Criminal law instruments against illegal trade in protected animal and plant species

From the development of the legal instruments of protection to the existing criminal law interpretation

Abstract

Humanity's full use of our earth and subjection to our selfish interests has become such a serious problem that it threatens the survival of human civilization and, ultimately humanity. Due to material and power interests, excessive pollution and destruction of certain elements of our planet – land, water, air – is typical, in most cases, without any particular criminal or other legal consequences. This destruction without consequences can be seen in the excessive hunting and live capture of animal and plant species protected by international and national legislation. One of the effective legal tools against this kind of destruction of protected species can be the effective application of criminal sanctions, which is based on effective law enforcement (police, prosecutor and judge) action. In this paper, I will analyze in detail the relevant international and domestic criminal law regulations, their development, and the law enforcement questions and problems arising under the current regulations, as a result of which I will make recommendations to the legislator and law enforcement officers.