Administrative environmental offenses. Administrative environmental offenses

An administrative environmental offense (misdemeanor) is an unlawful, guilty action (inaction) of a citizen, official or legal entity that infringes on the constitutional right of every person to a favorable environment, including causing harm to the environment (containing a real threat of such infliction), for which administrative responsibility.

The current Code of Administrative Offenses pays much more attention to environmental issues than the previous one, highlighting in Art. 1.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, this activity as one of the tasks of the legislation on administrative offenses.

The subjects of the Russian Federation have the right to adopt their own laws on administrative offenses that do not conflict with the Code of Administrative Offenses. Such laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation should also create bodies (inspectorates, commissions, chambers, etc.) authorized to consider cases of administrative offenses in accordance with the legislation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the law of the subject of the Russian Federation can provide only two types of administrative penalties: a warning and a fine.

An example of such lawmaking by the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is the Code of the Volgograd Region dated June 11, 2008 No. 1693-OD "On Administrative Responsibility", which provides for administrative liability for damage and (or) destruction of green spaces in public areas in settlements (Article 6.1); destruction of rare and endangered species of animals or plants (art. 6.2); violation of the established regime of land use (art. 7.2); pollution of the territories of settlements associated with the operation and repair of vehicles (Article 8.10); violation of the procedure for handling household waste on the territory of settlements (Article 8.14), etc.

Among the federal bodies authorized to consider cases of administrative environmental offenses, the Code of Administrative Offenses singles out (except for judges) bodies exercising the functions of control and supervision in the field of ensuring the sanitary and epidemiological welfare of the population, bodies exercising state quarantine phytosanitary control, state supervision and control over safe the handling of pesticides and agrochemicals, the quality and safety of grain and products of its processing and state control over the use and protection of agricultural land; bodies exercising control functions in the field of organization and functioning of specially protected natural areas of federal significance, bodies exercising state environmental supervision, and a number of others.

All components of environmental offenses for which administrative liability may arise are classified into four groups.

The first group includes structures that establish liability for violation of general (basic) environmental legal requirements that apply to all institutions of environmental law. These include violation of the legislation on environmental expertise (Article 8.4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), concealment or distortion of environmental information (Article 8.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), etc.

The second group includes structures that establish responsibility for violating the rules for the protection of individual natural objects. These include damage to land (Article 8.6 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), violation of the rules for the protection of atmospheric air (Article 8.21 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), violation of the rules for the protection of water bodies (Article 8.13 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), violation of the rules of sanitary safety in forests (Article 8.31 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), etc. .d.

The third group includes an offense that establishes responsibility for violating the legal regime of territories with a special environmental and legal status, namely, violating the rules for the protection and use of natural resources in specially protected natural areas (Article 8.39 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the Code of Administrative Offenses (unlike the Criminal Code) does not contain rules establishing responsibility for committing environmental offenses in an environmental disaster zone.

Finally, the fourth group includes structures that establish liability for violation of requirements in the field of environmental protection in the course of economic or other activities (in industry, transport, etc.). Among them - non-compliance with environmental and sanitary and epidemiological requirements when handling production and consumption waste or other hazardous substances (Article 8.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), violation of the rules for handling pesticides and agrochemicals (Article 8.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), putting into operation of motor vehicles with exceeding the standards for the content of pollutants in emissions or noise levels (Article 8.22 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), etc.

Consideration of all types of administrative penalties allows us to draw the following conclusions.

First, administrative penalties are relatively specific sanctions. When imposing punishment, the legislator provides the environmental authorities (or the court), depending on the nature of the offense, the personality of the offender, the degree of guilt and other circumstances, a certain freedom in choosing the type and amount of punishment in accordance with Art. 4.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.

Secondly, a person who has committed an administratively punishable offense, in accordance with Art. 2.9 of the Code of Administrative Offenses may be exempted from administrative punishment due to its insignificance.

Thirdly, the terms for imposing administrative penalties are clearly defined. According to Art. 4.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, a decision on a case on administrative liability for violation of environmental protection legislation cannot be issued after two months from the date of its commission. In case of a continuing administrative environmental offense (and there are quite a few of them), the said period is calculated from the day the administrative offense was discovered.

Separately, it is necessary to dwell on the problem of delimitation of administrative and criminal liability in the field of environmental protection.

The structures of criminal and administrative environmental offenses have much in common, and there are no clear criteria for their difference from each other in the composition of administrative offenses.

They are in the criminal law, for example, in a number of compositions such a qualifying sign is indicated as causing harm to the health or death of a person due to atmospheric pollution (for example, Art. 251 of the Criminal Code). Other compositions mention "serious consequences" (Article 246 of the Criminal Code), "significant harm" (part 1 of Article 250 of the Criminal Code); "significant" and "large" damage (Articles 255 and 256 of the Criminal Code). In a note to Art. 260 of the Criminal Code, which establishes criminal liability for illegal logging of forest plantations, reveals the content of the concepts of significant and large-scale harm: “significant” is recognized damage caused to forest plantations or trees, shrubs and lianas not classified as forest plantations, calculated according to the rates approved by the Government of the Russian Federation, exceeding five thousand rubles, large size - 50 thousand rubles, especially large size - 150 thousand rubles. The specific content of many other evaluation criteria is not disclosed in the Criminal Code.

Their interpretation is given in the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 05.11.1998 No. 14 "On the practice of application by courts of legislation on liability for environmental offenses."

Their interpretation is given in the Decree of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated October 18, 2012 No. 21 "On the application by courts of legislation on liability for violations in the field of environmental protection and nature management."

So, the Plenum explained that under "other grave consequences" in relation to Art. 246 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of the rules of environmental protection in the course of work) should be understood, in particular, such a deterioration in the quality of the environment and its components, the elimination of which requires a long time and large financial costs (for example, mass diseases or the death of objects of the animal world, including including fish and other aquatic biological resources; destruction of conditions for their habitat and reproduction (loss of feeding grounds, spawning and wintering pits, disruption of migration routes, destruction of food supply); destruction of flora objects, resulting in a significant reduction in the number (biomass) of these objects; degradation lands). At the same time, a mass death (disease) is considered to be an excess of the average level of death (disease) of animals by three or more times.

With regard to Part 1 of Art. 247 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of the rules for handling environmentally hazardous substances and wastes), significant harm to human health is expressed in severe or moderate harm to the health of at least one person, and significant harm to the environment - in its pollution, poisoning or infection, a change in the radioactive background to values representing a danger to human health or life, etc.

Responsibility for illegal hunting, provided for in paragraph "a" part 1 of Art. 258 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, occurs only in the presence of major damage. The damage caused by illegal hunting is classified as major, based not only on the number and value of the hunted, damaged and destroyed animals, but also taking into account other circumstances of the deed, in particular the environmental value, significance for a particular habitat, and the population size of these animals. Major damage is caused, for example, by shooting elk, red deer (maral, red deer), musk ox, brown and white-breasted (Himalayan) bear.

Consequently, in addition to an increased degree of public danger, the presence of such signs of composition as the specifics of the subject, place, method of the offense, its subject, form of guilt, etc. can serve as the basis for qualifying an offense as a crime.

It can be concluded that the elements of administrative and criminal offenses are in relation to each other in the ratio of general and special norms. The former contain abstract formulations, the latter, as it were, concretize them. Consequently, the administrative-legal norm will be applied only in the part that is not covered by the signs of an environmental crime similar in structure, i.e. goes beyond the limits, the boundaries of the signs established by the criminal law norm.

Nesterova I.A. Administrative environmental offenses // Encyclopedia of the Nesterovs

Every year, environmental problems are accumulating in the world. In Russia, the fight against violations in the field of ecology has become a very important aspect of administrative and other branches of law. In this light, the question of the application of the norms of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (CAO RF) in the field of environmental protection and nature management is of great interest.

Environmental offenses and administrative liability

In modern Russian law, environmental crimes are subject to administrative liability in accordance with the norms of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Chapter 8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation "Administrative offenses in the field of environmental protection and nature management" is responsible for administrative environmental offenses. It includes 42 articles, which unite 70 independent elements of administrative offenses.

If you carefully study the compositions presented in the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, then questions arise related to what the crimes relate to. Whether they belong to the field of environmental protection or to the field of nature management.

Violation of legal norms in the field of ecology leads to environmental offenses. This is another kind of illegal behavior of people or their associations.

An environmental offense is a guilty, unlawful act or omission that infringes on the environmental legal order established in the Russian Federation and causes harm to the natural environment or actually creates a threat of such infliction.

A distinctive element of the composition of an environmental-administrative offense from an environmental crime is that its subjects can be both individuals and legal entities, including business entities of various forms of ownership and subordination, as well as foreign organizations and citizens.

The current legislation regulates the age of bringing to administrative responsibility for environmental crimes.

The age at which a person can be held administratively liable for environmental offenses, subject to physical health and sanity, is 16 years.

Article 9 of the Federal Law of the Russian Federation "On Environmental Protection" states: "The harm caused to the health and property of citizens by the negative impact of the environment as a result of economic and other activities of legal entities and individuals is subject to compensation in full."

Administrative environmental offenses have an objective and subjective side. The subjective side characterizes the mental attitude of an individual to the committed act and its consequences and has a certain specificity.

D.Yu. Gladyshev characterizes the subjective side of an environmental and legal violation as the mental attitude of the offender to his unlawful behavior, which can manifest itself in action or inaction.

The intent of an administrative environmental offense can be intentional or negligent.

In the process of studying the features of administrative environmental offenses, a difference was established between an environmental-administrative offense and other types of environmental-legal violations. The differences are not only in the subject and the subjective side, but also in the level of public danger.

Types of administrative environmental offenses

Administrative responsibility is established for violation of the rules for the protection and use of certain natural resources and natural complexes

Types of administrative responsibility for environmental offenses:

• liability for violation of the rules for the protection and use of land is established for damage to land;
• liability for violation of the rules for the protection and use of subsoil is provided for violation of the requirements for the protection of subsoil and hydro-mineral resources;
• liability for violation of the rules for the protection and use of waters is regulated for violation of the procedure for granting for use and the regime for the use of land and forests in water protection zones and coastal strips of water bodies;
• liability for violation of the rules for the protection and use of resources of natural complexes is established for violation of the rules (standards, norms) or license conditions regulating activities in inland sea waters, in the territorial sea, on the continental shelf and (or) in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation;
• liability for violation of the regulatory requirements for the protection of atmospheric air is provided for violation of the rules for the protection of atmospheric air;
• responsibility for violating the rules for the protection and use of forest resources is established for violating the procedure for allocating cutting areas, surveying logging sites in forests that are not included in the forest fund, violating forest use rules, violating the rules for secondary forest use, violating fire safety rules in forests;
• liability for violation of the rules for the protection and use of wildlife is provided for the destruction of animal habitats;
• responsibility for violation of requirements in the course of work in the field of hydrometeorology, monitoring of environmental pollution and active impacts on hydrometeorological and other geophysical processes.

The point of view of I.B. Kalinin, who proposed the classification shown in the figure below.

According to I.B. Kalinin, "this classification is based on a system of social relations that arise in the process of resource use."

A significant drawback of this concept is that, based on such an important object of environmental and legal relations as nature management, it does not affect such objects of the offense as the environment as a whole and its individual elements.

For a more complete study of the types of environmental and administrative offenses, it is necessary to proceed from the following classification, dividing administrative environmental violations into two main groups:

1. Offenses against property rights in the field of the environment (Articles 7.1-7.11, 8.6, 8.26, 8.28 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation) and the right to receive reliable information about the state of the environment (Articles 8.5, 10.7 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation);
2. Offenses against the established rules of environmental protection and nature management. In this group, it is possible to single out both offenses that can have various elements of the environment as their object, and those that affect only specific elements. Universal offenses are contained in articles 8.1-8.4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

In administrative and legal science, a number of special violations are distinguished, which are presented in the figure below.

The basis of the division in this case is the object of the offense, but the purpose of the classification is to distribute the elements of the system of administrative offenses in the field of environmental protection in a certain logical sequence, which allows us to more clearly explore this institution of administrative law.

Literature

1. The Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted by popular vote on December 12, 1993, taking into account the amendments introduced by the Laws of the Russian Federation on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation of December 30, 2008 N 6-FKZ, of December 30, 2008 N 7-FKZ // Parliamentary newspaper, N 4, 23-29.01. 2009
2. Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses of December 30, 2001 N 195-FZ, as amended. dated 12.03.2014 with amend. and add., intro. in force from 04/01/2014 // "Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation", 01/07/2002, N 1 (part 1), art. one.
3. Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation of July 24, 2002 N 95-FZ, as amended. dated 04/22/2013 // Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation, 07/29/2002, N 30, art. 3012
4. Federal Law "On Environmental Protection" dated January 10, 2002 N 7-FZ (current version, 2016)// / Consultant Plus. Prof. version - - M, 2016.
5. Gladyshev D.Yu. Some features of legal liability for environmental offenses // Legal technique Issue No. 6 / 2012 - P. 126-129
6. Ermakova L. Environmental offenses: Concept and distinctions // Ecological law. - 2004. - No. 4. - S. 8-9.
7. Kalinin I.B. Natural resource law - Tomsk: Publishing House Vol. university, 2009
8. Pakalov D.S. Environmental offenses: structure and causes // Gaps in Russian legislation. Legal Journal Issue No. 1 / 2012. S. -226-228

The objective side of an environmental offense is characterized by the presence of three elements:

a) unlawful behavior;

b) causing or real threat of causing environmental harm or violation of other legal rights and interests of subjects of environmental law;

c) a causal relationship between unlawful behavior and environmental damage or a real threat of causing such damage or violation of other legal rights and interests of subjects of environmental law.

The subjects of an environmental offense may be legal entities, officials and individuals, including foreign legal entities and citizens who have committed offenses related to the use of natural resources or environmental protection on the territory of Russia or the territory under its jurisdiction.

The composition of subjects varies depending on the type of environmental offense. So, the subjects of disciplinary liability are officials and employees of enterprises, criminal - officials and citizens, administrative - legal entities, officials and citizens.

In accordance with the current legislation, administrative and criminal liability of individuals for environmental offenses begins at the age of 16. In civil proceedings, citizens bear limited liability from the age of 14 to 18, full liability from the age of 18. From this age, the person becomes fully capable. Labor legislation does not establish age limits regarding the application of disciplinary and material liability of persons guilty of environmental offenses in the labor sphere.

The subjective side of an environmental offense is characterized by the guilt of the offender (with the exception of cases of liability of the owner of a source of increased danger). Guilt is understood as the mental attitude of the offender to his unlawful behavior, which can manifest itself in action or inaction. The law provides for two forms of guilt: intent (direct or indirect) and negligence. An environmental offense is intentional, in which the offender foresees the onset of socially harmful consequences of his behavior and wishes or deliberately allows them (for example, an entrepreneur dumps toxic waste from his production at the edge of a forest, that is, not in a place established for this). There are two types of negligence: arrogance and negligence. Arrogance occurs when a person who violates an environmental requirement foresees the socially harmful consequences of his activities, but frivolously counts on the possibility of avoiding them. Negligence is manifested in the fact that a person does not foresee the occurrence of harmful consequences, although he should have and could have foreseen them. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation introduces the concept of gross negligence. True, we are talking about the gross negligence of the victim himself, which contributed to the occurrence or increase of harm, which is taken into account when determining the amount of compensation for harm by the offender (Article 1083).

At the same time, in environmental practice, as already noted, there may be innocent (absolute) liability - for harm caused by a source of increased danger. Compensation for such damage is regulated by Art. 1079 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Some environmental offenses can be committed with any form of guilt (for example, offenses that result in air or water pollution), others - only with a deliberate form of guilt (illegal hunting or fishing), and others - through negligence (for example, careless handling of fire in the forest and violation of fire safety rules in the forests).

Disciplinary liability for environmental offenses

The grounds for disciplinary liability, the range of subjects and disciplinary sanctions are regulated by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation of December 30, 2001. It is expressed in the imposition by the employer on the guilty employee of a disciplinary sanction for failure to perform or improper performance of the labor duties assigned to him related to nature management and environmental protection. The offense may, for example, consist in the failure by the chief engineer of the enterprise to comply with the requirements of the job description regarding the operation of industrial equipment. Unlike criminal and administrative legislation, there is no more or less systematized list of environmental disciplinary offenses here.

The subjective side of a disciplinary environmental offense is, as a rule, negligence. In accordance with Article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the following disciplinary sanctions may be applied for committing a disciplinary offense: a remark; rebuke; dismissal. Federal laws, charters and regulations on discipline for certain categories of employees may also provide for other disciplinary sanctions.

The procedure for imposing and removing a disciplinary sanction is regulated by labor legislation. Before applying a disciplinary sanction, the employer must request an explanation from the employee in writing. If the employee refuses to give the specified explanation, an appropriate act is drawn up. The employee's refusal to give an explanation is not an obstacle to the application of a disciplinary sanction. A disciplinary sanction is applied no later than one month from the date of discovery of the misconduct, not counting the time of illness of the employee, his stay on vacation, as well as the time required to take into account the opinion of the representative body of employees.

The order (instruction) of the employer on the application of a disciplinary sanction is announced to the employee against receipt within three working days from the date of its issuance. A disciplinary sanction may be appealed by an employee to state labor inspectorates or bodies for the consideration of individual labor disputes.

If within a year from the date of application of a disciplinary sanction, a new disciplinary sanction is not applied to the employee, then he is considered not to have a disciplinary sanction. The employer, before the expiration of a year from the date of application of a disciplinary sanction, has the right to remove it from the employee on his own initiative, at the request of the employee himself, at the request of his immediate supervisor or a representative body of employees.

At the request of the representative body of employees, the head of the organization and his deputies may be brought to disciplinary responsibility. The employer is obliged to consider the application of the representative body of employees about the violation by the head of the organization, his deputies of laws and other regulatory legal acts on labor, the terms of the collective agreement, agreement and report the results of the consideration to the representative body of employees. If the facts of violations are confirmed, the employer is obliged to apply a disciplinary sanction to the head of the organization, his deputies, up to and including dismissal.

The imposition of a disciplinary sanction in the presence of legal grounds does not exclude the possibility of applying more severe types of liability to the guilty employee - administrative, criminal, civil.

Administrative liability for environmental offenses

The Code of Administrative Offenses also defines the bodies and officials authorized to consider the relevant cases (Chapter 23). Thus, judges consider cases of administrative offenses provided for in Articles 7.5, 7.12, 7.15, 7.17, 7.24, 7.27, 7.28; internal affairs bodies (militia) consider cases of administrative offenses provided for in Articles 8.22, 8.23; bodies of the state sanitary and epidemiological service of the Russian Federation consider cases of administrative offenses provided for in part 2 of article 7.2 (on the destruction and damage of signs of sanitary (mountain and sanitary) zones and districts, medical and recreational areas and resorts), part 2 of article 7.8, article 8.2 , Article 8.5 (in terms of information on the state of atmospheric air, sources of drinking water supply, as well as on the radiation situation), part 2 of Article 8.6 (on damage to land by production and consumption waste hazardous to human health and the environment); specially authorized state bodies in the field of nature management and environmental protection.

Bodies exercising state environmental control consider cases of administrative offenses provided for in part 2 of article 7.2 (on the destruction and damage of signs of specially protected natural areas, as well as signs installed by users of wildlife or specially authorized state bodies for the protection, control and regulation of the use objects of the animal world and their habitat, buildings and other structures belonging to the specified users and authorities), Articles 7.11 (use of objects of the animal world without a permit (license)), 8.1 (non-compliance with environmental requirements in planning, feasibility study of projects, design, placement, construction, reconstruction, commissioning, operation of enterprises, structures or other facilities), 8.2 (non-compliance with environmental and sanitary and epidemiological requirements when handling production and consumption waste or other hazardous substances ami), 8.18 (violation of the rules for conducting resource or marine scientific research in internal sea waters, in the territorial sea, on the continental shelf and (or) in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation) and other offenses.

The initiation and consideration of an administrative environmental offense, the execution of decisions in such cases is regulated by chapters 28, 29, 31, 32 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Bringing to administrative responsibility for environmental offenses does not relieve the guilty person from the obligation to compensate for the environmental or ecogenic damage caused. This is explained by the fact that the fine, although it is of a material nature, is a measure of punishment, and not compensation for harm; the amount of the fine does not go to the victim to compensate for the harm, but is directed in accordance with the law to the budget or to special accounts of environmental funds.

Criminal liability for environmental crimes

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation explicitly states that its task, along with the protection of human and civil rights and freedoms, property and public order, is environmental protection.

The state of human health, which, in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, is the highest value, largely depends on the purity of water, air, the quality of the products that it feeds on, and, accordingly, on the purity of the soil. Meanwhile, the degradation of nature is one of the significant factors in reducing the life expectancy of men in Russia over the past 25 years from 71 to 58 years. Based on data on the levels of air pollution in more than 100 cities of Russia, it was revealed that the largest part of the population (15.4 million people) is exposed to suspended solids. According to the results of calculations of the risk of death carried out by the Ministry of Health of Russia, only from air pollution by these substances, the number of deaths is 21,000, which is 7% of the annual deaths among residents of these cities. Who was held responsible for this? Beginning in 1961, the Criminal Code provided for liability for environmental crimes, in particular for air pollution.

Laws of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, legal acts of a legislative (representative) body of state power of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, legal acts of executive authorities of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation and legal acts of their officials that violate the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, the rights of public associations and local governments, may be appealed to judicial order.

As for the act of the highest official of the subject of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of the subject), acts of the executive authorities of the subject of the Russian Federation, Art. 29 established the right of the President of Russia to suspend their operation in the event that this act conflicts with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws, international obligations of the Russian Federation or violates the rights and freedoms of man and citizen until this issue is resolved by the appropriate court.

During the period of validity of the decree of the President of Russia on the suspension of the relevant acts, the highest official of the subject of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of the subject) and (or) the executive body of the subject of the Russian Federation cannot issue another act that has the same subject of regulation, with the exception of the act , canceling the act, the effect of which was suspended by the President of Russia, or making the necessary changes to it. At the same time, the highest official of a subject of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of the subject) has the right to apply to the appropriate court to resolve the issue of compliance of the act issued by him or the executive body of the subject of the Russian Federation with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws, international obligations of the Russian Federation.

In the cases specified by the Law, the President of Russia issues a warning to the highest official of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of the constituent entity). These cases concern:

• publication by the highest official of a subject of the Russian Federation (head of the highest executive body of state power of a subject of the Russian Federation) of a normative legal act that contradicts the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws, if such contradictions are established by the appropriate court, and the highest official of a subject of the Russian Federation (head of the highest executive body of state power of a subject of the Russian Federation) within two months from the date of entry into force of the court decision or within another period stipulated by the court decision, has not taken measures within its powers to enforce the court decision;
• evasion by the highest official of a subject of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of a subject of the Russian Federation) within two months from the date of issuance of a decree of the President of Russia on the suspension of a regulatory legal act of the highest official of a subject of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of a subject of the Russian Federation) or a regulatory legal an act of an executive authority of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation from issuing a regulatory legal act providing for the abolition of a suspended regulatory legal act, or from making changes to the said act, if within this period the highest official of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation) has not applied to the appropriate court to resolve the dispute (art. 29.1).

The period during which the President of Russia issues a warning to the highest official of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation (the head of the supreme executive body of state power of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation) cannot exceed six months from the date of entry into force of a court decision or from the date of official publication of a decree of the President of Russia on suspension of a regulatory legal act of the highest official of the subject of the Russian Federation (head of the highest executive body of state power of the subject of the Russian Federation) or a regulatory legal act of the executive body of the subject of the Russian Federation, if the highest official of the subject of the Russian Federation (head of the highest executive body of state power of the subject of the Russian Federation) did not apply to the appropriate court to resolve the dispute .

If within a month from the date of issuance by the President of Russia of a warning to the highest official of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation), the said person fails to take measures within the limits of his authority to eliminate the reasons that served as the basis for issuing a warning to him, the President of Russia dismisses the highest official person of the subject of the Russian Federation (head of the highest executive body of state power of the subject of the Russian Federation) from the position.

The President of Russia, in accordance with the procedure established by the criminal procedural legislation of the Russian Federation, has the right, upon a reasoned proposal from the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, to temporarily suspend the highest official of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation) from performing duties in the event that the said person is charged with committing a serious or particularly serious crime.

The decision of the President of Russia to warn the highest official of a subject of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of a subject of the Russian Federation) or to remove the highest official of a subject of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of a subject of the Russian Federation) from office is taken in the form of a decree. Such a decree shall enter into force ten days after its official publication.

The highest official of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation), whose powers were terminated by a decree of the President of Russia on the removal of the said person from office, has the right to appeal this decree to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation within ten days from the date of the official publication of the decree. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation must consider the complaint and make a decision no later than ten days from the date of its filing.

According to Art. 70 of the Federal Law "On the General Principles of the Organization of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation" local self-government bodies and officials of local self-government are responsible to the population of the municipality, the state, individuals and legal entities in accordance with the law. In particular, the responsibility of local self-government bodies and local self-government officials to the population comes as a result of the loss of public confidence. The procedure and conditions for such liability are determined by the charters of municipalities.

The responsibility of local self-government bodies and officials of local self-government to the state occurs if they violate the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the constitution, the charter of the subject of the Russian Federation, federal laws, the laws of the subject of the Russian Federation, the charter of the municipality (Article 72).

Constitutional responsibility occurs in the event of the adoption of a normative legal act that is contrary to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitutional law, federal law, constitution, charter, law of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, charter of a municipality (Article 73).

The representative body of local self-government, the head of the municipal formation, which has adopted (issued) a normative legal act, which is recognized by the court as contrary to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitutional law, federal law, constitution, charter, law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, charter of the municipal formation, are obliged to cancel within the time period established by the court decision this normative legal act or some of its provisions, as well as publish information about the court decision within ten days from the date the court decision enters into force.

If the representative body of local self-government, the head of the municipality has not repealed the normative legal act or its individual provisions, which are recognized by the court as contrary to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitutional law, federal law, constitution, charter, law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, charter of the municipality and at the same time entailed violation (derogation) of the rights and freedoms of a person and a citizen or the occurrence of other harm, then the representative body of local self-government may be dissolved, the powers of the head of the municipality may be prematurely terminated by removing him from office.

If the representative body of local self-government, the head of the municipality has not canceled the normative legal act or its individual provisions in accordance with a court decision that has entered into force, then the legislative (representative) body of state power of the subject of the Russian Federation on its own initiative or at the request of the highest official of the subject The Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of a subject of the Russian Federation) warns the representative body of local self-government in writing, and the highest official of the subject of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of a subject of the Russian Federation) warns the head of the municipality in writing about the possibility of taking measures in accordance with this Federal Law.

If the representative body of local self-government, the head of the municipal formation, within a month from the date of issuance (announcement) of the written warning, did not take measures to enforce the court decision, then the representative body of local self-government may be dissolved, and the head of the municipal formation may be removed from office no later than six months. from the date of entry into force of the court decision, which is the basis for the dissolution of the representative body of local self-government, the dismissal of the head of the municipality from office.

The representative body of local self-government is dissolved by the law of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation or by a federal law, and the head of a municipal formation is dismissed from office by a decree (decree) of the highest official of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation (head of the highest executive body of state power of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation), with the exception of heads of municipal formations - capitals and administrative centers of constituent entities Russian Federation, or by decree of the President of Russia.

If, within three months from the date of entry into force of the court decision, the representative body of local self-government has not repealed a normative legal act or its individual provisions, and the legislative (representative) body of state power of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation has not taken the measures provided for by this Law, the President of Russia has the right submit to the State Duma a draft federal law on the dissolution of the representative body of local self-government.

If within three months from the date of entry into force of the court decision, the head of the municipal formation has not repealed the normative legal act or its individual provisions, and the highest official of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation) has not taken the measures provided for in this article, then the President Russia has the right to dismiss the head of the municipality from office.

The dismissal of the head of a municipal formation from office and the simultaneous appointment of new elections (if he was elected by the population of the municipal formation) are carried out by a decree (decree) of the highest official of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation (head of the highest executive body of state power of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation) or by a decree of the President of Russia.

In the event that the head of a municipal formation is removed from office, the highest official of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation) or the President of Russia shall appoint an acting head of the municipal formation for the period until the newly elected head of the municipal formation takes office, unless another procedure is established bylaws of the municipality.

Proposals for the removal by the President of Russia of the head of a municipal formation from office may be submitted by the legislative (representative) body of state power of a subject of the Russian Federation, the highest official of a subject of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power of a subject of the Russian Federation), the Government of the Russian Federation, the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation.

Citizens whose rights and legitimate interests have been violated in connection with the dissolution of the representative body of local self-government, the dismissal of the head of the municipality from office, have the right to appeal the dissolution of the representative body of local self-government, the removal of the head of the municipality from office to the appropriate court (Supreme Court of the Republic, regional, regional courts , the court of a city of federal significance, the court of an autonomous region, the court of an autonomous district) or the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation within ten days from the date of the official publication of the law, decree (decree).

The Supreme Court of the Republic, the regional, regional courts, the court of the city of federal significance, the court of the autonomous region, the court of the autonomous district, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation must consider the complaint and make a decision no later than ten days from the date of its filing.

Civil liability for environmental damage

Compensation for environmental damage is regulated mainly by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the APC of the Russian Federation. A number of important provisions relating to this are also contained in environmental legislation, although it also refers to civil law.

The concept and types of environmental damage. Methods and principles of its compensation

Harm caused by violation of legal environmental requirements is called environmental or ecogenic harm in the doctrine of environmental law.

Environmental damage is understood as any deterioration of the state of the environment that occurred as a result of violation of legal environmental requirements. It primarily manifests itself in the form of environmental pollution, damage, destruction, damage, depletion of natural resources, destruction of ecological systems.

As a result of the named forms of nature degradation, harm can be caused to the health and property of citizens and legal entities. Such harm is called ecogenic. Harm to the health and property of citizens and legal entities by adverse environmental impacts is not always associated with a violation of the requirements of environmental legislation. It can be caused due to natural disasters - earthquakes, floods, etc.

We emphasize that environmental harm has other socially significant manifestations. They relate, in particular, to the demographic sphere: a decrease in life expectancy, a decrease in population growth.

Environmental damage is often associated with the loss of benefits, that is, the non-receipt by the user of natural resources of income that he could receive under normal conditions. For example, a farmer could have had a higher crop yield if the environment had not been polluted.

A new element of environmental damage for Russian environmental law is moral damage. Moral harm may consist in moral feelings due to the inability to continue an active social life, with the loss of a job, as well as physical pain associated with damage to health or in connection with a disease suffered as a result of moral suffering. Since nature satisfies the aesthetic (spiritual) needs of a person, the destruction, for example, of green spaces in cities can also be considered as a factor in causing moral harm and, accordingly, should serve as the basis for its compensation. Appropriate claims may be brought in the context of a violation of the right to a healthy environment.

The legislation provides for judicial and extrajudicial procedures for compensation for environmental damage. The corresponding duty may be performed by a court decision - general or arbitration. Out-of-court compensation is implemented in a number of ways, including voluntary compensation, through insurance against the risk of environmental harm, and through administrative procedures. The voluntary method of compensation for harm, rarely used in practice, has some advantages for its causer, which are still little realized in Russian society. Judicial procedure can create powerful anti-advertising for the enterprise and other tortfeasor, in which they cannot be interested in any way. When the situation concerning environmental damage is obvious, in particular when there is a tortfeasor and his victims, it is sometimes "more profitable" to compensate for the damage voluntarily.

The administrative procedure for compensation for environmental damage is applied, as a rule, in case of accidents and natural disasters that have environmental consequences, by taking measures for the socio-economic protection of the affected population. As other forms of compensation for such harm in the administrative procedure, one can consider the issuance of a temporary disability certificate, disability registration.

Compensation for damage to human health and property caused by adverse environmental impacts

The legislation establishes the principle of full compensation for harm caused to the health and property of citizens by the adverse effects of the environment. According to the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection", harm caused to the health and property of citizens by the negative impact of the environment as a result of economic and other activities of legal entities and individuals is subject to compensation in full. Determination of the volume and amount of compensation for harm caused to the health and property of citizens as a result of violation of legislation in the field of environmental protection is carried out in accordance with the law.

The previous Law "On the Protection of the Environment" indicated specific factors that should be taken into account when determining the amount of harm caused to the health of citizens: the degree of disability of the victim, the necessary costs for treatment and restoration of health, the costs of caring for the sick, other expenses, including lost professional opportunities, costs associated with the need to change the place of residence and lifestyle, profession, as well as losses associated with moral injuries, the inability to have children or the risk of having children with congenital pathology.

The usual practice for Russia to compensate for damage to the health of citizens as a result of environmental pollution (as a special case of damage to health in general) is to receive temporary disability benefits. In accordance with the Fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation on the protection of the health of citizens, the corresponding decision is made on the basis of a special examination. Examination of temporary disability is carried out by the attending physicians of the state, municipal and private healthcare systems. They single-handedly issue certificates of incapacity for work to citizens for up to 30 days, and for a longer period, certificates for incapacity for work are issued by a medical commission appointed by the head of the medical institution.

During the examination of temporary disability, the need and timing of the temporary or permanent transfer of the employee for health reasons to another job are determined, and a decision is made to send the citizen in the prescribed manner to the medical and social expert commission, including if the citizen has signs of disability.

If there are signs of disability, that is, a health disorder with a persistent disorder of body functions due to a disease or other causes that leads to a limitation of life and necessitates social protection, the appropriate decision is made based on the results of a medical and social examination. In accordance with the Fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation on the protection of the health of citizens, a medical and social examination is carried out by institutions of medical and social examination of the system of the Ministry of Social Protection of the Population of the Russian Federation upon a written application by a person with signs of disability, or his legal representative.

Along with the material support of the disabled, including cash payments for various reasons, the legislation provides for benefits for medical care, housing, benefits for working conditions, social and transport services, and sanatorium treatment.

The provision of social and economic protection measures, benefits and compensations to citizens affected by the adverse effects of the environment, received regulatory formalization after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Such measures, benefits and compensations are stipulated, in particular, by the Law "On Social Protection of Citizens Exposed to Radiation as a Result of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Catastrophe" and other laws.

So, citizens who have received or suffered radiation sickness, other diseases, and disabled people as a result of the Chernobyl disaster, the Law guarantees:

• free medical care (inpatient and outpatient), free purchase of medicines (by prescription), free production and repair of dental prostheses (with the exception of prostheses made of precious metals), free annual provision of spa treatment or cash compensation in the amount of the average cost vouchers, etc.;
• payment of temporary disability benefits to working disabled people for up to four consecutive months or up to five months in a calendar year in the amount of 100% of actual earnings without limitation of two tariff rates (salaries);
• payment for the occupied living space (within the limits stipulated by the current legislation), including for members of their families living with them, in the amount of 50% of the rent calculated at the rates established for workers and employees, as well as providing a discount of 50 % from the established fee for the use of telephones, radios and for their installation, for the use of heating, water supply, gas and electricity, and for those living in houses without central heating - a discount of 50% on the cost of fuel purchased within the limits, established for sale to the public, including transportation costs;
• free travel on all types of urban passenger transport (except taxis) and on public transport (except taxis) in rural areas, as well as on suburban railway and water transport and on suburban buses, free travel with the right to purchase tickets in priority on the railway by road or on ships of transit and local lines of the river fleet once a year (round trip), and in areas that do not have a railway connection - by air, water or intercity road transport;
• other significant benefits.

Issues of insurance of the risk of causing harm to the health or property of citizens from environmental pollution are to some extent considered within the framework of environmental insurance in the section "Economic and legal mechanism for nature management and environmental protection". Environmental insurance is a guarantee that a citizen who has insured his health and property against the risk of harm due to unforeseen pollution or other adverse changes in the environment will receive appropriate compensation.

It can be expected that in Russia the issue of compulsory environmental insurance of citizens against the risk of adverse effects on human health of environmentally hazardous objects will be resolved. At present, compulsory free personal insurance against the risk of radiation exposure at the expense of the owners or owners (users) of nuclear facilities is provided for by the Federal Law "On the Use of Atomic Energy".

In other cases, citizens can insure their lives, health and property on their own initiative, receiving appropriate compensation upon the occurrence of an insured event. Such a case is only emergency (sudden, unintentional) pollution of the environment, i.e. an accident at a technical facility with environmental consequences, or, according to experts, an environmental accident.

If a citizen who has suffered from the adverse effects of the environment claims full compensation for damage to health or property, in accordance with the procedure established by law, he must declare his claims in court. The victim himself, members of his family, a prosecutor authorized by the state administration body, a public organization (association), representing the interests of the victim, may file a lawsuit with the court. At the same time, the victim must substantiate his claims and provide evidence of harm to health or property, the existence of a causal relationship between the harm caused and environmental pollution, as well as a causal relationship between environmental pollution and the activities of polluters - enterprises, institutions, organizations and citizens.

If a person is recognized as disabled due to an environmentally determined disease, the source of the disease, as well as causal relationships, can be established through a medical and social examination. In other cases, all this must be documented by the victim himself, by submitting to the court a certificate of health, an act (certificate) of the state environmental control body on the fact of environmental pollution at a certain time and in a certain territory, and a certificate from the place of work, place of residence (local authority self-government, passport police department or house management), confirming that the victim was at that time in this place and, therefore, was exposed to harmful effects of the environment. In practice, proving a causal relationship in the area under consideration is an extremely difficult matter.

When preparing materials for filing a claim for compensation for harm caused to health by environmental pollution, the plaintiff substantiates the amount of damage and the amount of compensation. When considering a case, the court hears the arguments of the parties, checks the legality, correctness and validity of the calculations, as well as all other legal and factual circumstances of the case, and makes a decision on this basis.

The subjects of liability for causing harm to the health and property of citizens by environmental offenses can be both legal entities and citizens-entrepreneurs, as well as state bodies and their officials. According to Art. 53 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, everyone has the right to compensation by the state for damage caused by illegal actions (or inaction) of state bodies and their officials. At the same time, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation establishes that harm caused to a citizen (as well as a legal entity) as a result of illegal actions (inaction) of state bodies, local government bodies or officials of these bodies, including as a result of the issuance of an act that does not comply with the law or other legal act state body or local self-government body, is subject to compensation. It is reimbursed at the expense of the treasury of the Russian Federation, the treasury of the subject of the Russian Federation or the treasury of the municipality, respectively (Article 1069).

It is also important to know that along with compensation for damage to health and property caused by an environmental offense, a citizen has the right to compensation for losses associated with moral injuries or moral damage.

Liability for environmental damage caused by a source of increased danger

Compensation for harm caused by a source of increased danger to the environment is characterized by significant specifics. It manifests itself in the fact that responsibility for environmental damage caused by such sources comes without fault. In world practice, such responsibility is called strict or absolute. The objects of environmental damage are also specific.

Liability for harm caused by activities that create an increased danger to others is regulated by Art. 1079 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The objects of increased danger of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation include means, mechanisms, high-voltage electrical energy, nuclear energy, explosives, potent poisons, etc., as well as the implementation of construction and other related activities, etc.

By the court from liability in whole or in part, if the gross negligence of the victim himself contributed to the occurrence or increase of harm.

The current legislation provides for liability for environmental offenses committed in the field of the use of natural reserves and the preservation of the environment. In accordance with the laws and regulations of law, they are singled out as independent offenses and crimes.

concept

Environmental offenses or crimes are actions or omissions that are contrary to the established requirements of environmental law. In practice, this is expressed as a guilty illegal environmentally unsafe or harmful action that encroaches on the established procedures in the field of environmental safety in the use of natural resources and environmental protection.

Environmental offenses are characterized by causing environmental damage in the course of illegal actions.

The essence of the concept is reflected in the fact that the offender took any actions or inactions in relation to the factors that led to changes in the state of the natural environment, as well as the commission of offenses defined by environmental legislation.

The concept of environmental offense in its content defines some illegal actions for which punishment should follow. For such violations, in accordance with the law, criminal, administrative, disciplinary and civil liability is provided.

Types of environmental offenses

There are 3 types of environmental offenses. This:

• Committed by the legitimate owners of natural resources.
• Made by nature users.
• Committed by persons who do not belong to any of these subgroups.

The next criterion is the state of natural objects, in relation to which environmental violations have been identified. This:

• Corruption.
• Destruction.
• Damage.

According to the object of encroachment, the types of environmental offenses are distinguished into: mountain, land, water, forest.

Classification

If objects of encroachment of a group of homogeneous offenses are singled out as part of an offense, the following classification takes place:

• Illegal destruction and damage to natural resources, such as pollution, clogging of water, destruction of forest areas, significant damage to agricultural land.
• Violation and ignoring the rules for transferring ownership of natural resources associated with the possibility of causing damage to the environment. Such violations include the introduction into operation of technical structures and enterprises that damage the environment.
• Inaction or non-compliance with the established rules for the conservation of natural resources.
• Deliberate use of various natural resources for their own selfish purposes. For example, collecting wild rare plants.

Corpus delicti

Environmental offenses include:

• Clogging or depletion of groundwater and sources, causing harm to them, resulting in a change in their natural qualities. Especially if it carries a danger to the animal and plant surroundings.
• Violation of the norms of permissible emissions into the atmosphere of various harmful substances or improper operation of technical devices and structures, resulting in pollution or changes in the properties of the air.
• Pollution of seas and water sources due to the discharge of substances and materials that have a harmful effect on human health or other living resources.
• Poisoning or contamination of land with harmful products of economic activity due to the improper use and application of fertilizers or pesticides, as well as resulting from their careless transportation.
• Destruction or damage to the natural or artificially created forest fund as a result of improper or inaccurate handling of fire or other sources of potential danger.
• Illegal deforestation or destruction of certain types of their plant part, committed on a significant scale, violating the overall balance of the natural environment.
• Illegal hunting or extermination of animals, causing damage on a large scale, as well as using vehicles or explosives, poison gases used against the fauna of forests and reserves.
• Illegal fishing of fish or marine mammals, as well as vegetation, if they entail causing major damage and are carried out using self-propelled vehicles, chemicals or explosives.
• Production of logging, construction of illegal building structures (dams, bridges), if they entailed the mass death of fish and other creatures of the aquatic environment.
• Production of environmentally hazardous waste, its improper transportation and storage, as well as disposal by means of release into the environment.
• Illegal or careless handling of radioactive materials.
• Violation of safety and sanitary rules, which are established by the current federal legislation.

Responsibility for environmental offenses

The rules established by the current legislation regarding the prevention, detection and suppression of violations in the field of nature conservation are also a way of control. Responsibility for committing environmental offenses is assigned in the course of legal proceedings or may be determined by regulatory authorities.

Environmental control is carried out not only by the state and is divided into several types:

• State.
• Industrial.
• Public.
• Municipal.
• General.

Each of these types of control is carried out in order to:

• Supervision by individuals and legal entities of compliance with environmental legislation and its norms.
• Compliance with all provided requirements and regulatory documents.
• Ensuring environmental safety and security of the natural environment.

Thus, environmental supervision is one of the means of managing the protection of the natural environment and:

• carried out by special bodies and persons of the environmental inspection on behalf of the state;
• is over- and extra-departmental in nature;
• is one of the functions of environmental management of the state;
• associated with the use of various measures of administrative coercion.

Types of liability for environmental offenses

State control is carried out on the basis of the legal framework by special state bodies that have the authority and are called upon to ensure regular and systematic environmental supervision.

Production control is carried out in order to ensure the execution of economic processes or production activities, as well as various measures aimed at protecting the natural environment and rational use of its resources. Business entities provide information about the organization to the executive authorities, which conduct regular inspections in accordance with the procedure established by law. Such control is carried out by the environmental service of a legal entity, which acts exactly in accordance with the letter of the law and whose function is aimed at eliminating the negative consequences of the organization's production activities. Criminal or administrative liability is applied to the enterprise and its managers, and disciplinary liability for environmental offenses is applied to employees.

Municipal control is carried out in the entrusted territory by local self-government bodies in the manner prescribed by law, in accordance with regulatory legal acts.

Legal liability

Types of liability for environmental offenses: disciplinary, administrative or material, as well as in the case of crimes - criminal. Bringing to any of the types of such liability does not exempt the subject from compensation for harm and other types of monetary penalties and compensation.

Subjects brought to criminal, disciplinary and material liability may be only natural persons. Whereas administrative liability for environmental offenses, as well as civil law, comes for individuals and legal entities.

According to the current legislation, persons who have reached the age of 16 can be held liable. Under civil law, minors have limited liability from 15 to 18 years of age. And on the onset of adulthood - full.

Criminal liability for environmental offenses occurs in the case of a completed crime and cannot be awarded for an attempt to commit or prepare it, as well as an attempt to commit a crime if it has not been completed.

List of crimes

In accordance with the Criminal Code, the following environmental crimes are subject to punishment:

• Violation of the rules for the safe use of microbiological agents or toxins that have caused harm to human health, the spread of various epidemics, as well as serious consequences, including the death of a person.
• Deviation from the norms of conducting veterinary activities, which entailed the spread of epizootics or other serious consequences that are in the nature of an epidemic and cover entire livestock in large territorial areas.
• Violation of the rules established in the protection of fish stocks, resulting in the mass death of a population of fish or other aquatic creatures, as well as a significant destruction of their food stocks.
• Destruction of habitats of animals and organisms that are listed in the Red Book.
• Violation of the established regime of territories or objects under protection, and causing significant damage to these natural resources.
• Violation of the established rules as a result of the implementation of production activities or the performance of other works that entailed a change in the radiation level and damage to human health or to the mass destruction of populations of animals and other organisms.
• Violation of the methods and rules of storage, disposal of harmful compounds and wastes that can pose a threat to people or the natural environment and entail pollution and poisoning that has caused harm to human health or led to the mass destruction of animals. And also if they were committed in areas with an environmental emergency or disaster and caused the death of a person or mass epidemics.
• Pollution of water resources, resulting in damage to fish stocks, flora and fauna, as well as nearby forest or economic lands, especially if human health has been harmed or death has occurred.

• Pollution of the atmosphere by the release of toxic substances into the air, which entailed serious consequences.
• Damage to the land, which caused significant damage to natural resources, animals and people living in these territories.
• Violation of the established rules for the protection and use of the bowels of the earth, including illegal mining of minerals or violation of the rules for their use or construction, causing irreversible damage to the environment.
• Illegal hunting aimed at causing major damage or extermination of populations of animals, birds, as well as carried out on the territory of nature reserves or wildlife sanctuaries.
• Illegal felling of trees and shrubs that has led to the extinction or threat of extinction of certain species.
• Destruction of forest plantations and massifs as a result of the careless use of fire.

The onset of administrative responsibility

Administrative liability for environmental offenses occurs in accordance with the commission of illegal actions intentionally or through negligence.

Violators of administrative proceedings are punished in the form of a fine, warnings, confiscation, seizure of tools and deprivation of special rights of individuals to carry out a certain type of activity in connection with which the damage was caused.

The list of violations fully complies with criminal offenses with the difference that administrative environmental offenses did not harm human health or did not lead to the destruction of plant and animal resources, but, nevertheless, caused significant damage or were aimed at achieving certain criminal offenses, but have not been fully implemented.

Environmental assessment

To identify and establish violations and crimes, an environmental expertise is created, which is aimed at preventing and identifying adverse environmental impacts. Legal liability for environmental offenses arises based on the results of its implementation.

State expertise can only be carried out by the federal executive branch. All types of urban planning documentation for various projects, regardless of their purpose and application, must undergo a mandatory environmental review, in accordance with the paragraphs of the federal law "On Environmental Review". In case of discrepancies, legal liability for environmental offenses arises.

The environmental assessment is based on the following principles:

• Identification of potential environmental hazards for the natural environment from any planned economic and other activities.
• Obligation to conduct an examination before the start of decision-making on the construction and implementation of the project to which it is directed.
• The complexity of assessing the interactions or the resulting consequences for nature from economic or other activities.
• Obligation to take into account the requirements provided during the environmental impact assessment and their implementation.
• Reliability and completeness of the information provided.
• Independence of expert opinion of ecological expertise.
• The scientific accuracy and validity of the conclusions drawn and the legality of the opinions provided based on the results of the environmental impact assessment.
• publicity of the results.
• Bearing responsibility by the participants of the examination for its organization and high-quality execution.

Legal liability for environmental offenses may arise as a result of an expert opinion when violations of existing norms and rules are revealed. Depending on what kind of violations were committed, the method and type of liability awarded is determined.

Disciplinary liability for environmental offenses is provided for in the form of a severe reprimand, remarks in a personal file. As well as the dismissal of an official or employee of the organization.

The issues of preserving the environment, as well as flora and fauna, should become the concern not only of regulatory authorities, but also of each person individually. This is especially true of economic facilities and enterprises operating in the entrusted territories. Caring for the environment is not limited to caring for your own backyard. While carrying out our professional activities, we should never forget that by preserving the environment, we give the future to our children.

Responsibility for various environmental types is provided for by law. These violations include not only harm to the environment, but also the irrational use of natural resources.

Regardless of citizenship, offenders can be both individuals and legal entities. For environmental offenses, the legislation provides for various types of liability, one of which is administrative.

Administrative liability for environmental offenses

Any action, as well as inaction, that does not comply with existing environmental and legal norms, is considered an environmental offense. In fact, such actions are unsafe or harmful and violate established environmental safety practices.

The stipulated rules regulate the use of natural resources and are designed to protect the environment. For all actions or inactions, due to which a change in the state of the natural environment is noted, certain penalties are provided.

There are four types of liability for environmental offenses, each of which is established by law:

• disciplinary responsibility
• civil liability

Depending on the object in relation to which the illegal action was performed, environmental offenses are divided into land, water, forest and mountain. The state of a natural object that has undergone a change as a result of an environmental crime is one of the criteria used to determine the severity of an illegal act. There are three such states:

1. damage
2. damage
3. destruction

Depending on how the offender is related to natural resources, three types of environmental violations can be distinguished:

• produced by the owner of natural resources
• produced by the user of these resources
• produced by a person who does not belong to the previously identified subgroups

To establish an offense, a special environmental is used. Its purpose is to prevent and identify various negative impacts on environmental safety. The results of the examination determine the legal liability of the offender for a particular environmental violation.

At the state level, such an examination can be carried out exclusively by representatives of the federal executive power. In particular, all projects of urban planning documentation are subject to environmental protection. If during the inspection any discrepancy with the norms established by law is found, the violator will be subject to legal liability.

Environmental offenses are various actions or inactions taken by a violator, as a result of which the state of some natural object is violated. Special expertise is used to determine the presence and severity of environmental violations.

Classification of administrative environmental offenses

For environmental offenses they are also legally liable!

Legal liability for every offense committed implies some punishment. Thus, legal liability has four fundamental objectives:

• preventive - helps to avoid re-damaging the environment
• stimulating - inclines the violator and others to due observance of laws in the future
• compensatory - restores damage to nature
• punitive - in a certain way punishes the person who committed the offense

The number of administrative offenses, due to which the environment is harmed, includes up to forty types of environmental offenses. In practice, they are divided into three groups:

1. non-compliance with environmental requirements
2. non-compliance with the rules and procedures for the operation of natural objects and resources
3. damage or complete destruction of objects and natural resources

Each of these groups includes characteristic environmental offenses. Among the crimes of the first group can be seen:

• violation of environmental and legal norms in the process of project planning; in the technical and economic justification of projects; when designing and erecting buildings and other facilities, as well as putting them into operation
• violation of sanitary and environmental standards in the process of working with various waste or other unsafe substances
• non-compliance with the methodology for the use of pesticides and agrochemicals
• obstruction of state environmental audits

The second group of violations includes:

1. non-compliance with the rules for the conservation of subsoil and hydro-mineral resources
2. subsoil use inconsistent with established norms
3. irrational implementation of geological studies of the subsoil
4. inconsistent with the law, the provision for use and the procedure for the operation of land plots in the territory that belongs to the water protection zone

The third group consists of such violations:

• damage to land resources
• illegal logging or other damage to trees and shrubs
• destruction of animal habitats

For all these violations, various penalties can be applied. In some cases, if the violation is relatively light, the offender can get by with just a warning, but as the severity increases, the magnitude of the punishment also changes.

For any violation of the norms and rules regulated by law, the violator will be punished accordingly.

Administrative responsibility

For environmental offenses - a fine!

Administrative responsibility for environmental offenses is assigned in situations where violation of legal norms occurs without corpus delicti. It applies to individuals-entrepreneurs, as well as legal entities. Administrative responsibility is as follows:

• seizure of the funds with which the offense was committed
• withdrawal of a license for the use of natural resources and entrepreneurship, which is associated with the use of ecology
• compensation for damage to nature

The regulation of administrative responsibility is carried out with the help of several levers. One of them is the Code of Administrative Offenses, and the other is the special legislation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. This legislation consists of various established legal acts, including a description of possible environmental offenses and possible ways to bring these persons to justice.

In order to be able to apply administrative responsibility, an environmental offense must contain certain signs, the offender must be proven, and there must also be a statutory norm, depending on which the composition of the violation is determined and how the offender should be punished.

It should be noted that administrative liability for environmental offenses is somewhat specific:

1. it occurs only for those violations that are marked in the legislation as administrative
2. any person can act as a violator
3. application of responsibility is assigned to the authorized body or official
4. it must be used in the manner prescribed by the procedural legislation
5. only prescribed norms are applied as a punishment, if the violation is insignificant, then exemption from the violation is possible
6. liability differs depending on the offender

Administrative liability is defined by law and is applied exclusively in the prescribed manner.

Administrative liability for environmental offenses is one of the types of liability that applies to a person who has in any way violated environmental protection standards established by law. Depending on the composition of the offense, various punishment options are applied.

Opinion of a legal expert:

Caring for the environment is caring for our future and the future of our children. Apparently, therefore, the legislator provided for liability for environmental offenses, up to criminal liability. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains such an article. It is called "Illegal felling of forest plantations" (Article 260). This is just about what will happen if, before the new year, you go into the forest and bring the Christmas tree home.

And this is what will happen. If the Christmas tree is valued, and its value turns out to be more than 5,000 rubles, then you can get a fine in court from 500 thousand rubles to imprisonment for up to 2 years. It even works out a lot. Our article provides a more complete list of different types of liability. But with specific offenses involving administrative and criminal liability, you can familiarize yourself with the content of the articles of the codes.

Enterprises for violating environmental standards pay huge fines, millions of rubles. But the environment is changing slowly. Punishment alone is not enough.

Justification: Chapter 26 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (18 articles), Chapter 8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (46 articles).

On legal liability for violation of environmental legislation - in the video: