Kulinich P. F.

Kulinich P. F. Legal regulation of use of nature in Ukraine: unity of differentiation and integration.

The environment is a complicated system which needs both differentiated and integrated legal regulation. In legal system of Ukraine, the integrated legal regulation of use and protection of nature (natural resources) is provided by ecological law as a separate branch of law. The main legislative act of the ecological law is Law of Ukraine “On protection of environment”, which was adapted on June 25, 1991. This Law has opened a new stage in development of modern ecological law as a branch of legal system of Ukraine. However, Law “On protection of environment” contains legal provisions which have coursed a number of problems of theoretical and practical nature. One of them is the problem of definition ecological law’s subject. The legal doctrine of Ukraine is based on understanding that every independent branch of law of the legal system has its own subject which is scope of social relation regulated by proper branch of law. A subject of any branch of legal system consists of special social relations. That is why key issue while defining of peculiarities of ecological relations consists in finding out their object. In Law “On protection of environment” three types of objects to be protected by the Law are listed. They are: 1) environment as complex of natural and socio-natural preconditions and process; 2) landscapes and other natural complexes; 3) natural resources both involved in usage and unused (land, mines, water, atmosphere air, forest and other vegetation, animal world). All these types of object are recognized by ecological law scholar representatives as objects of ecological relations regulated by ecological law.

However, there are also another branches in legal system of Ukraine which have the task to regulate social relations regarding the same natural resources – land, forests, water, mines and so on. These branches of law are named as resources branches of law. Correspondingly they have their own subjects which are land relations, forest relations, water relations, mines relations etc. It witnesses about overlapping of subject of ecological law and subjects of land law, forest law, water law, mine law and others resources branches of legal system of Ukraine. So very important task of legal science consists in correct and practical delimitation of the subject of ecological law and subjects of resources branches of law.

Taking into account this overlapping and trying to give to it proper explanation some scholars who are specialists in ecological law of Ukraine and some other post-soviet countries state that correlation between ecological law and resources branches of law is as correlation between common and particularities. They think that ecological law is complex branch of law which combines land law, forest law, water law, mine law and others resources branches as its sub-branches or even its legal institutes. In other words, they argue that land law, forest law, water law, mine law and others resources branches are not separate and independent branches of legal system of Ukraine.

From our point of view, such approach to delimitation of the subject of ecological law and subjects of resources branches of law is rather controversial. We are sure that ecological law may have a monopoly on legal regulation only of social relations regarding environment as complex of natural and socio-natural preconditions and process as well as landscapes and other natural complexes. As for social relations regarding seperate natural resources like land, forests, mines etc., they can be an object of ecological relations only in case these relations appear regarding land and other natural resources being in ecosystem connection with other elements of nature. But as a fact, there are a lot of relations regarding land and other natural resources which does not have ecological content. That is why some representative of Ukrainian legal scholar share the position that land law as well as other resources branches of law are not part of ecological law and belong to independent branches of legal system of Ukraine. These branches of law promote differentiated legal regulation of social relations regarding land and other natural resources. The difference between subjects of ecological law and resources branches of law has practical meaning. First, legal regulation of social relations regarding nature needs both differentiation and integration, which are promoted by ecological law and resources branches of law in their unity. Second, it is not possible to develop Ecological Code of Ukraine which might inck.de all provisions of Land Code, Forest Code, Water Code and Mine Code of Ukraine because all these codes represent branches of law with different subject.

Key words: use of nature, land law, environmental law, legal regulation, integration, differentiation.

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