White Collar & Corporate
11. Environmental Offences
Authors: Staff Legal Eagle
Firm / Chambers:
Last updated: 16 Sep 2015
- There are a number of laws in place at local, state or territory and federal level that deal with environmental offences.
- These laws deal with issues such as:
- oil spills;
- industrial emissions;
- noise pollution;
- waste disposal;
- tree removal; or
- regulation of dangerous substances.
- Generally these laws apply to companies and are in place to make sure that businesses minimally impact or damage the environment. Both individuals and companies can be prosecuted for environmental offences.
- The penalties range from fines through to imprisonment depending on the seriousness of the conduct and the severity of the damage to the environment.
- In many cases an environmental prosecution will be run under specialist legislation and in some cases will be heard by a special court called the Land & Environment Court. For more information see our Environment & Planning topic.
- This is a complex area as there is a range of different laws that businesses must comply with to make sure they do not commit an environmental offence. Our free Find a Lawyer directory can help you to get in touch with an experienced corporate crime lawyer specialising in environmental offences.
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