Ecocide in Islamic Law
Many ICC Member States are strongly influenced by traditional Islamic Law. Their support is needed for Ecocide to be adopted in the Rome Statute. Furthermore, particularly people from these countries are often most affected by environmental deterioration and climate change (environmental injustice). Thus, we must undergird Ecocide with Islamic values and ensure its conformity with Islamic (Criminal) Law. The category of taz’ir, independent from the classic Islamic Law sources Quran and Sunna where Ecocide clearly is not included, seems most apt to encompass Ecocide. Within this supplemental field of criminal law, judges can engage in discretionary punishment of wrongdoings. This requires a detailed and well-founded justification of criminal punishment of environmental harm from within Islamic values. Qiyas can be used as a source/method to create the crime of Ecocide and the penalties can be found in modern Islamic law in line with the Rome Statute. To promote foreseeability and the rule of law, governments may issue orders directing courts to acknowledge Ecocide generally. We will analyze how Ecocide fits the broader context of Islamic Law. We will point out how international criminal law is perceived from an Islamic Law perspective, the obstacles of uniformly acknowledging Ecocide throughout Islamic Law countries, and the modifications necessary for broad acceptance and support among Islamic law countries.
About the speakers
Hiba Ali completed her LLB from London UK. She is from Pakistan and one of her modules was Islamic Law. She is currently enrolled in the LLM program at The George Washington University. Her strength lies in legal research. She has worked for six years at a civil law firm in Pakistan and has taught law at four universities in Karachi. She also has her own website www.livelawsessions.com where she teaches UK law to students from all over the world. She is currently an active member of Sindh Bar Association. She has also judged multiple moot court competitions at an international level.
Tim Nau completed his law studies at Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (WWU) before joining The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) in Washington, D.C., for a Master of Laws (LL.M.) program in the fall of 2022. His focus area in Münster was public law. He has worked in internships and as a research assistant for renowned law firms in that field and at the Institute for Local Government Law (Professor Wißmann) for years. At WWU, he successfully completed various classes in Islamic Law and is eager to connect his knowledge in that field with environmental law and policy, which is his passion. In his LL.M. studies, he is specializing in energy and environmental law, taking classes in climate change law, renewable energy law, air pollution control, and environmental law. In addition to his LL.M. studies, he is currently interning with the Environmental Law Institute and working as a research assistant to the Energy Law Dean at GW Law, Donna Attanasio.