Anita Boros, Gyula Koi (eds): Sustainability and Law
›
3. Legal and administrative theoretical foundations of sustainability and environmental protection (László Vértesy)
›
3.2. Positive law
›
3.2.4. The Concept of Sanctions

3.2.4. The Concept of Sanctions

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

For all branches of law, with regard to sustainability and environmental law, there is an increasing acknowledgment that the legal punishment is no longer about punishment only, but punishment-education-prevention (abbr. PEP),1 indicating a more nuanced view of sustainability not merely as a regulatory space involving enforcement of compliance, but as a space requiring cultural and behavioural changes throughout society.

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

One kind of state action traditionally associated with legal systems involved the use of negative legal sanctioning, especially fines, temporary suspensions or criminal penalties. Typically, these types of negative actions work to dissuade unlawful acts among offenders or potential offenders. However, to work to ‘solve’ or ‘outwit’ sustainability issues’, the traditional way of doing things through punishing negative sanctioning may not be useful, but downright counterproductive. Most forms of environmental harm occur not due to a conscious intention to do harm but rather ignorance or neglect – operating from behaviour condonation or entrenched systemic practice collectively understood as acceptable behaviour across, for example, state actors, economic actors, and others at social and personal level. In any of these situations, punishment is limited in addressing root causes of the given unsustainable behaviour.

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Instead, numerous new forms of compliance mechanisms are using a sanctions-based pedagogical model. Some may take the form of compulsory environmental education, compulsory community service related to environmental restoration, publication of offending behaviour on social media, and conditional leniency for demonstrated compliance outcomes. The aim here is to build awareness and responsibility and create a compliance culture that has moved beyond the fear of punishment.

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Public education objectives are also reflective of the principles of restorative justice and normative legitimacy.2 Sanctions that enable persons and organisations to understand the environmental consequences of their actions will be more efficacious in achieving real change. Such approaches may restore public trust in environmental regulations as they assign agency to the law to be non-punitive but constructive and interactive. Incorporating educational goals into environmental sanctioning is a more integrated and dynamic concept of law working productively for sustainability – namely, it not only punishes past wrongs, but works to direct future behaviour into long-term ecological accountability.

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

From a normative legal perspective, this requires the appropriate legislative schemes that draw distinctions between negligent versus intentionally non-compliant and permit layers of restorative and/or graduated sanctioning mechanisms. This would also be consistent with nuances of natural law and constitutional/legal principles such as the obligation to promote the common good, which encompasses environmental sustainability and intergenerational equity.
1

Brown, S. J., Mears, D. P., Collier, N. L., Montes, A. N., Pesta, G. B., & Siennick, S. E. (2020). Education versus punishment? Silo effects and the school-to-prison pipeline. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 57(4), 403-443.

Gallego, J., Rivero, G., & Martínez, J. (2021). Preventing rather than punishing: An early warning model of malfeasance in public procurement. International Journal of Forecasting, 37(1), 360-377.

2 Wamsler, C. (2020). Education for sustainability. Fostering a more conscious society and transformation towards sustainability. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 21(1), 112-130.
chevron_left
chevron_right
Tartalomjegyzék navigate_next
Keresés a kiadványban navigate_next
A kereséshez, kérjük, lépj be!
Könyvjelzőim navigate_next
A könyvjelzők használatához
be kell jelentkezned.
Jegyzeteim navigate_next
Jegyzetek létrehozásához
be kell jelentkezned.
    Kiemeléseim navigate_next
    Mutasd a szövegben:
    Szűrés:
    Kiemelések létrehozásához
    MeRSZ+ előfizetés szükséges.
      Útmutató elindítása
      delete
      Kivonat
      fullscreenclose
      printsave