Inadequate national legal frameworks and fragmented law enforcement responses constitute serious impediments for States to prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish crimes that affect the environment.
Through resolutions 10/6 and 11/3 of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), the international community has recognized the serious impact that these crimes have on economies, public health, human safety, food security, livelihoods and habitats.
The Global Programme on Implementing the Organized Crime Convention supports States in the development of strong legislation to deter the commission of crimes that affect the environment. To this end, UNODC has developed a series of legislative guides to:
Guide on Drafting Legislation to Combat Wildlife Crime
The primary objective of the Guide is to assist States in protecting wildlife by criminalizing serious wildlife offences and thereby enhancing States' prosecution and criminal justice capacities. The Guide is intended as a technical assistance tool to assist States in reviewing and amending existing legislation and adopting new legislation against wildlife crime in line with the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
The Guide is structured into five chapters, each covering a category of legislative provisions necessary for effectively combating wildlife crime. These are:
Combating Waste Trafficking: A Guide to Good Legislative Practices
The purpose of the Guide is to support States in enacting or strengthening domestic legislation to prevent and combat waste trafficking, in particular through the implementation of the Organized Crime Convention. The Guide is primarily intended for policymakers, legislators and the legislative drafters supporting them to enact and strengthen legislation.
The Guide contains discussions and analysis of the issues relating to the implementation of legislative frameworks aimed at preventing and combating waste trafficking by investigators, prosecutors, judges and other actors in the criminal justice system, in particular where those issues should also be considered by policymakers, legislators and legislative drafters. Beyond these groups, the Guide may also be useful for criminal justice actors, academics, civil society and other relevant stakeholders.
Responding to Illegal Mining and Trafficking in Metals and Minerals: A Guide to Good Legislative Practices
Inconsistent and often inadequate legal frameworks, along with fragmented enforcement, are among the major obstacles to curtailing illegal mining and trafficking in metals and minerals. Some national laws have gaps in the criminalization of such illegal mining and trafficking, contain insufficient penalties for those crimes and do not reflect international recommendations and best practices.
The purpose of the present Guide is to support Governments in adopting or improving national legislation related to the prevention, investigation and prosecution of illegal mining and trafficking in metals and minerals, through the legislative framework offered by the Organized Crime Convention. Accordingly, the primary target audience of the Guide consists of policymakers, legislators and legislative drafters. It may also be relevant to other stakeholders, such as those representing civil society organisations, academic institutions and the private sector.
The Guide is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 sets out the context relating to international law and domestic legislation on mining. Chapters 2 to 7 provide guidance, and, where relevant, offer model legislative provisions on which legislative drafters can build in amending or developing legislation to prevent and combat illegal mining and trafficking in metals and minerals.
Combating Crimes in the Fisheries Sector: A Guide to Good Legislative Practices
The international community has increasingly recognised the serious nature of crimes in the fisheries sector, and numerous calls to action have urged States to strengthen their legal responses and capacity to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate such crimes.
The present Guide aims to assist States in enacting and strengthening domestic legislation to combat crimes in the fisheries sector through the legislative framework provided by the Organized Crime Convention. Where appropriate, guidance is provided on the implementation of binding and non-binding international instruments.
The Guide is primarily designed to assist legislators, policymakers and regional and national fisheries managers. Other relevant stakeholders include prosecutors, criminal justice practitioners, the law enforcement community, those representing civil society organizations, academic institutions and those in the private sector.
