Making nature’s voice heard in criminal proceedings

As nature and parts thereof do not enjoy legal personhood in almost all EU-Member states, criminal cases criminal cases concerning crimes against the environment and other crimes that cause harm to nature do not involve victims who could participate in the proceedings and demand compensation. This lack of participation and representation differs from other areas of procedural law: As litigation and participation of NGOs or other members of the public on behalf of the environment is quite frequent in environmental law and certain legal instruments such as the Aarhus Convention or certain EU-Directives even obligate states to grant participation rights in some administrative proceedings. However, some countries already allow environmental NGOs or other members of the public, including individuals, to participate in criminal proceedings on behalf of the environment. Furthermore, a planned new EU-Directive on environmental criminal law might bring an obligation to grant the public concerned appropriate rights to participate in proceedings regarding environmental crimes.