Carole M. Billiet, Bestuurlijke sanctionering van milieurecht. Wetgeving en praktijk [Administrative sanctioning of environmental law. Legislation and practice], Antwerpen – Oxford, Intersentia, 2008, 995p.
Law enforcement is the cornerstone of every policy. Legislation without effective enforcement measures remains a paper tiger. The scant knowledge of administrative sanctioning systems is in contradiction with their policy relevance. Unlike most criminal sanctions that primarily pursue punishment, many administrative sanctions above all aim for remediation.
This book provides a systematic description and a thorough analysis of all legal aspects of the administrative enforcement of environmental law in Belgium, extending the analysis to practice through case studies involving hundreds of unpublished administrative sanctioning decisions. It is the first indepth work on the subject. The author offers her readers a soundly documented and reasoned answer to key questions such as ‘Which administrative sanctions exist in our environmental law?’, ‘What is their law enforcing potential?’, ‘How about the law enforcement practice?’ Remediation orders, coercive measures, the suspension and withdrawal of permits and other authorizations and administrative fine are discussed and analyzed on their theoretical merits and added value for practice. Considerable attention is paid to legislative quality, in particular in the light of Articles 6 and 7 ECHR and Articles 14 and 15 ICCPR, and to cost-effective enforcement potential. The author uses an innovative approach regarding the structure and use of discretionary powers inherent to sanctioning competences. The book is a standard work for all lawyers and policy makers – sollicitors, legislators, civil servants, magistrates, consultants,… – who professionally get in touch with environmental law and law enforcement.