Review of the ecocentric model of environmental protection in Croatian criminal law: Ten years after EU accession

Abstract

This paper discusses the issue of the protection of the environment through criminal law, which represents one of the problems of contemporary criminal law. With the entry into force of the new substantive criminal legislation in 2013, the Croatian legislator implemented the so-called ecocentric model of the protection of the environment through criminal law, fully adopting European and international standards. More than ten years later, case law has formed regarding certain offenses. However, for most of the offenses in this category, it has been observed that their practical applicability is virtually non-existent. The author analyzes the characteristics of those criminal offenses for which there is available case law, presents selected practical examples, points out the views of other authors, and offers personal observations on the effectiveness and experiences of applying the Croatian legislative model.