmental crime is recognized in the new National Serious and Organize Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA) that Serbia prepared as part of the commitments within the EU accession process and the negotiation Chapter 24. Criminal law protection in Serbia is ensured through Criminal Code that provides for criminal offences against the environment. The competent courts, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Directorate for Inspection Affairs are responsible for implementation of criminal law protection. However, interinstitutional coordination is often mentioned as one of the biggest challanges for investigation and prosecution of environmental crimes. As a result, Serbia is facing with challenges to establish track record on implementation of the EU Environmental Crime Directive.

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