CRIMES AGAINST THE ENVIRONMENT [CAP. 522. 1
CHAPTER 522
CRIMES AGAINST THE ENVIRONMENT ACT
To implement Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 19 November 2008 on the protection of the environmentthrough criminal law.
20th July, 2012*
ACT XI of 2012 .
Short title. 1.The short title of this Act is Crimes Against the Environment
Act.
Interpretation. 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:
"Directive 2008/99/EC" means Directive 2008/99/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 onthe protection of the environment through criminal law;
"the Euratom Treaty" means the Treaty establishing the
European Atomic Energy Community done at Rome on the 25thMarch, 1957;
"habitat within a protected site" means any habitat of species for
which an area is classified as a special protection area pursua nt to
Article 4(1) or (2) of 
Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April
1979 on the conservation of wild birds, or any natural habitat or a
habitat of species for which a site is designated as a special area of
conservation pursuant to Article 4(4) of Council Directive 92/ 43/
EEC  of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of
wild fauna and flora;
"protected wild fauna and flora species" means:
(a) for the purposes of article 3(1)( f) those listed in:
(i) Annex IV to Council Directive 92/43/EEC  of 21
May 1992 on the conservation of naturalhabitats and of wild fauna and flora,
(ii) Annex I to, and referred to in Article 4(2) of
Council Directive 79/409/EEC  of 2 April 1979
on the conservation of wild birds,
(b) for the purposes of article 3(1)( g), those listed in
Annex A or B to Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97
of 9 December 1996 on the protection of species ofwild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein;
"the Treaty" means the Treaty establishing the European
Community done at Rome on the 25th March, 1957;
"unlawful" means infringing:
(a) the legislation adopted pursuant to the EC Treaty and
listed in Annex A to the 
Directive 2008/99/EC ; or
*See article 1(2) as originally promulgated, and Legal Notice 230 of 2012 .
2 [CAP. 522. CRIMES AGAINST THE ENVIRONMENT
(b) with regard to activities covered by the Euratom
Treaty, the legislation adopted pursuant to the EuratomTreaty and listed in Annex B to the 
Directive 2008/99/
EC; or
(c) a law, an administrative regulation of a Member State
or a decision taken by a competent authority of aMember State that gives effect to the Communitylegislation referred to in paragraphs ( a) or ( b).
Crimes against the 
environment.3.(1) Whosoever shall knowingly commit any of the
unlawful acts referred to in sub-article (2), shall be guilty o f an
offence and shall be liable, on conviction to the punishments s et out
in this Act.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, a crime against the
environment means any of the following acts:
(a) the discharge, emission or introduction of a quantity of
materials or ionising radiation into air, soil or water,which causes or is likely to cause the death or grievousbodily harm to any person or substantial damage to thequality of air, the quality of soil or the quality of water,or to animals or plants;
(b) the collection, transport, recovery or disposal of waste,
including the supervision of such operations and theaftercare of disposal sites, and including action takenas a dealer or a broker in waste management, whichcauses or is likely to cause the death or grievousbodily harm to any person or substantial damage to thequality of air, the quality of soil or the quality of water,or to animals or plants;
(c) the shipment of waste, falling within the scope of
Article 2(35) of 
Regulation (EC) No. 1013/2006  of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June2006 on shipments of waste and is undertaken in anon-negligible quantity, whether executed in a singleshipment or in several shipments which appear to belinked;
(d) the operation of a plant in which a dangerous activity
is carried out or in which dangerous substances orpreparations are stored or used and which, outside theplant, causes or is likely to cause the death or grievousbodily harm to any person or substantial damage to thequality of air, the quality of soil or the quality of water,or to animals or plants;
(e) the production, processing, handling, use, holding,
storage, transport, import, export or disposal ofnuclear materials or other hazardous radioactivesubstances which causes or is likely to cause the deathor grievous bodily harm to any person or substantialdamage to the quality of air, the quality of soil or thequality of water, or to animals or plants;
(f) the killing, destruction, possession or taking of
      
CRIMES AGAINST THE ENVIRONMENT [CAP. 522. 3
specimens of protected wild fauna or flora species,
except for cases where the conduct concerns anegligible quantity of such specimens and has anegligible impact on the conservation status of thespecies;
(g) trading in specimens of protected wild fauna or flora
species or parts or derivatives thereof, unless, it isproved to the satisfaction of the court that the conductconcerns a negligible quantity of such specimens andhas a negligible impact on the conservation status ofthe species;
(h) any conduct which causes the significant deterioration
of a habitat within a protected site;
(i) the production, importation, exportation, placing on
the market or use of ozone-depleting substances.
Involuntary 
offences.4. Whosoever, through imprudence or negligence shall
commit an unlawful offence referred to in article 3, shall, onconviction, be liable -
Cap. 9.(a) if the death of any person is caused thereby, to the
punishments established in article 225 of the Criminal
Code  increased by one or two degrees;
Cap. 9.(b) if any grievous bodily harm with any of the effects
mentioned in article 218 of the Criminal Code  i s
caused thereby, to imprisonment for a term notexceeding four years or to a fine ( multa ) not exceeding
ten thousand euro (€10,000);
(c) if any grievous bodily harm without any of the effects
aforesaid is caused thereby, to imprisonment for a termnot exceeding one year or to a fine ( multa ) not
exceeding five thousand euro (€5,000);
(d) in any other case, to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding six months or to a fine ( multa ) not
exceeding one thousand euro (€1,000).
Aggravating 
circumstances.5.(1) When as a result of the offence referred to in article 3,
a person shall perish, the offender shall be liable to the puni shment
of imprisonment for life.
Cap. 9.(2) When as a result of the offence referred to in article 3,
grievous bodily harm is caused to any person, the offender shal l be
liable to the punishment established for offences of grievous b odily
harm under articles 216 or 218 of the Criminal Code, as the case
may be, increased by one or two degrees according to the gravit y of
the offence:
Provided that if grievous bodily harm is caused to two or
more persons the punishment laid down in this subarticle shallapply and shall not be awarded in its minimum.
(3) When as a result of the offence referred to in the last
preceding article, any serious damage is caused to the quality of the
air, soil or water, or to animals or plants, or in any other ma nner
4 [CAP. 522. CRIMES AGAINST THE ENVIRONMENT
serious spoil is caused to the environment, the punishment shal l be
that of imprisonment for a term from eight months to seven year s or
a fine ( multa ) of not less than twelve thousand euro (€12,000) and
not exceeding two million and five hundred thousand euro(€2,500,000), or such imprisonment and fine ( multa ).
Applicability of 
certain articles.Cap. 9.6.(1) The provisions of articles 121D and 248E(4) of the
Criminal Code shall mutatis mutandis apply to any offence under
this Act.
Cap. 9. (2) The provisions of article 328K of the Criminal Code  shall
also mutatis mutandis apply to any offence under this Act as if the
reference therein to article 328J of the Criminal Code were a
reference to article 121D of the Criminal Code .