Legal and administrative means to protect the environment vis-à-vis the business of oil companies, “A Comparative Study of Iraqi and Qatari Laws”

It is well established that the processes of extracting and transporting oil leave behind residues and wastes that negatively affect the environment, and then the environment is damaged at different and varying levels according to the type and amount of waste, and these damages are affected by the severity and lightness of the commitment of oil companies and the parties operating in them to the controls of extraction, transportation and restrictions. There is no doubt that the damage to the environment affects people directly or indirectly, which necessitates the issuance of laws in order to mitigate the effects of these damages and limit them. Ways must be found to protect the environment during the stages of the oil industry, including transportation, in order to achieve sustainable development. The protection of the environment in this field is achieved through the use of many means that vary between legal means, such as international agreements, local laws, administrative means, economic means, and even voluntary means, Petroleum corporations are also obligated to take many other measures to protect the environment, such as protecting pipes from corrosion, getting rid of oil stains, and other measures, and this is what we found from the diversity of legal penalties dealt with in the Iraqi Environment Protection and Improvement Law and the Qatar Environmental Protection Law, but some of them are not commensurate with the types of crimes. And herein lies the problem of our research in resolving the dilemma of environmental protection and how both the Iraqi and Qatari legislators approached the issue legally and administratively.

Among the most important results we reached in that:

1- Neither the Qatari Law for the Protection of the Environment nor its executive regulations mentioned the means of administrative confiscation, nor did the Iraqi legislator in the Environment Protection and Improvement Law No. 27 of 2009, do not provide for confiscation as one of the administrative penalties for protecting the environment or criminal penalties.

2- The Iraqi Penal Code and the Environmental Protection and Improvement Law No. 27 of 2009 did not provide for the death penalty or for environmental crimes to be considered among terrorist crimes. This undoubtedly reflects the normal view of the Iraqi legislator towards environmental interests, and we believe that it is necessary to take into account the tougher punishment for environmental crimes. The penalties are more severe in combating environmental crimes, and the same applies to Qatari law, as it does not stipulate the death penalty. It was more appropriate to legislate it in both laws, as it would be a means of deterrence for violators.