The man has only recently become aware of the importance of the natural environment for him. This awareness gradually brought the care for preserving the environment as much as possible. One of the important forms in which it is being implemented is also the protection of the environment through criminal law. To this end, the legislator criminalized acts against the environment, space and natural assets as criminal offenses under the Penal Code (KZ-1). That way, a range of unauthorized interventions in the environment, space and natural assets was established. Criminal law has achieved both preventive and repressive purpose, since the prescribed criminal sanctions can deter potential perpetrators of the crime from the execution of this criminal act, and in the event of the committed crime they provide a fair penalty.
It would be expected that the case law in this area is more extensive, but it is negligible in comparison with other crimes from the KZ-1. This could mean that crimes against the environment, space and natural assets are not exercised to such an extent that frequent convictions would occur, but it is much more likely that, despite their existence and consequential damage, they are not perceived. This is a major disadvantage of the Slovene territory, both from a political and a social point of view. Until we are fully aware of the harmfulness of interventions in our environment and take appropriate action, the irreparable damage to life on Earth will only increase.
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