Crimes against the Coral Reefs from the Perspective of Law and Victimology

Today a wide range of coral reefs in the world are either destroyed or in danger of extinction, and so the damage to coral reefs is causing marine ecosystem damage. That is, the question arises whether the Iranian legislature has recognized the crimes against coral reefs? The answer to this question depends on the approach taken. In the legal approach, although crimes against coral reefs have not been specifically recognized, crimes against such species can generally be spoken of. But in the green victimology approach, crimes have not emerged in law against coral reefs. For this reason, this paper is based on two main points: First, offenses against coral reefs in the light of Iranian penal law that encompasses three behaviors of capture, intentional destruction and seawater contamination; And second, offenses against coral reefs in the light of green victimology that seek to identify legal practices that cause harm to coral reefs which is not incorporated in criminal law; And three, it includes seawater desalination behavior, oil operations and unintentional destruction. The result is that although Iranian criminal law has predicted general delinquent behaviors against the marine environment that the offenses against coral reefs can be identified in the light of them, but in particular, the crime against coral reefs has not been addressed, and in the light of the green victimology approach it is necessary to criminalize the widespread destructive behaviors that are committed against coral reefs.