Chile has strengthened the application of Antarctic law

For the past year, Chile has been taking steps to enforce its Antarctic Law, adopted in 2020, by including conduct prohibited in Antarctica in the list of acts subject to sanctions defined in a 2023 law on economic violations. The aim is to effectively prosecute environmental violations committed on the White Continent and in the Southern Ocean, to eliminate extenuating circumstances and to make companies more accountable. As a result, the country’s judicial system is able to hold to account companies and individuals who violate the rules of the Antarctic Treaty. Interview.

Catalina Sepúlveda is an academic specializing in international Antarctic law and its application in Chilean law. She participates in the research work of the U-Antarctica project and the Instituto Milenio Base research team headed by Professor Luis Valentín Ferrada – one of the authors of this legal update. Catalina Sepúlveda visited the Peninsula’s Antarctic stations earlier this year with this research team.

Does the Law of Economic Offences link the Antarctic Treaty with Chilean domestic law?

In Antarctica, two legal systems complement each other. The international system, governed by the Antarctic Treaty, takes the form of a gigantic blanket covering the signatory states. International law unites the will of these states, which commit themselves to certain obligations, such as the respect and protection of the environment, under which the exploitation of mineral resources is prohibited. Each of the member countries, including Chile, is committed to this, but the Antarctic System does not mandate the implementation of these compromises, nor does it specify the form that domestic law should take or the nature of the sanctions to be established in the event of non-compliance. It does, however, define what is prohibited, and it is up to the sovereignty of each country to define offenses according to its own culture and laws. Chilean law is different from American law. The penalties provided by their criminal systems may be different; consequently, the way they incorporate international standards into their own legislation may be different.

A new law on economic offenses was enacted in Chile last August. While it does not address crimes against the Antarctic environment directly, it does incorporate them into the legal framework and categorizes them as economic crimes.

In addition to enhancing the efficacy of penalties, this legislation was designed to extend its reach to white-collar offenders for whom legal consequences were infrequent, negligible, or derisory. Prior to the enactment of this legislation, there were well-established categories of economic offenses, including corruption and influence peddling. The legislation additionally incorporates national environmental offenses into the existing catalog of economic offenses, encompassing violations pertaining to forest management and the safeguarding of protected species.

Which part of this law concerns Antarctica?

The Chilean Antarctic Act (2020) establishes the legal framework for all activities conducted in Antarctica, including the protection of Chile’s sovereign rights, the establishment of institutional structures, and the country’s commitment to environmental stewardship. The Act transfers all existing Antarctic regulatory frameworks into domestic law, thereby aligning them with international standards. The Economic Crime Act of 2023 incorporates and systematizes the environmental offenses enumerated in the national list of 200 crimes.

From now on, legal entities and companies liable for environmental offences – committed by, or for the benefit of, a company – are also liable for economic offences. Something that did not exist in our regulations for such clear-cut, fineable offences. In this sense, it removes certain extenuating circumstances such as “previous irreproachable conduct” for offenders, and limits alternative penalties such as parole.

Violations against the Antarctic environment include the mistreatment of animals, unauthorized harvesting of plants and algae, damage to national monuments and native plant cover, mineral exploitation and oil spills. A series of behaviors found in the Antarctic Treaty, its annexes and protocols.

Does this law only apply to Chileans, and how is it enforced?

Jurisdiction, understood as the power of a state to make an authoritative decision, is a complex and controversial issue in the academic world, subject to different interpretations. However, Chile’s Antarctic Act stipulates that “the Public Prosecutor’s Office shall investigate and prosecute crimes committed in the territory of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean”. It also stipulates that the Punta Arenas Public Prosecutor’s Office will be the body responsible for investigating and prosecuting violations committed in this territory, and that a court will be in charge of investigating them.

Under Chilean Antarctic law, compliance with this law will be enforced on the white continent by officials from the Chilean Army, Navy, Air Force and the Chilean Antarctic Institute. On the other hand, station managers are obliged to report any violations they witness or which are brought to their attention, and failure to comply with this duty to report would even be also an offense, under a legal basis which exists throughout Chilean territory.

Interview by Camille Lin, Polar Journal AG

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