Prosecution Practice and the Enforcement of Wildlife Crime Research Report

This research was commissioned by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and is conducted by Principal Investigator Dr Angus Nurse from NTU’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice (and ARU Law School), together with Co-Investigator Nadine Harding, Academic Course lead on the BSc Professional Policing at the University of Gloucestershire’s School of Natural and Social Sciences.

The project conducts empirical research (UK based) to investigate prosecution practice and to assess the extent to which evidentiary issues may be hampering the prosecution of wildlife crimes. Our research considers the reasons why cases fail at court as well as the reasons why wildlife crime cases may be discontinued and not proceed to prosecution on either evidentiary or on public interest grounds. The research considers the decision-making practices employed in decisions not to pursue a case through to prosecution. This includes examining potential areas of conflict between investigators and prosecutors on the merits of a wildlife crime for prosecution.