... harm, or in a supplementary role within a regulatory system. However, it seems to be more effective in its supplementary role. This is because the whole objective of criminal law is to punish clearly identified wrongs, but in reference to a lot of environmental matters, it is sometimes impossible to identify the wrong without knowledge of other relevant factors. For instance, it is obviously very appealing to have industry and many other activities which may cause pollution. Nevertheless, the dilemma faced is not a straightforward one as to whether to have them, but a more complicated one of how much pollution is acceptable.3 Consequently, it will require an assessment of all the various factors involved against what is regarded as reasonable, and a discretionary process like this is perfectly suited for the regulatory system. The criminal law is quite inappropriate for such an assessment, therefore it is predominantly used to ...

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