How to Balance the Flexible Norm and Lex Certa in Environmental Offenses?

Environmental offenses are generally formulated in an abstract and flexible way because they refer to the norms that have yet to be formulated by other administrative organs who have authority in the environmental sector. The formulation of such offenses is of course contrary to the principle of lex certa which requires that the offense must be formulated clearly and does not have multiple interpretations. With a clear formulation of offenses, individuals can easily understand offenses so they know the consequences if they break them. This article is specifically examined at how to balance the flexibility of norms and clarity of norms in the formulation of environmental offenses. The results of the research revealed that the formulation of environmental offenses that reflects this balance is to putting the core elements of offense in the Act and to leave the technical matters of offense in a government regulation. Even though on these technical matters, administrative officials are given the authority to determine whether or not there is a criminal act based on discretionary authority, this must not violate the principle of rationality and proportionality so that it still reflects a clarity of norms (the principle of legal certainty). An offense formula that is deemed unclear will become clear with science. The clarity of a legal norm is not only based on its formulation, but shifts to the underlying principle of justice.