Regional conference on "Environmental Crimes in the Arab States”
The UNDP Country office in Lebanon, UNDP-POGAR and the Lebanese Ministries of Justice and Environment brought together public prosecutors from Lebanon, Yemen, Egypt, Jordan and many representatives from Arab ministries of Justice and Environment in the two-day regional conference on “ Environmental Crimes in the Arab States”.
The opening ceremony of the conference took place on Tuesday 17 March at Le Royal Hotel Dbayeh in the presence of H.E Minister of Environment Dr. Antoine Karam, Mr. Omar Natour representing H.E Minister of Justice Professor Ibrahim Najjar, Ms. Marta Ruedas, UNDP Resident Representative, the Deputy Regional Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Office for West Asia Dr. Basel Al-Yousfi and the Senior Rule of Law Advisor of the Programme on Governance in the Arab Region (UNDP-POGAR) Dr. Wassim Harb.
The opening speeches focused on the urgent need to implement environmental legislation and to put an end to the multiple violation of the environment in the Arab region.
Ms. Ruedas stressed the importance of such a meeting in a region where political conflicts and crimes have little or no room to recognize crimes of a different nature equally important such as environmental crimes.
“ Unfortunately, countries in this region face a number of constraints when developing, and especially enforcing, environmental legislation including the problem of limited resources for the development and application of environmental legislation” added Ms. Ruedas.
H.E Minister Karam called for the application of environmental legislation. He insisted on the need of having an environmental controller, and public prosecutors to deal with environmental issues.
Speaking on behalf of H.E Minister Najjar, Mr. Omar Natour , general director of the Ministry hoped that, with the help of UNDP, a legislative workshop can discuss the enforcement of the environmental legislation and mainly the principle of “ He who pollutes, pays”.
This conference aimed at consolidating intensive regional efforts, strengthening the capacities of Public Prosecutors and promoting Arab-Oriented interest in combating all aspects of environmental crime.
It also created a framework for cooperation to combat crimes affecting the environment and reduce their growth based on legislative reality in the Arab countries.
The official delegations from Jordan, Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon, Morocco, Algeria, Iraq, and Kuwait, and the representatives from civil society and the media discussed major environmental challenges and legislative frameworks for the prevention of environmental crimes.
As a wrap up to the sessions, the participants expressed their desire to increase momentum towards developing and activating environmental protection mechanisms and issued on Wednesday 18 March, the following recommendations:
1. Declaring the commitment to increase awareness on environmental protection in our countries based on international norms and standards, with view to encourage decision makers to ratify and implement related international and regional treaties;
2. Highlighting the importance of considering the adoption a comprehensive approach to environmental protection primarily including the preventive and punitive aspects in relation to both civil and criminal matter through the periodic evaluation of related policies, laws and practices;
3. Establishing a dialogue in Arab countries to (a)expand knowledge on the dangers, scope and scale of problems caused by environmental damage, and (b)support designing adequate punitive policy, taking into consideration the importance of reviewing status of limitation regarding environmental crime and considering the criminalisation of serious offences which implies possibilities for international cooperation;
4. Noting the importance of establishing a specialised public prosecution offices with supporting agencies and courts in the field of environmental crimes given their role in improving the capacity of the state to address serious violations in a more competent and effective manner;
5. Stressing the importance of incorporating sound principles into legislative drafting given the positive impact it would have on improving related legal and institutional frameworks;
6. Confirming the importance of modernising curricula in law schools and judicial institutes to respond to the requirements of effectively implementing related legislation through a regional mechanism that enables the exchange of knowledge and maximises the use of available resources and expertise;
7. Emphasizing the importance of providing technical support to public prosecution and supporting agencies in investigating and prosecuting environmental crime with view to empowering them to play their role in light of the challenges brought forward by globalisation and technological advances, considering the growing links between environmental crimes and some forms of trans-national organised crimes which are becoming an increasing threat in a number of Arab countries;
8. Underlining the role of the media in its different forms, as a main partner in protecting the environment and exposing violations and harmful practices based on independence, objectivity and quality performance;
9. Calling for the establishment of an environmental electronic encyclopaedia for Arab countries encompassing legislation, bilateral and multilateral treaties, and supported by related jurisprudence and doctrines given its role in facilitating access to this information;
10. Supporting the suggestion to establish a specialised international jurisdiction to address and penalise environmental crimes;
Finally, the participants invited the UNDP and the UNEP to increase consultations with Arab governments and donor countries to develop and implement a regional project on environmental protection in the Arab countries. This can be achieved through strengthening regulatory frameworks and developing effective mechanisms and capacities in the area of law enforcement.
Encouraging cooperation among national authorities, and with nongovernmental actors (i.e. civil society, media, private sector, etc.) should be taken into consideration.
|
Lebanon
