CRIMINAL LAW IN THE CONTEXT OF ENVIRONMENTAL, NATURAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE CRIMES

Abstract

The evolution of law follows the evolution of society and the socio-economic relations that generate legal relations. Lately, environmental crimes among which we mention: pollution, contamination with dangerous chemical substances of abiotic environmental factors; wildlife poaching; deforestation in violation of the forestry regime, etc., are frequent, entering a spectrum of everyday normality. At the same time, the poaching of cultural heritage is a new element that has come under the focus of criminal investigation bodies, although the trade in artefacts and priceless heritage values has been consumed for a long time. The Romanian authorities and legal specialists easily pass over existing cases affecting the environment and cultural heritage, as these important paradigms for humanity are not active subjects of law. The correction of some characters whose aim is to enrich themselves through the destruction of abiotic environmental factors and the sale of cultural heritage objects, can only be done in an organized and focused way, including through the development of a criminal code of the environment and cultural and natural heritage. The code will have to capture the existence of crimes in relation to the action or inaction of individuals and in relation to the legal ethical principles of the environment and heritage accepted by the international community, which gives more and more importance to this segment, which is imposed in constitutional law of the signatory countries of international conventions. Our material launches some ideas and puts into scientific debate the possibility of creating a unitary legal framework to prevent the destruction of elements of cultural and natural heritage and to protect the environment.