Last update - 00:00 24/05/2007
AG submits guidelines for prosecution of environmental offenders
By Tzafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Thursday submitted to State Prosecutor Eran Shendar, and to the Environment Ministry, policy guidelines for the prosecution of environmental offenders by local authorities.
The guidelines emphasize the necessty of transferring the legal responsibility for upholding environmental regulations to local authorities.
The guidelines do not alter the current laws for the protection of the environment.
In the guidelines, Mazuz notes that when a given local authority fails to uphold environmental laws, and there is a direct correlation between that authority's neglect and the resulting environmental damage, said local authority could be subject to prosecution by the government.
Mazuz also writes that in extreme cases it is possible to prosecute senior officials within the authority, including the head of the authority.
Mazuz's legal stance is based on a High Court of Justice ruling from 2006 that broadened the responsibility of local authorities for environmental damage in their areas of jurisdiction.