Environmental and heritage offences

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis

Local authorities enforce legislation across a wide range of areas. This overview outlines content relevant to local authority enforcement of environmental and heritage offences within their jurisdiction.

Environmental crime

Practice Note: Local authorities—powers to investigate environmental crime explains the division of responsibility between local authorities (LAs) and the Environment Agency (EA) to investigate environmental offences. It explains the powers available to LAs for the investigation of environmental crime, offers practical advice for companies under investigation and highlights the offences that may be committed during the course of a criminal investigation for environmental offences.

Practice Note: An introductory guide to environmental criminal liability provides an introduction to criminal liability for environmental offences and the stages of the criminal process from pre-prosecution to sentencing. It highlights common environmental offences, explains the key principles of environmental liability including strict liability, corporate liability and liability of directors and senior managers and provides an overview of environmental crime enforcement for environmental breaches including the prosecution of environmental crime.

Practice Note: Conducting an investigation into environmental crime explains the issues lawyers need to think about when advising a client following a

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

Existing user? Sign-in TAKE A FREE TRIAL
Powered by Lexis+®
Latest Corporate Crime News

Met Police secures guilty pleas in £5.5bn cryptocurrency seizure case

The Metropolitan Police has secured guilty pleas from two defendants in connection with what it describes as the world's largest cryptocurrency seizure, valued at over £5.5bn. Zhimin Qian, 47, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court on 29 September 2025 to acquiring and possessing criminal property, namely cryptocurrency, under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Hok Seng Ling, 46, pleaded guilty on 30 September 2025 to transferring criminal property, namely cryptocurrency, under the same Act. The convictions follow a seven-year investigation by the Met's Economic Crime team into international money laundering connected to a fraud scheme that defrauded over 128,000 victims in China between 2014-2017. The Met seized 61,000 Bitcoin from Qian, a Chinese national who fled China using false documents and attempted to launder proceeds through UK property purchases. Additional seized assets including encrypted devices, cash, gold and further cryptocurrency were valued at £11m as of July 2025. Sentencing for both defendants is scheduled at Southwark Crown Court on 10-11 November 2025.

Corporate Crime weekly highlights—2 October 2025

This week's edition of Corporate Crime weekly highlights includes analysis of a bank deploying AI tools to detect fraud in light of the newly introduced ‘failure to prevent fraud’ offence, of what the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 means for the UK’s data protection regime and of what this year’s US FCPA cases reveal about future enforcement trends. Also included is news of former UK politician pleading guilty to eight counts under the Bribery Act 2010, of a penalty issued by the OFSI to a company for breaching Russian sanctions regulations, of two consultations launched by the HSE, and of updated Home Office guidance on the use of disclosure orders under POCA 2002. All this, and more, in this week’s Corporate Crime highlights.

Health and safety prosecution round-up—2 October 2025

A round-up of the latest health and safety prosecutions, including a waste company fined after a worker suffered life-changing crush injuries.

MoJ updates NDA guidance following Victims and Prisoners Act 2024

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has updated its guidance on non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) following the implementation of section 17 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 on 1 October 2025. The legislation establishes statutory protections for crime victims in England and Wales, confirming that NDAs cannot validly prevent victims from reporting crimes to police and extending protections to disclosures made to obtain confidential advice or support. Under the new 'Permitted Disclosures' framework, victims who sign NDAs on or after 1 October 2025 may disclose information about relevant criminal conduct to qualified lawyers, regulated professionals including healthcare workers, victim support services, regulators, and close family members for specified purposes. The changes apply only to NDAs signed from 1 October 2025 onwards, with earlier agreements remaining subject to previous rules. The MoJ has now published additional guidance for victims and individuals who use NDAs, explaining the practical implications of these statutory changes for confidentiality agreements across sectors including business, arts, charity, education, healthcare and technology.

View Corporate Crime by content type :  
News
Practice notes
Precedents
Q&As

Popular documents

Possession of an offensive weapon in a public place

Possession of an offensive weapon in a public placeThe offence of possession of an offensive weapon in a public placeIt is an offence under section 1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 (PCA 1953) to carry in public an offensive weapon without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. This can be tried

Local authority investigations

Local authority investigationsAny local authority is a creature of statute. Where a local authority acts beyond its powers, it will be acting ultra vires.The Local Government Act 1972 (LGA 1972) gives local authorities power to prosecute criminal offences investigated by their own departments.These

Priority between loss reliefs in loss making companies

Priority between loss reliefs in loss making companiesWhy does it matter?A company that is a member of a group and has incurred any of the types of losses available for surrender by way of group relief may, without any further rules, have more than one way in which to use the loss. There are a

If a rentcharge is shown as being informally exonerated on title information, does this apply to the

If a rentcharge is shown as being informally exonerated on title information, does this apply to the current registered owner? Or does the informal exoneration only apply to the parties to the document which informally exonerated the rentcharge?This Q&A considers the situation where, at some
Possession of an offensive weapon in a public place

Possession of an offensive weapon in a public place

Possession of an offensive weapon in a public placeThe offence of possession of an offensive weapon in a public placeIt is an offence under section 1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 (PCA 1953) to carry in public an offensive weapon without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. This can be tried

Local authority investigations

Local authority investigations

Local authority investigationsAny local authority is a creature of statute. Where a local authority acts beyond its powers, it will be acting ultra vires.The Local Government Act 1972 (LGA 1972) gives local authorities power to prosecute criminal offences investigated by their own departments.These

Priority between loss reliefs in loss making companies

Priority between loss reliefs in loss making companies

Priority between loss reliefs in loss making companiesWhy does it matter?A company that is a member of a group and has incurred any of the types of losses available for surrender by way of group relief may, without any further rules, have more than one way in which to use the loss. There are a

If a rentcharge is shown as being informally exonerated on title information, does this apply to the

If a rentcharge is shown as being informally exonerated on title information, does this apply to the

If a rentcharge is shown as being informally exonerated on title information, does this apply to the current registered owner? Or does the informal exoneration only apply to the parties to the document which informally exonerated the rentcharge?This Q&A considers the situation where, at some