Legal Clarification on Transboundary Waste Shipments
In a decision dated March 31, 2025 (Case No.: 636 KLs 9/23), the Hamburg Regional Court declined to open a main trial in an environmental criminal case. At the heart of the matter is the practice of so-called beaching — the disposal of old cargo ships on beaches, particularly in South Asian countries. There, ships are dismantled and recycled under often questionable conditions, regularly raising environmental and criminal law concerns. We had previously reported on the investigation in an earlier blog post.
The Underlying Facts
The investigation targeted several defendants accused of being involved in the sale of a container ship that was ultimately sent to Asia for scrapping. The indictment was based on § 18a AbfVerbrG (German Waste Shipment Act), which criminalizes the illegal shipment of hazardous waste.
However, in the view of the Hamburg criminal chamber, this offense does not apply in the present case. While the process could be classified as a transboundary waste shipment under EU Regulation 1013/2006, the application of the German Waste Shipment Act requires that an actual export from German territory has taken place — a condition not met here. Conduct originating from Germany, such as contractual control, is insufficient for criminal liability.
Implications for Criminal Practice
The decision highlights the importance of territorial limitations in environmental criminal law. Especially in international cases, a precise examination of the scope of application is essential. The ruling thus points to the limits of German criminal jurisdiction in foreign matters and is likely to have a signaling effect in similar cases — particularly regarding investigations currently being pursued by the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office.
Between National Jurisdiction and International Responsibility
The legal relevance of the decision extends beyond national borders. The balance between international corporate responsibility and national criminal liability in foreign matters is a topic increasingly discussed in international legal circles.
I will address this and similar ESG cases at the 27th Annual Transnational Crime Conference of the International Bar Association (IBA) in Santiago de Chile. Together with my colleagues Margot Laporte, Ross Dixon, Chirag Naik, Yoab Bitran, and Michael Polak, I will discuss the criminal risks of global corporate structures in a panel on “Supply Chain and Criminal Offenses.”
