The article examines corporate environmental crime as the largest type of environmental crime. The concept of “environmental offense” is analyzed. The definition of corporate crime in relation to the environmental aspect is given. The direct and long-term consequences of corporate environmental offenses are described. The current state of the investigated crime, which is characterized by the lack of legal regulation of legal liability of corporations, generally low penalties for this type of offense, inefficiency of law enforcement and environmental authorities to identify and prosecute offenders and, finally, increased latency. The state of the fight against environmental offenses in the United States is presented, and as an example, the state response to large-scale pollution of the Gulf of Mexico is studied. A criminological description of the most typical for Ukraine offenses against the environment: water pollution (unauthorized discharge of ballast water by sea vessels, as well as pollution of petroleum products, sewage, water in seaports and recreation areas), violation of the law on continental (marine) economic zone of Ukraine (illegal exploration and development of natural resources, operation of installations and structures for industrial purposes), large-scale deforestation, depletion of chernozems, “environmental smuggling”. It is stated that the inefficient system of state environmental policy and its regulatory regulation increasingly demonstrates inconsistency with existing threats of a natural nature, which leads to a violation of the constitutional right of citizens to environmental safety. In conclusion, we justify the need to pay special attention of society and of the state to the corporate nature of environmental crime to create a system to combat these offenses. We point out the need for an urgent solution by the science of criminal law and the legislator of the existing problems in doctrinal issues of determining the guilt of the corporation as a basis for prosecution, bringing the perpetrators, including corporations, to special types of liability.
Criminological view on the corporate nature of modern environmental crime
