ICL and Environmental Protection Symposium: International Criminal Courts as Potential Jurisdiction for Corporate Responsibility for Environmental Crimes (Part II)

Jun 4, 2020 | Jelena Aparac
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One of the fundamental questions lies in who exactly has the right to take legal action and before which court in the case of corporate environmental crimes? Because the environment does not have a legal personality, it can not act before courts. It is difficult to determine who exactly would have the right to seek reparation, in other words, to determine who the direct and indirect victims are. Due to the gravity towards the environmental common heritage, a public prosecutor should have standing to instigate the trial whether the harm concerns only the environment (as a direct “victim”) or also human beings (directly in their corporal damage or indirectly by affecting their habitat). Using ICL as a tool to prosecute environmental crimes will not depend on the victims and their legal representatives who may fear the corporate giants or who may dispose of unequal arms to fight the long legal procedures.