On 26-29 June 2012, the Department of Legal Studies of the University of Salento, in partnership with the Center for the Study of Democracy (Sofia, Bulgaria) and Droit au Droit, (DAD), organised the first module of the judicial training on EU crimes against environment and maritime pollution, which was held in Lecce, Italy.

The purpose of the training session was to train legal professionals on the EU legislation and jurisprudence on environmental crimes in order to strengthen their knowledge and competence in the sector as well as their capacity to contribute to their effective enforcement. The session was dedicated to the presentation of the International and EU legal framework related to environmental and maritime crimes, with a specific focus on the study of the European Court of Justice’s decisions in the field as well as an analysis of cases with cross-border dimension (North Sea and Adriatic Sea).

Topics at the centre of the session included: a) EU Competence in criminal law matters. The new perspectives after the Lisbon Treaty; b) Mediterranean Convention, Adriatic sea: Ratification process and enforcement of EU Directives; c) International  principles of environmental protection and the law of the sea; d) International Legal Framework for ocean sustainability and shipping in international waters; e) International legal framework for environmental maritime crimes (UNCLOS, IMO, MARPOL); f) domestic strategic litigation in Adriatic Sea countries and challenges in the enforcement of EU Directives on maritime pollution, with a specific focus on the Croatian and Albanian criminal and administrative case law.

International experts which contributed to the session included Raffaele De Giorgi, Director of the Department of Law, University of Salento, Mario Buffa, President of the Court of Appeal of Lecce, Giuseppe Vignola, Chief Public Prosecutor of the Court of Appeal of Lecce, Ennio Cillo, Public Prosecutor, Head Coordinator of environmental crimes in the areas of Lecce, Brindisi and Taranto,  Professor Ciro Grandi, University of Ferrara, Professor Saverio di Benedetto , University of Salento, Dr. Alla Poznakova, University of Oslo, Dr. Malgorzata Nesterowicz, European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Dr. Melita Carevic, University of Zagreb, Dr. Entela Cukani, University of Salento, Benoit Petit, Lawyer and Professor at the University of Versailles St. Quentin, Paris, Professor Carlo Ruga Riva, University of Milano.

The training course was organised in the framework of a project supported by the European Commission, aimed at building the capacity of judges, prosecutors, forensic officers and other legal practitioners (from selected EU Member States as well as countries on the road to EU membership, geographically located along the coast of the Adriatic sea (namely Italy, Bulgaria, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia) to implement existing European and international instruments and rules aimed at tackling environmental crimes and in particular marine pollution.

For more information and recent updates on the project please visit: http://www.judt.unisalento.it/.

*Project "Judicial training and research on EU crimes against environment and maritime pollution - TRAINENV" (JUST/2010/JPEN/AG/1540). Project leader: USAL (IT)