An Italian Perspective on the Private Enforcement of European Environmental Law: The ‘Civil Party’ Mechanism in Environmental Crime Cases

Currently, the efficacy of private enforcement in the field of European environmental law is heavily dependent on the remedial and procedural frameworks of national legal systems. In this context, the present article intends to shed light on the Italian “civil party” mechanism (“costituzione di parte civile”, Art. 78 Italian Code of Criminal Procedure) in environmental crime cases and on the role it can play for private action aiming at compensation for individual harm suffered as a result of the violation of European environmental norms.