The Possibility of Ecocide Being Included in the Rome Statute: An Analysis of the Legislative Dilemma and Path of the Crime of Ecocide in International Criminal Law

This paper will review the practicality, need and difficulty of introducing the crime of Ecocide in the Rome Statute of the international criminal court (ICC). Continuing the definition of legal practices suggested by the Independent Expert Panel (2021) and relying on the recent scholarly discussion, the proposed study critically examines the key features, legal aspects, and suggestion of the possible location of Ecocide in the system of international criminal law. It suggests an actual, multi-staged, multi-pronged action plan of developing Ecocide legal recognition, the argument being that its incorporation is both a vital expansion of international environmental law but a pressing necessity to global ecological justice. The suggested course of action consists of three actions running parallel: development of an international statute, Ecocide Convention, and development of regional statutes, Ecocide. This is a multi-track route, a combination of ambition and pragmatism, with the goal of achieving consensus, developing the necessary legal and institutional capacity and creating complementary normative schemes that may ultimately be unified to transform the Ecocide as a fundamental international crime.