| Guide to Help NPA With 'Green' Crimes |
| Monday, 24 May 2010 20:39 |
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Chris Van Gass Cape Town Environment and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk yesterday launched a "prosecutor's guide" to help the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in processing environmental crimes in courts throughout SA. Van Schalkwyk said at the designation ceremony of 20 new environmental management inspectors, or Green Scorpions, that the guide would support prosecutors in taking on the cases prepared by the Green Scorpions. The guide was compiled by legal experts Phil Snijman and Clarissa Molteno. Snijman said that the guide was the culmination of years of development and networking between many "dedicated and overworked" prosecutors and enforcement officials, and the disappointments and successes in courts all over the country and in other parts of the world. Van Schalkwyk said the guide would be made available to the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions and all its offices countrywide. It contained an overview of the constitutional and international law context to environmental crime; a detailed discussion of environmental legislation, specifically looking at criminal offences, and the powers of environmental enforcement officers to do search and seize evidence; and provides guidance to conducting court trials in environmental criminal cases, including the drafting of charge sheets, expert scientific witnesses. He said it also provided guidance on issues of sentencing and the recovery of costs that were unique to environmental transgressions. Van Schalkwyk said that since 2005 858 Green Scorpions had been taken into service to monitor compliance with and enforce national environmental legislation and they were deployed across all nine provinces. "In fact, the inspectorate is now an established unit with inspectors in SANParks, the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park, the environmental affairs and tourism department, all nine provincial environment departments and all provincial park authorities," said Van Schalkwyk. He said the green Scorpions co-operated on issues of training, standard operating procedures, and interaction with other key stakeholders. In 2006-07, the inspectorate reported nearly 900 arrests and 134 convictions for environmental crimes across the country. In the same year 235 directives were issued. Source: http://www.businessday.co.za and http://allafrica.com/stories/200708170292.html |
