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THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS IN COMBATING ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES IN UGANDA: A CASE STUDY OF BUKEDEA DISTRICT

The objective of the study was to determine the impact of environmental laws in combating environmental crimes in Uganda with specific reference to Bukedea district. This included determination of factors affecting environmental crime management, causes of environmental crime, establishment of the nature and extent of environmental crime. All these assisted in understanding impact of environmental laws in combating environmental crimes in Uganda. Research questions which the study attempted to answer include what factors affect environmental crime management, the causes of environmental crime, the nature and the extent of environmental crime and the effectiveness of environmental crime management in Uganda. A conceptual framework was used to simplify the relationship between variables in the study. The relationship shows that environmental crime management in Uganda faces several challenges that in varied ways hinder proper environmental crime management. The methodology adopted during the study included desk top review of existing scholarly materials for secondary data and focused group discussions for primary data. The respondents were also made aware of the purpose of the research and informed on how and when they will get feedback of the study. The study concludes that lack of understanding of the long term effects of environmental crimes among key stakeholders has led to crimes being treated as misdemeanors thus attracting low penalties if any, hence resulting in poor management of the crime. The study recommends that the process of enacting legislation on environmental crime should be all inclusive, adopting a wider consultative approach. The study encourages the strengthening of environmental crime management policies. At the moment environmental crime management is a loose concept with weak policy. Environmental crimes should be addressed by policy and legislation that ensures that local communities benefit from the country‘s natural resources so that they value and protect them. Environmental crime management should be greatly enhanced by improving the capacity of the environmental law enforcement officials and other stakeholders through training.

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Author: adongo lydia
Contributed by: asbat digital library
Institution: law development centre
Level: tertiary
Sublevel: diploma
Type: dissertations