Development of Specific Standard Operating Procedures for Environmental Violations and Incidents, UNDP-BIH-00323 Eco-Justice

Summary of the project: 

The goal of the project Strengthening Environmental Rule of Law in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Eco-Justice) is to strengthen institutional capacities to tackle environmental crime in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by a) approximating national legislation with the EU acquis, b) advancing national curriculum for judges and prosecutors to include environmental criminal law training, and c) improving overall public trust and discourse, as environmental human rights violations would be adequately mapped, reported and scrutinized by relevant authorities. 

The Project has the following components: 

• Improving legislative framework 

• Strengthening enforcement capacities 

• Enabling access rights 

• Increasing public awareness and tailored education 

Project goals 

To develop and conduct a capacity assessment of the law enforcement agencies and environmental inspectorates and to map gaps in understanding and functionality when it comes to environmental offences and incidents, coordination and cooperation arrangements as well as needs for specialized training and equipment. The findings will serve to develop any required Standard Operating Procedures for this group of stakeholders. 

Main activities: 

• Conducting capacity-assessment Desk Research including analysis of training and equipment needs in the field of environmental offences and incidents 

• Conducting the capacity-assessment Consultations with relevant representatives 

• Presenting a draft report with findings of the desk research review, the results of the consultations with relevant institutions, and the identified training needs. This report should serve as a baseline for the development of the Specific Standard Operational Procedures for the institutions included in the consultation processes. 

• Presenting a draft SOP(s) to the relevant institutions for comments/amendments; Present a comprehensive draft SOP(s) to UNDP project team for final review 

• Development of final report that consist of and reflect on the implementation of the activity prepared, validated, and submitted (including desk research, capacity-assessment results, and the lessons learnt, relevance of experience and knowledge-sharing)