By a judgment dated August 22, 2023, the Angers Criminal Court imposed a heavy fine on the French railway company. One of its subsidiaries, SNCF Réseau, is accused of having participated in unauthorized pruning of vegetation.
Indeed, in the spring of 2019, the company Sefa environnement had, under the control of SNCF Réseau, pruned along the railway lines near the Commune Ecouflant, in the department of Maine-et-Loire.
Problem, not only the pruning of trees was prohibited at this time of the year; but in addition and above all, it had taken place while protected species of birds were settled there as part of a nesting process. Therefore, an investigation had been opened for “unauthorized attack by legal person on the conservation of the natural habitat of a protected species”, “unauthorized attack by legal person on the conservation of non-domestic animal species – protected species” , “complicity in unauthorized attack by legal person on the conservation of the natural habitat of a protected species” and “complicity in unauthorized attack by legal person on the conservation of non-domestic animal species-protected species” under l authority of the public prosecutor of Angers.
The two companies had been sent back to corrections and the Court of Angers had studied the case on June 27th. Finally, the company Sefa environment was sentenced to a fine of 30,000 euros while the fine imposed on the SNCF amounts to 450,000 euros. It should be noted that five environmental protection associations had become civil parties to the trial and that they will have to be paid 10,000 euros in damages, subject to a possible appeal by the convicted.
This decision shows that the French criminal judge is more and more sensitive to the environmental cause. It is also well helped in this sense by the recent strengthening of certain repressive provisions included in both the environmental code and the penal code. Already, on July 4, the SNCF had been sentenced to a fine of 1,000 euros by the Paris Police Court for having run over a domestic cat which had strayed onto the tracks of the Montparnasse station, by refusing to delay the departure of a train.
Source :
J.-F. Monier, “SNCF Réseau condamnée à 450.000 euros d’amende pour complicité d’atteinte à l’environnement”, Le Monde, 23 août 2023 ;
M. Pionneau, “Elagage radical : SNCF Réseau condamnée pour atteinte à la conservation d’espèces protégées”, Ouest France, 23 août 2023 ;
A. Noiret, “Environnement : pourquoi SNCF Réseau écope d’une forte amende”, TF1 info, 23 août 2023 ;
