Effect, issues and challenges for victims of crimes that have a significant impact on the environment /

The complexity of victimization – in terms of time, space, impact, and who or what is victimized – is one of the reasons why governments and the enforcement community have trouble in finding proper responses.3 This paper seeks to advance the discussion on this matter by looking at emerging forms of crime that have a significant impact on the environment and identifying the key issues and challenge [...] The discussion guide, prepared for the thematic discussion of the twenty-second session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on this issue, mentions that both terms refer to “unlawful conduct that directly or indirectly harms the environment”.4 More will be said later about this definition and how it effects how we determine the range of victims. [...] The victim, whether this is an individual, the “general public” or the “environment” is limited to the term applied in the specific context of the offence and how the offence is defined within the law. [...] The challenge for victims includes convincing the authorities that the harm actually has taken place, quantifying the level and extent of harm, particularly the cumulative effect, and the causal connection to the illegal act. [...] Where the full impact to specific individuals is unknown, some courts, such as one in New Zealand, have classified the cumulative effect of victimization to the community as loss of enjoyment of the environment.10 Another example is from a criminal case in the Northwest Territories in Canada.