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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:26 pm
Time: 9:26 pm
Results for wildlife law and legislation
2 results foundAuthor: DLA Piper Title: Empty Threat: Does the Law Combat Illegal Wildlife Trade? A Ten-Country of Legislative and Judicial Approaches Summary: In 1975, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) entered into force through ratification or accession by ten countries. Today, 179 countries are Parties to CITES, and yet illegal trade in wildlife has continued to proliferate to the point where it ranks behind only illegal trafficking in drugs, guns and human beings in the value of the illegal trade. Each of the 179 Contracting Parties has some form of principal domestic legislation implementing CITES and setting out offences relating to the illegal trade in wildlife which are subject to prosecution through some form of domestic judicial process. Many Contracting Parties also have ancillary legislation that can be used to prosecute illegal trade in wildlife. Examples include legislation with respect to money laundering, illegal use of weapons and anti-corruption legislation. Numerous factors are often cited as drivers of the proliferation of illegal trade in wildlife including wealth, poverty and cultural demand. Strong principal and ancillary legislation and enforcement through an effective judicial process act as deterrents to this criminal activity. By contrast, weak or limited legislation enforced on a haphazard basis by a judiciary with limited experience or capacity to prosecute not only fails to deter but furthers an environment where those engaging in such activity are emboldened. Notwithstanding the number of contracting parties to CITES, work still needs to be done to strengthen legislation around the world and improve prosecutorial and judicial capacity and processes. DLA Piper was engaged by the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry (the "Royal Foundation") on behalf of the United for Wildlife partnership to review and evaluate the state of legislation and judicial processes with respect to illegal trade in wildlife in ten countries: Cameroon, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda and Vietnam. A team of 55 lawyers from 15 DLA Piper Offices around the world reviewed and analysed the relevant principal and ancillary legislation and domestic prosecutorial and judicial processes, using this information to produce a report for each country. Following an executive summary, each country report includes an overview of the principal legislation on illegal trade in wildlife. This is also the domestic legislation implementing CITES. The reports then discuss the criminal penalties (fines and imprisonment) associated with illegal trade in wildlife, with an emphasis on whether such penalties cause the crime to be considered a "serious crime" within the meaning of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime ("UNODC"). The reports also review relevant ancillary legislation that can be used to prosecute crimes associated with the illegal trade in wildlife. Each report then assesses the local judicial process and capacity to enforce the domestic principal or ancillary legislation. The reports then conclude with observations and recommendations based on the findings of the country team. Details: London: DLA Piper, 2014. 47p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 5, 2014 at: http://www.dlapiperprobono.com/export/sites/pro-bono/downloads/pdfs/Empty-Threat---Does-the-law-combact-illegal-wildlife-trade---Summary-Report-2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: International URL: http://www.dlapiperprobono.com/export/sites/pro-bono/downloads/pdfs/Empty-Threat---Does-the-law-combact-illegal-wildlife-trade---Summary-Report-2014.pdf Shelf Number: 132238 Keywords: Illegal Wildlife TradeWildlife CrimeWildlife Law and Legislation |
Author: DLA Piper Title: Empty Threat 2015: Does the Law Combat Illegal Wildlife Trade? A review of legislative and judicial approaches in fifteen jurisdictions Summary: EMPTY THREAT 2015: DOES THE LAW COMBAT ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE? EXECUTIVE SUMMARY By Project Leaders and General Editors DLA Piper Richard Obank, Partner & Location Head Andrew Schatz, Associate Allan Flick, Solicitor Amy Heading, Pro Bono Manager & Counsel Staś Kuźmierkiewicz, Pro Bono Associate Emma Brookes, Pro Bono Trainee In 1975, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (" CITES ") entered into force through ratification or accession by ten countries. Today, 181 countries are Contracting Parties to CITES, and yet illegal trade in wildlife has continued to proliferate to the point where it ranks behind only trafficking in drugs, guns and human beings in the value of illegal trade. Almost all of the 181 Contracting Parties have some form of principal domestic legislation implementing CITES and setting out offences relating to the illegal trade in wildlife which are subject to prose cution through their respective domestic judicial processes. Many Contracting Parties also have ancillary legislation that can be used to prosecute illegal trade in wildlife. Examples include legislation with respect to money laundering, illegal use of wea pons and anti-corruption legislation. Numerous factors are cited as drivers of the proliferation of the illegal trade in wildlife, including wealth, poverty, corruption, and cultural demands. Strong principal and ancillary legislation and enforcement thr ough an effective judicial process act as deterrents to this criminal activity. By contrast, weak or limited legislation enforced on a haphazard basis by a judiciary with limited experience or capacity to prosecute not only fails to deter, but creates an e nvironment where those engaging in such activities are emboldened. Notwithstanding the number of Contracting Parties to CITES, much work still needs to be done to strengthen legislation around the world and improve prosecutorial and judicial capacity and p rocess. DLA Piper was engaged by The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry (" The Royal Foundation "), on behalf of the United for Wildlife partnership, to review and evaluate the legislation and judicial processes with resp ect to illegal trade in wildlife in fifteen jurisdictions: Angola, Cambodia, The Republic of the Congo (" Congo "), Gabon, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. A team of 80 lawyers from 25 DLA Piper offices around the world reviewed and analysed the relevant principal and ancillary legislation, and domestic prosecutorial and judicial processes, using this information to produce a report for each country. This report follows on our initial eleven - country report, published in 2014, for the following jurisdictions: Botswana, Cameroon, China, Democratic Republic of Congo (" DRC "), Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda and Vietnam. Following an executive summary, each country report includes an overview of the principal legislation on the illegal trade in wildlife. This is generally the domestic legislation implementing CITES, but may also include other wildlife, environment, and natural resources legislation. The reports then discusses the criminal penalties (fines and imprisonment) associated with illegal trade in wildlife, with an emphasis on whether such penalties cause the crime to be considered a "serious crime" within the meaning ascribed by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (" UNODC "). The reports also review relevant ancillary legislation that can be used to prosecute crimes associated with the illegal trade in wildlife. Each report then assesses the local judicial process and capacity to enforce th e domestic principal or ancillary legislation. Where information is available, the reports also assess relevant enforcement actions taken under the principal and ancillary legislation. The reports then conclude with observations and recommendations based on the findings of each country team. The only consistent theme in the country reports is that significant work needs to be done in each country in order to effectively tackle the illegal wildlife trade. With few exceptions, weaknesses exist in the princip al legislation of each of the countries analysed. These include significant loopholes, variations on provincial implementation of national laws, inadequate penalties, and in some cases, extremely antiquated legislation or legislation which is expressly con trary to the country's obligations under CITES. Substantial differences exist across the countries analysed, in terms of the severity of penalties for violating local law. Several reports discuss limitations regarding lack of capacity, including insufficie nt numbers of park rangers, poorly funded and understaffed enforcement agencies (detectives, police, prosecutors), and limited prosecutorial power or experience. Each report identifies issues with judicial procedure and capacity. All of these countries face a number of competing priorities, such as poverty eradication, improving education, violent crime, military or civil strife, and terrorism. In some cases, a lack of political willpower has led to insufficient enforcement action. Details: London: DLA Piper, 2016. 498p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 6, 2016 at: https://www.dlapiper.com/~/media/Files/News/2015/05/IllegalWildlifeTradeReport2015.pdf Year: 2016 Country: International URL: https://www.dlapiper.com/~/media/Files/News/2015/05/IllegalWildlifeTradeReport2015.pdf Shelf Number: 140023 Keywords: Illegal Wildlife TradeWildlife CrimeWildlife Law and Legislation |