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Practice areas and service lines

We structure our work into six complementary service lines. Every mandate is designed to measure, combining the lines the challenge requires.

01 · Ecocide 02 · Litigation 03 · Governments 04 · ESG 05 · Expert reports 06 · Training

Core of the practice

International environmental criminal law and ecocide

Liability analysis, strategies before international courts and mechanisms, and case preparation. Javier Ruiz is a member of the ICCBA Working Group on Ecocide, and we closely follow the proposal to add ecocide as the fifth crime under the Rome Statute.

Individual and corporate liability for severe, widespread or long-term environmental damage
Strategy before the ICC, regional courts and United Nations mechanisms
Interaction between environmental crimes, war crimes and crimes against humanity
Regulatory monitoring: Rome Statute, Directive (EU) 2024/1203, national legislation

Before tribunals

Strategic litigation and international representation

Impact litigation before international courts and bodies on behalf of victims, communities, organizations and States. We build the case theory, the evidentiary strategy and the coordination with allies so that every proceeding produces an effect beyond the individual case.

Victims' representation and defence before the International Criminal Court
Communications under Article 15 of the Rome Statute
Proceedings before regional human rights systems
Coordination with NGOs, experts and local teams

Public sector

Advice to governments and organizations

Environmental public policy design, regulatory frameworks and institutional capacity to prevent, investigate and punish environmental crimes. We support ministries, prosecution offices and multilateral organizations across the full cycle of the State's response.

Regulatory design and transposition of international and regional standards
Strengthening prosecution offices: protocols, specialized units and judicial cooperation
Strategy and support in international litigation on behalf of the State
Prevention, sanction and reparation policy, protecting communities

Preferred structure: continuous support under a monthly retainer, with a scope agreed at the outset.

Private sector

Corporate governance, ESG and environmental due diligence

Environmental compliance, governance, penal-environmental risk management and circular economy. We help boards, legal and sustainability teams anticipate the criminal exposure of their operations and value chains in a tightening regulatory framework.

Penal-environmental risk mapping and mitigation plans
Compliance programmes and ESG governance to international standards
Environmental due diligence in operations, investments and supply chains
Response to investigations, litigation and reputational crises

Applied knowledge

Research, expert reports and analysis

Applied research, technical-legal reports and expert opinions with academic rigour and practical value, supporting public-policy decisions, negotiations and litigation.

Expert opinions and legal expert testimony before tribunals
Regulatory and institutional diagnostic reports
Technical notes for negotiations and multilateral fora
Applied research in collaboration with universities

Capacity

Training and capacity building

Training programmes for legal practitioners, officials, organizations and communities, in person and online, supported by our teaching experience and university network.

Programmes for prosecutors, judges and investigative forces
Training of officials in international environmental and criminal standards
Training for boards and compliance teams
Workshops with communities and civil-society organizations

Which line does your mandate need?

Every engagement combines the service lines the challenge requires. Let's start with an initial meeting at no cost.