Criminal Law and Environmental Crimes: Between Deficient Legislation and Lapses in Enforcement – A Comparative Analysis

The criminal culpability structure related to environmental violations is the main emphasis of this paper. This is attained by carefully examining the approaches three countries—Jordan, Egypt, and the advanced model of France—in use to solve the problem. It suggests that even if Arab countries' environmental laws include punitive penalties, their provisions lack clarity and efficient application. It also investigates the elements causing environmental law non-Arab countries to be inefficient, attributing this shortfall to the absence of specialized tribunals deciding environmental conflicts and the lack of laws defining the purposes of legal organizations. To arrive at its conclusions, the study uses comparative and analytical approaches in addition to content analysis of legislation and court rulings including Jordan's Environmental Protection Law No. 6 of 2017, Egypt's Environmental Law No. 4 of 1994, pertinent portions of the French Penal Code, and international treaties including the Basel Convention. The results show that tackling environmental crimes inside criminal law calls for a coherent institutional framework, specialized evidentiary tools, and a court competent in such areas rather than only legislative rules. Several helpful recommendations for upgrading our laws and efficiently applying criminal environmental liability are made at the end of the study. This will discourage people from acting negatively and protect natural resources so that they may be enjoyed by other generations.