НОВА КРИВИЧНА ДЕЛА КОЈИМА СЕ ШТИТИ ЖИВОТНА СРЕДИНА И ЊИХОВЕ КВАЛИФИКАТОРНЕ ОКОЛНОСТИ (Чл. 3, 8. и 9. Директиве ЕУ 2024/1203)
NEW CRIMINAL OFFENSES PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT AND THEIR QUALIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES Articles 3, 8, and 9 of Directive (EU) 2024/12031

Summary/Abstract: The insufficiently precise normative framework established by the 2008 Environmental Crime Directive (2008/99/ EC), as well as the unsatisfactory and extremely modest effects of its application, prompted the proposal to improve the regulatory framework of the European Union in the field of environmental protection. This ultimately resulted in the adoption of the new Directive 2024/1203 on the protection of the environment through criminal law setting. The Directive also introduces a series of new solutions aimed at improving cross-border cooperation, as well as coordination and cooperation among competent authorities within each Member State. However, the revolutionary change lies in the way the Directive defines the relationship between criminal law and administrative law. For all criminal offenses introduced by the new Directive, the requirement remains that the conduct in question must constitute an unlawful act. Yet, under the new definition, conduct is considered unlawful not only when it breaches EU law, but even when it is carried out on the basis of a decision by a competent authority of a Member State, if that authorization was obtained through fraud, corruption, extortion, coercion, or if such authorization manifestly violates relevant substantive legal requirements. The question remains how Member States will incorporate this concept into their national legislation; a concept which, regardless of any criminal-policy justification, poses a serious risk to the principle of legality, which requires that the conditions for criminal liability be precisely and clearly defined. Moreover, the seemingly “iron rule” that criminal law must not sanction what another field of law explicitly permits appears to have lost its former value.

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