Summary
In July 2023, Member of Parliament Lammert van Raan (Party for the Animals), launched a legislative proposal to criminalize ecocide in Dutch law. The Law would amend the Criminal Code to include acts of ecocide, defined as “the willful infliction of serious and widespread or long-term damage to the environment”. Upon submission, the proposal is subject to four weeks of public consultation prior to being submitted for advisory opinion to the Council of State. In November 2023, the bill Ecocide Criminalization Act was formally submitted in the Parliament of the Netherlands. For the bill to become law, it will then need to be approved by Parliament.
The bill received detailed scrutiny from the Council of State, the Board of Attorneys General, and the Council for the Judiciary. While the review process broadly affirmed the legitimacy of criminalizing ecocide, the reviews raise questions around legal clarity, evidentiary thresholds, and interaction with administrative permitting.
On April 17 2024, Member of Parliament Teunissen took over the defense of this bill due to the departure of Member Van Raan. The bill remains in the preparation phase.
Involved Organizations
Suggested Citation:
Kauffman, Craig, Catherine Haas, Alex Putzer, Shrishtee Bajpai, Kelsey Leonard, Elizabeth Macpherson, Pamela Martin, Alessandro Pelizzon & Linda Sheehan. Eco Jurisprudence Monitor. V2. 2026. Distributed by the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor. https://ecojurisprudence.org/initiatives/natherlands-ecocide-penalization-act/.
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