International Criminal Responsibility for Environmental Pollution Crimes and the Penalties Prescribed for their Perpetrators

Abstract

This study examines international criminal responsibility for environmental pollution crimes and the penalties prescribed for their perpetrators, in light of the serious environmental damage resulting from industrial, technological, and military developments in peacetime and during armed conflicts alike. Using a descriptive-analytical approach, the study analyzes relevant international treaties and statutes, alongside legal scholarship, to distinguish between the civil responsibility of states and the individual criminal responsibility of natural persons, and to clarify the penalties applied under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The study concludes that international criminal law has shifted from the traditional concept based on the civil responsibility of states toward establishing the principle of “individual criminal responsibility” for perpetrators of environmental crimes, regardless of official capacity or immunity. Penalties range from custodial sanctions, such as life imprisonment or fixed-term imprisonment, to financial penalties, including fines and forfeiture, while the death penalty is excluded. Crimes falling within the Court’s jurisdiction are not subject to statutes of limitations due to their gravity. The study recommends expanding the scope of international criminalization to include environmental crimes, or “ecocide,” committed in peacetime, strengthening international judicial cooperation, and harmonizing national legislation with the standards of international criminal law.