Theoretical and Legal Problems of Compensation for Harm Caused to the Environment

A modern mechanism of compensation of harm caused to the environment requires revision of existing and elaboration of new theoretical and legal provisions and conceptual approaches that will ensure that the specificity of the mechanism is taken into account and conflicts in environmental and civil laws are being dealt with. Among controversial issues to be addressed at the doctrinal and legal levels, the problems of terminological inconsistency, definition and interrelationship between the concepts of "environmental harm," "environmental damage," "harm to the environment," etc., remain unsolved. The legal nature of the harm caused to the environment and its individual components, its specific characteristics, including those characteristics that existed in the past, necessitate the further development of theoretical justifications of existing legislation in this area, and determination of directions of its improvement on the basis of environmental legislation. Civil law rules are applicable to the understanding of harm caused to the health and property of citizens by negative environmental impact as a result of economic and other activities of legal and personal entities, to determination of the amount and order of compensation of such harm, as well as to the damage caused by a source of increased danger. The same problematic are the issues associated with compensation of harm caused to the components of the environment. The analysis of the environmental and natural resources legislation reveals that it lacks a legal definition of the concept of harm caused to the vast majority of components of the environment. It is necessary to update and improve the methods of calculating and recovering harm resulting from environmental offenses and implementation of environmentally hazardous activities. It is required to revise the methods of calculating harm caused to the components of the environment on the basis of their evaluation from the standpoint of a unified methodological framework, conceptual framework, mechanisms employed for their determination, assessment, and implementation. In order to overcome conflicts of laws existing in environmental and natural resources legislation, it is appropriate to develop and adopt a special regulatory legal act in the field of compensation of harm caused to the environment based on and consistent with the provisions of the general theory of environmental legislation efficiency that ensures the effectiveness of natural resources activities and environmental protection activities. The efficiency of compensation for the harm caused to the environment is influenced by the existing gaps in normative legal acts regulating determination of harm is caused to a separate component of the environment, which leads to the problems of law enforcement including the problems arising with regard to the state environmental supervision and dealing with court disputes. Methodological approaches suggested to improve the theory and legislation on compensation of harm to the environment, health and property of citizens will contribute to the effectiveness of its compensation.

harm to the environment, past environmental harm, damages, fees and methods of assessment of harm, natural resources and environmental legislation, effectiveness of environmental harm compensation, conflict of laws in civil and environmental legislation, components of the environment

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