Ecocide as a crime under international law in the new Criminal Code: a new weapon against polluters?

On 4 November last, the Federal Government reached agreement on the reform of Book 2 of the Criminal Code. In this reform new forms of crime are penalized, and ‘ecocide’, among other things, is qualified as a crime under international law. This makes Belgium one of the first countries in the European Union to incorporate the notion into national criminal law.