Criminal liability for ecocide under international law

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to determine the legal nature of ecocide in the context of international law as «international crime» or «crime of international nature». Methodology includes the general scientific dialectical method, as well as other methods of scientific knowledge: functional, system-structural, and comparative methods. Results: It was concluded that there is no regulation of ecocide in international law as an international crime outside the context of an armed conflict, which excludes international legal responsibility for its commission, or a crime of international nature (transnational crime), which is due to the limited establishment of criminal responsibility for ecocide in the national legislation of many states. It has been established that ecocide can potentially be recognized as an international crime stricto sensu if the adoption of relevant amendments to the Statute of the International Criminal Court will be, and as a crime of an international nature if the adoption of a multilateral international treaty as universal legal standard will be. It was determined that a separate political and legal instrument of influence on national legislation is the establishment of standards of responsibility for environmental criminal offenses, including ecocide, within the framework of membership in international organizations (Council of Europe) and economic and political unions (EU). It was established that until now the development of the concept of ecocide in international law as an act characterized by signs of "seriousness", "long-term" and "wide-spread" damage to the natural environment is at the stage of development. Originality. The legal nature of ecocide in the context of its belonging to an international crime / a crime of an international character as concepts of international criminal law is studied. Practical significance. The results of the study can be used in educational, law-making and law-enforcement activities in the course of developing the state criminal law policy.