| Article | Responsibility of the Occupying Power for Ecocide on the Occupied Territories Under the Legislation of Ukraine and International Law |
|---|---|
| Authors | OLEKSII PLOTNIKOV |
| Name of magazine | Legal journal «Law of Ukraine» (Ukrainian version) |
| Issue | 3 / 2024 |
| Pages | 21 - 33 |
| Annotation | The article addresses the topical issue of the aggressor state’s liability for ecocide in the occupied territory of Ukraine. The author examines the concept of ecocide in international law and national law of Ukraine and concludes that the actions of the occupier fall within the definition of ecocide. Given the nature of ecocide as a particularly serious crime affecting entire ecosystems, it is emphasized that not all crimes against the environment committed during armed conflict fall under the definition of ecocide. The author examines criminal proceedings on ecocide initiated in Ukraine against citizens of the occupying power. Essential to the study is the analysis of legal problems that lead to the impossibility or difficulties in completing investigations into ecocide. Separately, the issue of qualifying the occupiers’ actions as ecocide is investigated in the light of the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam. The author emphasizes that this event is unique in world history and that it should lead to a reassessment of the need to define ecocide as a crime in international law and to establish appropriate punishment for it under international criminal law. The purpose of the article is to identify the possibilities for establishing the responsibility of the occupying State for ecocide as an internationally wrongful act in the occupied territory. Given this goal, the objectives of the article are to identify the international legal definition of ecocide, to compare it with the definition of ecocide in the criminal law of Ukraine, and to prove that the definition of ecocide as a crime can be used to formulate an international legal norm on theresponsibility of States for ecocide. Methodologically, the study is based on the hermeneutic methods used to define the concept of ecocide in national and international law, analytical methods used to study the components of this concept and the possibilities of their application to create a definition of ecocide as an international wrongful act of the State and an international crime, and the case study method used to establish the specifics of application of the concept of ecocide in the investigation of specific criminal proceedings and to establish international law. The main results of the study include the definition of the concept of ecocide in national and international law, and the identification of the possibilities for using this concept to define ecocide as an internationally wrongful act of the State.
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| Keywords | crimes against environment; ecocide; criminal responsibility for ecocide; international legal responsibility for ecocide |
| References | Bibliography Encyclopedias
1. Biletskyi V, Zav’ialova L, ‘Ekolohichna katastrofa’ (Velyka ukrainska entsyklopediia) Journal articles 2. Falk R A, ‘Environmental Warfare and Ecocide – Facts, Appraisal, and Proposals’ [1973] 4 (1) Bulletin of Peace Proposals 81. 3. Lawrence M, Stemberger H, Zolderdo A, Struthers D, Cooke S, ‘The effects of modern war and military activities on biodiversity and the environment’ [2015] 23 (4) Environmental Reviews 443–60.
Newspaper articles
4. Deutsch A, ‘Ukraine investigating dam blast as war crime, prosecutors say’ (Reuters, 06.06.2023)
5. Gembarska L, ‘50,000 dolphins died in the Black Sea during the war: an interview with the biologist of the Tuzlivski Lymany’ (02 March 2023)
6. ‘IAEA experts assess damage to Kharkiv nuclear research facility’ (IAEA, 14.10.2022)
7. ‘Prosecutor General’s Office investigates 11 cases of ecocide committed since start of war’(Interfax-Ukraine, 06.03.2023) 8. ‘Ukraine’s prosecutor general meets with U.S. counterpart’ (Ukrinform) (accessed: 27.01.2024).
9. ‘War in Ukraine has devastating consequences for biodiversity’ (International Fund for Animal Warfare, 24.02.2023)
Websites
10. Babin B, Plotnikov O, ‘Prosecution of Ecocide as a Weapon in Armed Conflict: Reflections on Crimea’ (ICD Brief 29)
11. ‘Conflict in Ukraine (Asser Institute)
12. Donbass Environment: Invisible Front (Truth Hounds, 2021)
13. Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide. Commentary and Core Text’(June 2021) 14. Mackintosh K, ‘European Parliament votes unanimously for Ecocide’ (Opinio Juris, 10.04.23) http://opiniojuris.org/2023/04/10/european-parliament-votes-unanimously-for-ecocide (accessed: 27.01.2024).
15. ‘North of Crimea Suffers from a Series of Chemical Discharges’ (Virtual Museum of Russian Aggression, 24.08.2018)
16. ‘Ukraine Justice Conference Addresses Ecocide Law’ (Stop Ecocide Foundation, 13.03.2023)
17. ‘Aviatsiini udary po naftobazakh na Zhytomyrshchyni – rozsliduietsia skoiennia ekotsydu’(Ofis Heneralnoho prokurora, 08.03.2022)
18. ‘Masovyi mor ptakhiv na Khersonshchyni – prokuratura zafiksuvala cherhovi naslidky zbroinoi ahresii RF’ (Ofis Heneralnoho prokurora, 10.12.2022)
19. ‘Obstril okupantamy naftobazy na Rivnenshchyni – rozpochato rozsliduvannia’ (Ofis Heneralnoho prokurora, 27.03.2022)
20. ‘Voroh stvoriuie zahrozy ekokatastrofy v Ukraini ta Yevropi – rozpochato rozsliduvannia ekotsydu’ (Ofis Heneralnoho prokurora, 04.03.2022)
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