Legal criminal policies of the environment, a case study of the destruction of protected areas
Subject Areas : Environmental lawsfarshad bashirzadegan 1 , parvin farshchi 2 , bita azadbakht 3 , Mostafa Panahi 4
1 - Legal Deputy, Public Supervision and Parliament Affairs of the National Inspection Organization
2 - Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Law, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Research Sciences Unit, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran (Responsible Author)
3 - Assistant Professor, Department of Environment, Faculty of Agriculture and Basic Sciences, Rudehen Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rudehen Iran-
4 - Associate Professor, Department of Economics and Energy, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Research Sciences Unit, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Keywords: Environment, criminal policy, protected areas, environmental crimes,
Abstract :
As one of the vital components of the environment, protected areas play an essential role in storing water resources, preventing soil erosion, and preserving biodiversity. However, despite the existence of legal criminal policies in the field of environment, we still see the illegal occupation and destruction of these areas. This shows the ineffectiveness of some existing policies and the necessity of revising legislative and executive approaches. Using the descriptive-analytical method and within the framework of environmental criminology, this article critically examines the challenges of criminal policy in the face of the destruction of protected areas from a legal point of view. The destruction and occupation of these areas, due to its multidimensional characteristics and complexity, has a distinct nature compared to other environmental crimes and requires the adoption of more comprehensive and specialized policies. In the theoretical framework of environmental criminology, this research focuses on the inefficiency of current criminal policies and identifies the shortcomings in Iran's legal system. The findings of the research show that one of the most important challenges in this field is the lack of guarantee of effective implementations in proportion to the severity of environmental damage. Weakness in the design of deterrent punishments and inadequacy of legal tools are among the factors that cause the continuation of environmental violations. Based on this, the necessity of developing comprehensive and efficient criminal policies that are proportional to the amount of environmental damage is felt more than ever. While preventing violations, these policies should play an effective role in responding to damages and play a real deterrent role by guaranteeing firm executions. Finally, the development and implementation of new criminal policies that are based on the principles of sustainable development, maintaining sensitive ecosystems and strengthening executive guarantees, should be considered as one of the main priorities of legislators and policymakers. This approach, in addition to improving the protection level of protected areas, will be a guarantee for the sustainable survival of these areas.
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