Welcome to The European Network of Prosecutors for the Environment

ENPE

The ENPE initiative arose from a conference in Durbuy in Belgium in May 2011, organised by the European Commission, entitled “Combating Environmental Offences”. The conference was organised for the Commission by the judicial training institute of Belgium, the Instituut voor Gerechtelijke Opleiding (IGO) and the Institut de Formation Judiciaire (IFJ). A number of prosecutors from various Member States were brought together to discuss the formation of a prosecutors network along the lines of the European Forum of Judges for the Environment (EUFJE). There had been calls for such a network for some time. At their annual conference in October 2010, EUFJE, who were extremely keen to encourage networking and the formation of a prosecutors forum, invited prosecutors to a special session at the end of their conference to discuss a way forward. Also the International Network for Compliance and Enforcement in the Environment (INECE) called for a Green Prosecutors’ Network at the conclusion of their 9th International Conference in Vancouver in June 2011.

In September 2012, in Brussels, representatives from prosecuting bodies in seven European countries came together to establish the European Network of Prosecutors for the Environment (ENPE). The meeting was attended by representatives from the Environment Agency for England, and from similar bodies in Sweden, France, Belgium, Ireland and Germany.

 

The group was representative of another forty or so corresponding members across Europe who had joined an on line environmental prosecutors’ network. Ms Marianne Wenning, Director of Legal Affairs and Cohesion at Directorate General Environment (DG) Environment, attended the meeting to witness the signing of the statute, and to advise on how the network could best work with the Commission, and with European Union (EU) Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law (IMPEL) as well as EUFJE. The prosecutors’ network completes the chain of representative bodies across Europe for those involved in tackling environmental crime, from enforcement officers, through to prosecutors and on to judges.

LIFE-ENPE: An EU Life Programme funded project

In July 2015 ENPE began a 5-year project developed with the contribution of the LIFE financial instrument of the European Community: LIFE-ENPE (Ref. LIFE14 UK/000043). With partners from the Environment Agency (England); The Environmental Protection Agency (Republic of Ireland); The National Environmental Crimes Unit (Sweden); EUFJE and the Dutch National Prosecutor's Office for Serious Fraud and Environmental Crime (Netherlands); this project formally established and extended the ENPE network over the five-year period of its duration, putting in place strong foundations for further operational activity for future years to come. Funding from the EU Life programme enabled a series of key objectives to be realised to improve consistency in the prosecution of environmental crime across Europe. 

ENPE Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif (aisbl)

On September the 1st 2016, the ENPE organisation was formally incorporated as a Non-Profit International Association, ENPE aisbl, following the provison of a Royal Decree, in Belgium. ENPE aisbl is registered in Scotland House, Rond Point, Schuman, Brussels and seeks to:

  •  support the operative work of environmental prosecutors
  •  promote the exchange of information and experience of the enforcement and prosecution of environmental crime between members
  •  foster knowledge of environmental law among prosecutors and promote the development of environmental criminal law as an integral part of criminal law enforcement generally
  •  share experience of investigations, prosecutions and sanctions in the field of environmental criminal law
  •  contribute to better understanding, implementation and enforcement of environmental criminal law
  •  encourage and support co-operation between Members and facilitate capacity building in relation to the prevention and prosecution of environmental crime
  •  facilitate collection of data about environmental crime across Europe and enforcement action taken in relation to environmental crime
  •  identify and develop good, and whenever possible, best practice, for successful prosecutions and produce guidance, tools, common standards and approaches to the prosecution of environmental offences
  •  share training programmes in relation to environmental criminal law

 

ENPE aisbl Governance

The ENPE network is governed via The ENPE  Board, comprising ENPE aisbl Directors with specific roles. Board meetings are held at least twice yearly, with a General Meeting (AGM) held annually. Please find below the minutes from the 2022 AGM and recent ENPE Board meetings.  

ENPE aisbl Full Members & Observers

ENPE aisbl Full Members

  • Riksenheten for Milijo-och Arbestsmiljomal vid Aklagarmyndigheten, Sweden
  • Environmental Protection Agency, Republic of Ireland
  • Environment Agency, England
  • Openbaar Ministerie, Functioneel Parket, Netherlands
  • Vrchni statni zastupitelstvi v Praz (High Public Prosecutor’s Office, Prague), Czech Republic
  • Rigsadvokaten (Director of Public Prosecutions Office), Denmark
  • Ministere de la Justice (Ministry of Justice), France
  • Ökokrim (National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime), Norway
  • State Attorney’s Office General, Republic of Croatia
  • Finnish Prosecution Service, Finland
  • Prosecution Office of the Republic of Latvia (Specialized multi-field)
  • Fiscalia General del Estado (State Attorney General’s Office), Spain
  • General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Albania, Albania
  • The Supreme Court of Greece, Greece
  • The Association of Public Prosecutors North Macedonia
  • Italian Environmental Network of Prosecutors
  • The Law Office of Cyprus
  • Public Ministry Prosecutors office attached to the High Court of Cassation, Romania
  • Public Prosecution Service of Portugal
  • Prosecutor’s Office II of the Canton of Zurich
  • Austrian Federal Ministry of constitutional affairs, reforms, deregulation and justice
  • Office of the General Prosecutor of Hungary
  • Italian Environmental Network of Prosecutors General, Italy
  • The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania
  • The General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine
  • The General Prosecutor's Office from the Republic of Moldova

 

ENPE aisbl Observers

  • Dublin City Council, Republic of Ireland
  • Eurojust, (based in the Netherlands) 
  • European Forum of Judges for the Environment (EUFJE)
  • International Association of Prosecutors
  • The State Environmental Inspectorate of The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
  • Association of Prosecutors in Bulgaria, Bulgaria
  • The Croatian Ministry of Environment and Energy
  • TRAFFIC (Belgium)
  • Brazilian Federal Prosecution Service
  • Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), England & Wales (UK)
  • The Malta Police Force 
  • The President of the Public Prosecution of the Kingdom of Morocco
  • The National Environmental Protection Agency (Romania)