Fighting environmental crime in France: A country report.

In  France environmental  protection has  gained  a constitutional  status following the adoption of  the Environmental  Charter in  2005. The  relevance  of  the  environment  also  results  from  the  Criminal  Code, which  in  Article  410 - 1 lists “the balance of natural resources and environment” among the “fundamental  interests of the Nation”. Although the environment is invested with a superior social interest, the French Criminal Code does not foresee any provision expressly punishing environmental damage or pollution. The  main  source  of  French  environmental  law  is  the  Environmental  Code,  which  introduces  rules applicable to the different environmental components and contains provisions punishing the infringement of the above  mentioned  rules with criminal sanctions. With the exception of few cases directly punishing environmental pollution, these provisions are mostly dependent on the administrative rules and consist in failing to comply with a court ruling or, more often, in failing to comply with an administrative decision or an administrative regulation. All the environmental offences provided for by the French legislation can be applied to the natural persons as well as to the legal ones. The Environmental Code has been modified by the Ordinance No.  34 of 11 January 2012.The Ordinance has established a set of common provisions on criminal sanctions and police controls applicable to all the offences provided for by the Environmental Code. The Ordinance has significantly modified the system of the “polices de l’environnement” in order to ensure greater consistency and effectiveness of the  juridical framework relevant for the investigation and detection of environmental violations. In  France administrative  sanctions also play  a  key  role  in  the  field  of  environmental  protection,  with  a recent  legislative  activism  which  has  led  to  the  multiplication  of  administrative  sanctions concerning  the protection of the environment and human health.

Journal/Publisher: EFFACE

Co-author/s: Ugo SALANITRO

Publication type: Study

Number of pages/Page range: 61

Language/s (content): English

Date of publication: 02-02-15

Personal data

Full name Floriana BIANCO

Current occupation Member

University/Institution University of Catania

Address Via Gallo, 24

Postal code 95124

Telephone 0039 095 230369

Email fbianco@lex.unict.it