Ecocide

Eoin Jackson considers how Ireland should respond to new proposals to recognise ecocide as an international crime. In September 2024, a group of Pacific Island states proposed that environmental destruction be criminalised under international law as a crime of “ecocide”.

Dr Filippos Proedrou and Dr Maria Pournara highlight the shortcomings of the EU's new ecocide law. The EU recently passed a law that criminalises actions “comparable to ecocide”. It’s a revolutionary legal development — the first law of its kind to be adopted by a political e

Belgium has become the first country in Europe to criminalise ecocide on a national and international level. A new penal code backed by Belgium's federal parliament yesterday provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years for individuals guilty of ecocide, and fines of up to €1.6 million for corpo

Legal experts have agreed on a definition of the crime of 'ecocide', which they hope will be adopted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The draft law defines the offence as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and widespread

International lawyers are drafting a plan for a new offence of ecocide. The panel organising the initiative is chaired by Professor Philippe Sands QC, of University College London and Florence Mumba, a former Internation Criminal Court judge.