Responding to Environmental Crimes

This book provides a criticalstudy of environmental regulation and its enforcement in New Zealand, situated within green criminology. It seeks toaddress the question of whether the offences in the Resource Management Act 1991 are 'working', bydrawing on a range of sources including:central government data, localgovernment policies and reports on enforcement, information requests ofcouncils, studies of local authority enforcement behaviour and case law to.Throughhighly layered and richly textured analysis, the project exposes the problems that can arisewhen an expansive approach is taken to offences, penalties and institutionalarrangements in an environmental regulatory statute. It emphasizes how discussions of harm and what should be unlawful will ensure that law-makers' enforcement tools will align with their goals for punishment.Itexamines higher-level issues such as 'wrongfulness' and 'criminality' in the environmental regulatory contextandexplores the relevance of its findings to jurisdictions outside of New Zealand.It also discussesthe pros and cons of criminalisation and punishment versus restoration. It speaks to those interested in green criminology,regulatory compliance and enforcement, and applications of criminal law.