Entity: Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV)
Confidenciality: No
Education area(s): Dret Ambiental
Title in different languages: Illegal Wildlife Trade: a public health issue
Abstract: In December 2019, a new coronavirus was first detected in the city of Wuhan, in China. The scientific community suggests that the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus is zoonotic and it comes from bats, but those that play a key role in the transmission of the virus to humans are the intermediate hosts, such as is the pangolin, one of the most trafficked animals in the world. The exhibition of exotic animals in wet markets for human consumption is one of the main routes of zoonoses transmission, and also the last phase of a chain of illegal trade promoted largely by transnational criminal groups that profit from the exploitation and trafficking of wild species. This paper examines the relation between the transmission of zoonotic disease to humans and Illegal Wildlife Trade, presenting it as a multi-offensive crime that violates the "environment" and the "public health" legal assets. It analyses comparatively two types of transnational organized crime: illegal traffic of endangered species and drug trade –which is relevant to the case if it has an impact on public health– and intends to prove that the legal tools available for prosecuting both types of violation are different in their approach and application. Therefore, in order to combat Illegal Wildlife Trade in a more effective way, the current mechanisms need to be redefined from an anthropocentric perspective which, at the very least, can’t operate outside a holistic debate. With this purpose, Chapter I, "Transnational Organized Environmental Crime", introduces the global phenomenon of environmental crime carried out by transnational organized groups. Chapter II, “Illegal Wildlife Trade” looks at illegal trade in endangered species and its associated zoonotic diseases. Chapter III, entitled "Comparative analysis of the legal instruments available to protect biodiversity and public health", examines how drug trafficking is dealt with at international level and compares it with existing prosecution methods for trafficking in wild species. Chapter IV, “Measures to improve the prosecution of illegal trafficking in species”, presents proposals to strengthen the international regulatory framework for wildlife crimes. Finally, the conclusions of the study are developed.
Subject: Ciencias jurídicas
Academic year: 2019-2020
Language: Castellà
Work's public defense date: 2020-09-14
Subject areas: Juridical sciences
Student: Rigau Castells, Ariadna
Department: Dret Públic
Creation date in repository: 2021-07-05
TFM credits: 12
Keywords: Transnational environmental crime, wildlife trade, public health
Title in original language: El tráfico ilegal de especies amenazadas: una cuestión de salud pública
Access Rights: info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Project director: Marquès Banqué, Maria
Repositori URV