Interpreting Environmental Offences

Emma Lees is a University Lecturer in Property and Environmental Law in the Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge.

1. Introduction
I. Structure
II. Motivation, Scope and Methodology
2. Environmental Criminal Law in Context
I. Property and Environmental Law
II. Human Rights and the Environment
III. Questions of Risk
IV. Jurisdictional Overlap—National Law and EU Law
V. Interpretation and Judicial Reasoning
VI. Criminal Law and Environmental Law
VII. Conclusion
3. Legal Certainty
I. Defining Legal Certainty
II. Transparency and Accessibility in National and European Case Law
III. Certainty in Environmental Law
IV. Conclusions
4. Waste, Nature Conservation and Contaminated Land: The Offences
I. Waste
II. Contaminated Land
III. Nature Conservation
5. Uncertainty in Interpretation
I. Uncertainty in Practice
II. The Teleological Approach in the Courts
6. Identification of the Cause of Uncertainty: The Regulatory Culture
I. Approach of the ECJ
II. Administrative Approach
III. The Ambiguous Role of the Courts
IV. Academic Approaches
V. Conclusions
7. The Solution: A Change in Approach to Interpretation
I. Linguistic Analysis
II. Mischief
III. Seeing the Rules as Part of a Framework
IV. Explanatory and Pre-Legislative Materials
V. Ambiguity—Aims as a Last Resort
VI. Conclusions
8. Practical Implementation of the Solution
I. Environmental Principles
II. Legal Barriers to Taking Such an Approach and Overcoming Them
III. Examples in Practice
9. Conclusions
I. Property/Environmental Law
II. Human Rights and the Environment
III. Question of Risk
IV. Jurisdictional Overlap
V. Interpretation and Legal Reasoning
VI. Environmental/Criminal Law
VII. Conclusion