The Shift on Causality Principle in Environmental Offenses
Mahrus Ali
Faculty of Law Universitas Islam Indonesia
Abstract
This study is aimed at analyzing the inadequacy of theories on causality in criminal law to be applied to the offenses of environmental damage/pollution, and ideas about its use in relation to characteristic of environmental offense. This study belongs to normative legal research using the statutory, philosophical, and conceptual approaches. The study reveals that today, the environmental is philosophically placed both as a legal interest and victim of crime. Such crimes can directly threat or harm the environment. The environmental damage pollution also threatens the rights of future generations to enjoy clean and healthy environment as an impact of principle of ubiquity. The amount of environmental damage is also difficult to calculate and the time span can occur decades later after the crime was committed. Therefore, the proof of causality must shift from the proof of factual consequences to the proof of effect under the basis of prediction of scientific knowledge. The transformation of scientific evidence into legal evidence is the main key in proving the emerge of environmental damage/pollution.
Keywords: Environmental offense, causality principle, scientific evidence, legal evidence
Topic: Law