Climate and environmental protection as a challenge for the law, especially criminal law

Gerhard, Dannecker (2025) Climate and environmental protection as a challenge for the law, especially criminal law. EUROPEAN INTEGRATION STUDIES, 21 (1 spec). pp. 465-510. ISSN 1588-6735

Preview

Text 465-510.pdf - Published Version Download (708kB) | Preview

Abstract

Climate protection is one of the most urgent tasks to be addressed by international, EU, and national law. This affects international and constitutional law, environmental administrative law, as well as criminal and civil law. Climate protection is increasingly being strengthened by the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, the opinion of the International Court of Justice, and decisions of national courts based on fundamental and human rights. Legal proceedings are increasingly being conducted strategically in order to force states to take climate protection measures and thus help international treaties such as the 2015 Paris Agreement to achieve a breakthrough. Even if these court decisions do not specifically deal with criminal law, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union provide a framework for criminal law within which the European Union Directive on environmental criminal law (2024) and the Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law of the Council of Europe (2025) must comply. When implementing these legal requirements into national law, criminal law has a considerable degree of methodological, conceptual, and argumentative independence from constitutional law. Therefore, effective and consistent penal solutions must be developed in national criminal law systems.

Actions (login required)

Edit Item