Does The Contemporary Environmental Legislation Necessitates Ecocide as A Core Crime?

Abstract

Industrial and economic growth have always been a fundamental focus of nations all around, for which exploitation of natural environment to a reasonable extent is corollary. However in recent times this exploitation of the natural environment at times of peace to amass the most wealth and  during conflict to achieve excessive military advantage, has reached to a state of such gravity as to be of significant concern to humankind. The national courts aren’t able to effectively tackle the issue of these environmental crimes. The recent proposal to adopt ‘Ecocide’ as a core crime under International Criminal Court has been earnestly discussed among policy makers. This paper in Part A, gives an overview of environmental crimes with a few examples and discusses various reasons for the failure of national legislation to tackle such issues. In Part B, it delves into the history of environmental crimes under international law and discusses lacunae in the contemporary environmental regime. In Part C, the paper goes through the proposal of the independent expert panel, followed by Part D discussing the various challenges to adoption of the said proposal. Lastly the author concludes in favor of adoption of the Ecocide Law.