Conflict and environmental harm: is there enough (criminal) protection in transitional measures?

The availability of natural resources in conflict and post-conflict situations is a factor that frequently makes conflict longer and peace harder to achieve or endure. What is the role of criminal justice in offering mechanisms for the protection of the environment in such context? This paper is divided in two main parts. In the first part, the basis for environmental crimes related to conflict and post conflict natural resources exploitation is settled. The paper examines international criminal law and transitional justice s mechanisms of protecting the environment. In the second part, the paper applies the framework to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) case, analysing prosecution of crimes, institutional reforms and reparations. Results demonstrate that, despite some recent advances in environmental protection-especially in the case of DRC, there is still a considerable gap in the framework offered by criminal law, which is filled by transitional justice civil and non-judicial mechanisms.