Environmental criminal cooperation obligations

current perspectives under International Environmental Law and the Brazilian legislation

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the duty to cooperate in environmental criminal matters in light of international environmental law, as systematized through various treaties addressed to States, as well as the Brazilian legal framework. Given the absence of a specific international treaty on international legal cooperation in environmental criminal matters, documents such as the Palermo and Merida Conventions are invoked as the basis for legal assistance between countries in cases where environmental crime affects two or more jurisdictions. Such situations may result in insufficient environmental protection, especially considering the often transboundary effects involved. The article examines environmental crime within globalization and its widespread impacts, outlining the current landscape of the duty to cooperate among countries at both regional and global levels. Furthermore, the article explores the current situation in Brazil—a country notably affected by this form of crime—and addresses the emerging crime of ecocide, whose characteristics point toward potential intervention by the International Criminal Court and the consequent use of vertical legal cooperation. It recognizes that, although a specific instrument on the matter does not yet exist, the duty to cooperate is grounded in international environmental law and in international multilateral documents, which may even give rise to proceedings before international courts in the event of noncompliance.