The Swedish Bar Association, with support from Roschier Attorneys Ltd and Ecocide Law Alliance, recently offered a seminar on accountability for ecocide and its connection with corruption.
Left to right: Nina Macpherson, Chair of Ecocide Law Alliance, Eva-Maj Mühlenbock, Chair of the Swedish Bar Association and Malin Leffler, Partner of Roschier Attorneys Ltd.
Among the speakers was Kate Mackintosh, a professor and director of the UCLA Law Promise Institute Europe and a member of the International Expert Panel, IEP, that in 2021 developed the now widely used definition of ecocide as an international crime.
“200 words might save the planet”, said Kate Mackintosh. In September of this year, the expert panel definition was proposed by Vanuatu, Samoa, and Fiji as an amendment to the Statute that governs the International Criminal Court. “So I am delighted to say that it is no longer “our” or “the IEP” definition, but the Pacific Island States’ definition,” said professor Mackintosh.
In May of this year, she continued, the new EU Environmental Crime Directive came into force, which requires all EU members states to criminalise “acts equivalent to ecocide”. The EU directive also uses a definition similar to the Independent Expert Panel’s. Sweden is one of the countries required to enact the EU directive.
Kate Mackintosh also noted that the IEP definition, presented in 2021, has sparked real and serious debate about ecocide around the world, as well as proposals for new criminal laws at national around the world, most notably in Belgium.
Parul Sharma, the Secretary-General of the Swedish Anti-Corruption Institute and a human rights lawyer, shared her thoughts on areas of improvement regarding ecocide and corruption. Mass environmental destruction also almost always affects people’s living conditions, health, and other rights. Most countries have some form of environmental protection legislation, but enforcement and compliance with the rules are often hindered by corruption.
It is therefore particularly important that, under the European Crimes Directive, an act is considered unlawful even where it is carried out under an authorisation issued by a competent authority of a Member State if such authorisation was obtained fraudulently or by corruption, extortion or coercion.
Alf Blomqvist, chairman of Scandinavian Enviro Systems joined the panel to provide a business point of view and to underscore the importance of businesses and business leaders joining in support of the effort to include ecocide as a fifth international crime in the Rome Statute.
Kate Mackintosh and Alf Blomqvist
Nina Macpherson spoke on the benefits to business of voicing support for ecocide law such as certainty – clear, long-term rules; a level playing field; employee engagement; legacy – ethics; and innovation and efficiency.
