Fabio Giuffrida

The Legal Regulation of Environmental Crime - The International and European Dimension provides a comprehensive analysis of the international and EU legal regimes for tackling environmental crime. The book includes an in-depth analysis of the major international conventions as they relate to the regulation of environmental crime (CITES, Basel, MARPOL) and provides a holistic overview of the evolution and content of EU law in the field of environmental crime, covering substantive criminal law harmonisation, judicial cooperation and the role of EU criminal justice bodies and agencies (Europol, Eurojust and the EPPO) in fighting environmental crime. Further, the book addresses key recent policy and legislative developments in the field and offers a timely contribution to legal reform in view of the publication of new proposals on legislation on environmental crime at EU level.

The last decades have witnessed a growing emphasis on the relationship between environmental law and criminal law. Legislation aimed at tackling environmental crime has been adopted at national, EU, and international level and has been gradually evolving over time. These developments notwithstanding, the current legal framework faces a number of challenges in tackling the largely inter-related phenomena of transnational, organised and economic environmental crime. This study by Valsamis Mitsilegas and Fabio Giuffrida addresses these challenges by focusing on the role of the European Union- and more specifically its criminal justice agencies (Europol and Eurojust)- in tackling transnational environmental crime. The study analyses the role of Eurojust and Europol in supporting and coordinating the competent national authorities dealing with investigations and/or prosecutions on transnational environmental crime, and it shows that, for the time being, the full potential of these agencies is not adequately exploited with regard to fighting this phenomenon effectively