Environmental offences in Germany 2016

Abstract

Environmental crime causes significant damage, albeit damage that is difficult to quantify. It affects the environment (e.g. the state of water, soil and air), people (e.g. health) and the wellbeing of society in general (e.g. through corruption). A 2018 report estimates the annual turnover generated by environmental crime at 110 - 281 billion US dollars.(2) This text summarises keyfindings of the German-language publication "Environmental offences 2016" (Umweltdelikte 2016). The publication provides a quantitative overview of the development and status of environmental crime in Germany between 2004 and 2016. It is a part of the series 'Umweltdelikte' published by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), the most recent edition of which was published in 2004. For the present publication, data from the two annual statistical sources that bring together data on (environmental) crime and criminal procedures were analysed; these are the Police Crime Statistics (Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik) compiled by the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt)(3) and the Statistics on Criminal Prosecution (Strafverfolgungsstatistik) compiled by the Federal Statistical Office (Bundesamt für Statistik).(4) The long version of 'Umweltdelikte 2016' (in German) can be accessed via the website of the Federal Environment Agency.(5) Even before the introduction of the EU Environmental Crime Directive in 2008 (6), Germany had a comprehensive body of environmental criminal law. The adoption of the EU Environmental Crime Directive led to an increase in public attention for environmental crime in Germany. While the Environmental Crime Directive made some amendments necessary, the basic structure of German criminal law has remained unchanged. Environmental criminal provisions exist in the Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch), especially in Chapter 29, and in various environmental laws. The latter include the Chemicals Act (Chemikaliengesetz), the Federal Nature Conservation Act (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz) and waste legislation. In the German legal system, environmental criminal liability presupposes a violation of administrative norms or acts, e.g. the terms of a permit. Data on environment-related administrative offences and the sanction simposed for the mare, with some exceptions, not collected centrally in Germany. No significant quantitative statements can therefore be made concerning this particular topic, which is, however, important in practice. When interpreting the data presented in this publication, it is important to keep in mind that the "dark figure", i.e. the proportion of offences that remain undiscovered and thus are not recorded with in the statistics, is very likely to be quite high (see below, section 2). Thus, the figures presented below do not reflect the actual extent of environmental crime in Germany. In the following, Section 2 presents figures on the development of statistically recorded environmental crime in Germany in general. Section 3 presents figures on criminal enforcement. Section 4 presents information on waste and wildlife crime, the two types of crime on which EU level discussion and policies currently focus. Methodological notes and the definitions used can be found in the annex at the end of this publication. (2) Nellemann et al. 2018, S. 15. (3) An abbreviated English version of the 2016 statistical report is available at https://www.bka.de/EN/CurrentInformation/PoliceCrimeStatistics/2016/pcs2016_node.html. Translations of legal terms in the present publication mostly follow the terminology used in the statistical report. (4) For more information on these statistics, see below section 6.1. (5) At https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/umweltdelikte-2016-auswertung-von-statistiken. (6) Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on the protection of the environment through criminal law, OJL328, 6.12.2008, p.3-30. Quelle: Forschungsbericht