Criminal Offences in violation of Ethiopian Environmental Laws #1

Proclamation No. 299-2002 Environmental Impact Assessment       

[Article] 18. Offences and Penalties

1) Without prejudice to the provisions of the Penal Code, any person who violates the provision of this Proclamation or of any other relevant law or directive commits an offence and shall be liable accordingly.

2) Any person who, without obtaining authorization from the Authority or the relevant regional environmental agency, or makes false presentations in an environmental impact assessment study report commits an offence and shall be liable to a fine of not less than fifty thousand birr and not more than one hundred thousand Birr.

3) Any person commits an offence if he fails to keep records or to fulfill conditions of authorization issued pursuant to this Proclamation and shall be liable to a fine of not less than ten thousand Birr and not more than twenty thousand Birr.

4) When a juridical person commits an offence, in addition to whatever penalty it may be meted with, the manager who failed to exercise all due diligence shall be liable to a fine of not less than five thousand Birr and not more than ten thousand Birr.

5) The court before which a person is prosecuted for an offence under this Proclamation or regulations or directives emanating from it, may, in addition to any penalty it may impose, order the convicted person to restore or in any other way compensate for the damage inflicted.