Belgium Criminal Code (2024): ecocide

Summary

On 22 February 2024, Belgium’s Federal Parliament voted in favor of a new penal code for the country that includes the crime of ecocide in Title 1bis of Book II. The law states that the crime of ecocide refers solely to acts causing “severe” damage to the environment; in this context, this is defined as damage which involves a particularly serious adverse change, disruption, or harm to any element of the environment, including serious effects on human life or on natural, cultural, or economic resources. (page 104)

The new crime of ecocide is aimed at preventing and punishing the most severe cases of environmental degradation, such as extensive oil spills, and will apply only within federal jurisdictions. Ecocide will be considered a serious crime at level six in the new penalty scale (which has eight levels). The punishment for individuals may include up to 20 years in prison, while corporations could face fines of up to 1.6 million euros.

Background
In July 2021, a draft resolution was presented to the Belgian Parliament to include ecocide in the Belgian Criminal Code, and in December 2021, Belgian MP Samuel Cogolati submitted a law proposal to introduce the concept. In May 2022, the Belgian Expert Commission advised revisions to including ecocide in the Penal Code. On 24 July 2023, the revised proposal was submitted with a crime of ecocide officially included in the new draft penal code. Parliament approved the draft legislation on 22 February 2024, with the new crimes becoming law.

Limitations
However, there is limited domestic scope of the new law. Within Belgium, domestic environmental legislation is primarily the responsibility of the three regional governments of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. The draft bill presents a question as to the federal government’s competence to establish the crime of ecocide.

The Council of State determined that: “the proposed regulation cannot proceed insofar as it criminalizes the intentional commission of any illegal act that causes serious, large-scale, and long-term damage to the environment . . . If the drafters of the preliminary draft wish to retain the proposed regulation in its current form by establishing the crime of ecocide, its scope of application must be limited so that it falls within the federal government’s competence.” (page 101)

For this reason, an addition was made to the provision criminalizing ecocide—specifically, limiting its scope to federal regulations and international regulations that bind the federal government. This avoids any encroachment upon the division of powers. This means the scope of this new law is limited to areas within the jurisdiction of Belgium’s federal authority, such as the North Sea and nuclear waste management.

Jurisprudential Framing
TITLE 1bis: Crime of ecocide (machine translated)
The term “ecocide” was coined to describe environmental degradation of an exceptional nature that negatively impacts a large number of people across past, present, or future generations. Consequently, the term encompasses not only a restorative dimension but also a preventive approach. After all, the severity of potential sanctions, the possibility of accompanying civil penalties mandating the restoration of the damaged environment (the costs of which can be substantial), and the resulting social stigma should exert a significant deterrent—and thus preventive—effect, over and above the punitive aspect.

The symbolic weight of criminalizing this act is also significant. On the one hand, it could encourage other states to follow our example and contribute to the recognition of the crime of ecocide under international treaty or customary law. On the other hand, recognizing the crime of ecocide can be viewed as a symbol of collective awareness regarding the ongoing environmental crisis. Indeed, the “expressive function” may well be one of the values ​​associated with the crime of ecocide. (page 99)

In June 2021, a panel of independent experts convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation published a legal definition of the crime of ecocide—modeled on the structure of Article 7 of the Rome Statute (crimes against humanity)—as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by such acts.” The draft law states: “it is advisable to align the Belgian definition of the crime of ecocide—as far as possible—with the consensus emerging around this concept at the international level. Should the crime of ecocide subsequently be included in the Rome Statute or enshrined in an international treaty ratified by Belgium, it will be easier to align the Belgian definition with the international standard.” (page 100)

A coalition of more than 20 organizations operating in Belgium came together on the issue, including Stop Ecocide International, Greenpeace, Canopea, Rise for Climate, Youth for Climate, Climate Justice for Rosa, the Climate Coalition, Fondation européen pour le droit du vivant, Kaya, Extinction Rebellion, and Grandparents for Climate.

Belgium is the twelfth country to codify ecocide into national law and the first member of the European Union to recognize the crime of ecocide.

Involved Organizations