Our work is a continuation of the visionary work of Earth lawyer Polly Higgins who died in 2019. Polly was a criminal barrister, a prolific writer and a passionate speaker on ecocide and the importance of protecting the Earth. She worked internationally with other lawyers, academics and environmentalists and her influence has been profound. You can find out more about Polly and her extensive work at our dedicated website pollyhiggins.com.
In 2010 Polly submitted a fully worked through draft model ecocide law to the United Nations Law Commission. The working draft of the model law is currently being updated with international criminal law experts.
There are also draft texts for both national and regional (as opposed to international) implementation of ecocide law. In 2011 a UK Ecocide Act was drafted and in 2013 a European Citizen’s Initiative proposed an EU Ecocide Directive based on Polly’s initial proposal to the UN Law Commission. Neither have as yet been enacted.
In September 2011 Polly organised a mock ecocide trial in the Supreme Court in London to road-test the draft Ecocide Act (UK). The mock trial assumed that the law had already been enacted and so enabled it to be applied and examined from a number of angles to establish whether or not it was viable. This was the first time that a law not yet on the statute books had been tested in such a way.
The trial was not scripted but unfolded in the same way as a real trial; there was a properly vetted jury and the legal teams included some of the leading figures in the UK legal field. Michael Mansfield QC and his legal team prosecuted; Christopher Parker QC and his legal team defended.
The mock trial and subsequent sentencing hearing, which incorporated Restorative Justice, proved to be very instructive. The testing of the draft ecocide law was a real success and demonstrated its practical viability.
Two fictional Chief Executive Officers (Robin Bannerman of Global Petroleum Group and John Tench of the Glamis Group) were put on trial. Bannerman was on trial for an oil spill following an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico and ecological damage caused by tailing ponds in the Athabasca Tar Sands; Tench was on trial for ecological damage caused by tailing ponds in the Athabasca Tar Sands. The evidence was based on true events and publicly available documents.
After hearing the evidence the jury returned with two unanimous guilty convictions of ecocide against the defendants in respect of the tailing ponds and they returned a not guilty verdict for the charge against Bannerman relating to the oil spill..
In March 2012, after the mock trial, a sentencing hearing took place.
Following representations by prosecuting barrister Michael Mansfield QC, both offenders were offered the opportunity to enter into a Restorative Justice conference with the victims. Bannerman accepted whilst Tench declined.
The judge decided, on the basis of outcome of the successful Restorative Justice hearing, that Bannerman’s sentence of six months be deferred subject to the Restorative Justice agreements being upheld.
Tench, who refused to take part in the restorative justice process, was sentenced to four years in jail and was also subject to a formal Restoration Order. The Restoration Order required Tench to undertake a number of measures. These included suspension of operations in the Tar Sands until the area affected was restored to an acceptable level and payment by the company for the costs of restoration. You can find out more about Restorative Justice here [link].
The trial attracted much international media coverage and was broadcast worldwide live online by Sky News. You can watch the mock trial here
Polly spent many years giving talks all over the world and raising awareness around ecocide and probably did more than anyone else to familiarise people with the concept.
