Environmental criminal law


Our firm has proven expertise in environmental criminal law matters. Our lawyers advise major industrial, energy and nuclear groups in matters involving pollution, the abandonment of waste and the unlawful operation of environmentally sensitive or nuclear facilities.
  • We defended the interests of an energy/nuclear group and its officers in five separate proceedings for water, air and ground pollution and abandonment of waste that were initiated by Greenpeace, and obtained a general dismissal of the charges.
  • We defended the interests of an executive of an oil group in a major water pollution case, and obtained a dismissal of the charges.
  • We defended the interests of an energy/nuclear group that was prosecuted for water pollution and abandonment of waste following the closure of various uranium mining sites, and obtained an acquittal.
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of a leading chemical group in connection with a criminal investigation initiated after an environmental protection association filed two complaints on the grounds of water pollution, abandonment of waste and illegal discharges into the atmosphere, and were able to have the head of the company exonerated and obtained a lenient decision for the company.
  • We defended the interests of an energy/nuclear group at the stage of a preliminary enquiry initiated following the discovery of a quantity of plutonium higher than expected during the dismantling of a nuclear fuel production plant, and were able to have the case dropped.
  • We defended the interests of an officer of an energy/nuclear group in a case alleging failure to report a nuclear incident, and obtained a lenient decision.
  • We defended the interests of a nuclear energy group in connection with various matters it filed for hindering road, sea and rail circulation, illicit entry into a protected enclosure or zone and property damage, in both summary and criminal proceedings, and obtained the conviction of the perpetrators.
  • We defended the interests of an energy/nuclear group at the stage of a preliminary enquiry initiated following an accidental spill of uranium into a river.
  • We defended the interests of a company officer who was charged in criminal court with continuing to operate an environmentally sensitive facility that failed to comply with a cease and desist order, and obtained the cancellation of the proceedings.
  • We defended the interests of a well-known person who was charged with having works performed in wetlands without filing the required prior documentation and for allegedly destroying wetlands, and were able to have each of the cases successively dropped.