Abstract

The Concept of “Administrative Dependence” of Environmental Criminal Law – Foundations and Transformations

German environmental law is primarily a matter of administrative regulation. However, there is also a supplementary role for criminal sanctions. The key strategy of the German federal legislature to coordinate these two dimensions of environmental law is the concept of “administrative dependence” of environmental criminal law. Thus, criminal sanctions are attached to environmental pollution under violation of environmental regulations or without a governmental permission. In 1980, the concept of “administrative dependence” informed the codification of environmental criminal law as part of the Federal Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch, §§ 324–330d). The article explores the development of German environmental criminal law under the concept of “administrative dependence” over the course of almost four decades from 1980 to the present. Key findings include a sharp rise in the numbers of relevant cases in German courts in the 1980s and 1990s and a constant decline since then, the confirmation of most aspects of the legal technique in the jurisprudence of the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht), the emergence of “administrative dependence” of criminal law as a key principle of EU environmental law, a gradual softening in the legislative and doctrinal approaches and the consolidation of the concept of “administrative dependence” of environmental criminal law in light of various strains of criticism.