Criminal protection of endangered wild plant and animal species: Challenges of legal practice

Abstract

With a growing environmental degradation and the destruction of natural resources, it is increasingly recognized that criminal law protection is needed as the most repressive measure to protect the environment. This paper considers the criminal law protection of biodiversity in the Republic of Serbia, Republic of Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an emphasis on the protection of wild plant and animal species that are particularly vulnerable to overexploitation, including strictly protected and protected wild species and forest ecosystems. The analysis covers various criminal offenses against biodiversity in the context of protection of wild plant and animal species, and discusses the effects of the implementation of relevant regulations. Comparative statistics on criminal charges, as well as accusations and convictions for these crimes in the last decade, indicate a worryingly mild penal policy and a lack of capacity of professionals to act in environmental criminal proceedings. Although statistics indicate that there has been an increase in the reporting of environmental crimes, the number of reported cases remains at a worryingly low level. A large number of criminal charges are rejected, and when criminal proceedings are initiated and conducted, mild criminal penalties are imposed, most often suspended sentences or fines. All this indicates that increasing the knowledge and capacity of professionals is needed in order to improve efficiency of criminal protection against the environment and biodiversity in practice.