Global Network for the Investigation and Prosecution of Crimes against Ecosystems-the use of new technologies in international crime control

Both in peacetime and during armed conflict, environmental crimes in combination with large-scale corruption have a hugely destructive impact on ecosystems and the climate and undermine the rights of communities, local populations, and indigenous peoples. Establishing criminal responsibility for these kinds of crimes involves immense challenges for national and international law enforcement agencies due to the high complexity of these crimes and their connection with networks of transnational organized crime. A new approach in addressing the immense complexity of such crimes against ecosystems is the integration of new technologies such as AI, satellites, etc. into the system of criminal investigation and prosecution. This project is premised on the idea that an effective system of crime control for crimes against ecosystems can only be realized by the synchronized interplay of different fragmented disciplines and actors. ECO-CRIM-NET will overcome the fragmentation and bring together scholars and practitioners from different disciplines and regions to gain new knowledge about the design and modus operandi of crimes against ecosystems and on how these crimes can be addressed by legal means with the support of new technologies. In taking the “Realpolitik”-approach, this project leaves the purely legalistic dimension by integrating computer science, political science, sociology, biology, anthropology, and criminology into the project and will therefore present a new and unique approach for the development of new models of crime control by integrating new technologies into the monitoring, investigation, and prosecution of crimes against ecosystems. ECO-CRIM-NET started the network acitivities by building a solid foundation of scholars and practitioners in the field. The first collaboration was a collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law to discuss the fundamental challenges of modern technolgies and self-determination regarding (environmental) crime control. The next step was an interdiscplinary workshop about the investigation of complex crimes to gain more knowledge on investigation strategies for crimes against ecosystems. The main question were: 1. What are the challenges faced by international investigations and how are they addressed in present practices? 2. How do these practices compare to scientific knowledge and research gauged from national jurisdictions and institutions, and how can they be improved, e.g. interviewing eyewitnesses/victim-witnesses? 3. How do culture and cultural norms influence investigations and their results, e.g. eyewitness memory, testimony, etc.? 4. What are the problems of intercultural communication between judicial officers at international tribunals and witnesses/victims of atrocities, and how can intercultural communication be strengthened? This was followed by a workshop on “Corporate involvement in Atrocity Crimes, Gross Human Rights Violations, and Ecocide: Patterns of involvement, strategies for prevention and accountability”. This workshop helped to map patterns of involvement, the roles of states and their complicity as well as of non-state actors, and political and conflict contexts. Additionally, the workshop provided an overview of existing regulatory regimes and developed strategies aligned to ongoing patterns of corporate involvement in large-scale environmental crimes, in order to improve prevention and accountability. Those gathered information created a solid foundation for the future work of the ECO-CRIM-NET.

Environmental crimes in combination with large-scale corruption have a hugely destructive impact on ecosystems and the climate and undermine the rights of communities, local populations, and indigenous peoples. Crimes like illegal unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing), illegal mining, waste trafficking, and climate and pollution crimes are causing great harm to the environment, the climate, and the people. But events in the current armed conflict also demonstrate that crime against ecosystems pose a severe threat to the international community as well. Establishing criminal responsibility for these kinds of crimes involves immense challenges for national and international law enforcement agencies due to the high complexity of these crimes and their connection with networks of transnational organized crime. A new approach in addressing the immense complexity of such crimes against ecosystems is the integration of new technologies such as AI, satellites, etc. into the system of criminal investigation and prosecution. This project is premised on the idea that an effective system of crime control for crimes against ecosystems can only be realized by the synchronized interplay of different fragmented disciplines and actors. ECO-CRIM-NET will overcome the fragmentation and bring together scholars and practitioners from different disciplines and regions to gain new knowledge about the design and modus operandi of crimes against ecosystems and on how these crimes can be addressed by legal means with the support of new technologies. In taking the “Realpolitik”-approach, this project leaves the purely legalistic dimension by integrating computer science, political science, sociology, biology, anthropology, and criminology into the project and will therefore present a new and unique approach for the development of new models of crime control by integrating new technologies into the monitoring, investigation, and prosecution of crimes against ecosystems.