The protection and use of land in Russia is carried out in the manner specified in the relevant regulatory acts. They include the LC, CC and other legislative documents. Sources of legal regulation of the use and protection of land establish rules that are aimed at preventing negative impacts on resources, ensuring the safety of ecological systems and their ability to be a means of production.
Protection objectives
Legal protection of land in the Russian Federation is aimed at:
- To prevent negative effects on the state of ecosystems. In particular, this refers to pollution, cluttering, land degradation. This negative effect is due to direct human activity.
- Ensuring restoration of disturbed soil cover.
Key events
Land degradation is a complex of changes leading to a significant violation of the normal state of the soil cover. This phenomenon is a consequence of the wrong actions of entities exploiting resources. Deterioration of the soil condition occurs when the necessary remedial measures are not taken. Legal protection of agricultural land involves the establishment of certain requirements for owners, tenants and other entities operating the resources. In particular, they are required to carry out activities:
- To protect the soil cover from wind and water erosion, flooding, mudflows, secondary salinization, waterlogging, compaction, desiccation, contamination with chemical and radioactive compounds, littering with consumption and production waste, and other negative impacts leading to its deterioration.
- To preserve fertility.
- To protect the land from overgrowing with shrubs and trees, weeds.
- To eliminate the consequences of negative effects on the state of soils, including littering and nutrient pollution.
- To protect crops and crops from pests. In particular, measures must be taken to destroy pathogens, animals and plants that can harm them.
- To ensure the conservation of the achieved degree of reclamation.
- On timely inclusion of territories into circulation.
Land reclamation is also included in the list of measures . This is a set of procedures aimed at restoring fertility. The implementation of these measures is carried out in accordance with regional, local and federal programs. Legal protection of lands implies the possibility of applying liability measures for non-compliance with mandatory measures, the list of which is determined taking into account the specifics of agricultural activity, climatic and other conditions.
Nuances
Legal protection of land is implemented through the establishment of sanitary and hygienic requirements and norms. Assessment of the condition of soils and the effectiveness of the measures taken is based on the results of environmental impact assessment. Normative acts establish maximum permissible concentrations of harmful substances in the environment. For the prevention of land degradation, as well as for the purpose of restoration, their conservation is allowed. To increase the interest of owners, tenants and other entities engaged in the exploitation of resources, their economic incentives are allowed in the manner provided for in the BC and the Tax Code.
Compensation for agricultural production losses
Legal protection of land includes the possibility of compensation for losses when transferring territories to another category. Reimbursement of losses is carried out within 3 months. after making the appropriate decision. Losses are compensated by subjects:
- At the request of which it was decided to transfer agricultural land to another category.
- For which sanitary protection and other zones are created with a special regime.
Losses are compensated in case of provision of land for unlimited operation or for free in the property. When selling allotments or leasing them out, losses are to be included in the price or maintenance fee. Calculation of losses is carried out in accordance with the standards for the cost of development of territories to replace seized lands, as well as taking into account the quality of agricultural products. Funds that come from compensation for losses are sent to the appropriate budget (local). They may be spent on measures to protect soils and increase their fertility. If the environmental impact assessment is positive, the funds may be spent on the development of new territories.
Forest
Regulatory acts allow the transfer of sites included in forestry to another category or the exploitation of territories for purposes not related to forest management. In this case, losses must also be reimbursed. Compensation is carried out by entities that are provided with territories included in the forest fund. The procedure for damages is established by government regulations. Losses are compensated by charging for the direct transfer of land from one category to another for their subsequent operation for purposes not related to forestry. The amount of payments is set in accordance with the basic norms. In the calculations, coefficients are used that take into account the environmental component of the assessment of the forest fund territories, socio-economic factors in individual regional municipalities.
Methods of legal protection of land
Legal procedures serve as protection methods. Legal protection of land includes:
- Restoring the situation that existed before the violation.
- Recognition of rights to the site.
- Suppression of actions aimed at violating the interests of the owner or other entity exploiting resources.
Litigation
As part of the production, recognition of rights to the site is carried out. The decision made in the case acts as the basis, according to which the authorized bodies must conduct state registration of the object. The consideration of the case is carried out at the request of the person concerned. The court is also restoring the situation that took place before the violation of rights. Production is instituted in cases established by law. These include:
- Recognition by a court of invalidity of an act of the executive structure of power at the regional or local level, the adoption of which entailed a violation of the interests of the applicant.
- Unauthorized occupation of a site belonging to another person.
Norms may provide other grounds for restoring the former state.
Suppression of illegal actions
Actions encroaching on the right of ownership, possession, etc., or creating a threat of its infringement, must be stopped. Suppression of violations is carried out by:
- Recognition of invalidity of acts adopted by executive structures at the regional / local level that do not comply with the law. This procedure is carried out by the court.
- Suspension of the implementation of acts of executive structures of power that do not meet the standards.
- Restoring the situation that took place before the infringement of interests, suppression of actions that create the danger of violation of rights.
- Suspensions of civil housing, industrial and other construction, operation of facilities, development of peat and mineral deposits, reclamation, agrochemical, prospecting, exploration, geodetic and other works.
Features of legal protection of land
An act of an executive structure of a regional / local level of a non-normative nature, as well as a legal document that does not comply with the law, may be declared invalid by the court. Losses that a legal entity or a citizen suffered as a result of its adoption must be compensated. Compensation is carried out by the authority that adopted the invalidated act. Losses incurred as a result of violation of the rights of the owner of the plot, land user, owner or tenant are fully compensated. The compensation procedure is established by the Civil Code. Compensation is also subject to lost profits. In accordance with a court decision, coercive measures may be applied to an entity found guilty of violating the interests of the owner or other person who is legally exploiting natural resources. In particular, a person may be charged with performing duties in kind - restoring fertility, restoring allotment boundaries to their former state, and so on.
Violations
The types of legal protection of land established in regulatory enactments include various liability measures. They are applied in accordance with the gravity of the violation. It acts as an unlawful, guilty, dangerous act of the subject, causing harm to the interests of the individual, state and society. A land offense is a person’s behavior that violates the laws of the West Coast, damaging natural resources, the health of people around and the environment.
Refund Specifics
The law establishes the obligation of citizens and legal entities to compensate for the harm caused by them in full. Compensation is carried out by a court decision in the prescribed amount of harm or in actual expenses incurred in connection with the restoration of the violated condition. This takes into account losses and lost profits. Compensation for harm can also be carried out guilty and on a voluntary basis.
Important point
The amount of damage is compensated to the affected entities for taking measures to recover losses. Compensation in kind involves the assignment of responsibility to the perpetrators to take the necessary measures to bring the territories into proper condition. Among them, for example, may be land reclamation. This event involves, in particular, special procedures of an economic and environmental nature. Fulfillment of obligations in kind shall be charged with the guilty party with the consent of the parties. It should be noted that unauthorized occupied territories are returned to owners and other entities that have legally exploited them without reimbursement of expenses incurred by persons who were found guilty of violating the LC for the entire period of illegal use of land.
Forced withdrawal
The types of legal protection of land include:
- Alienation of the territory, which in accordance with the law cannot belong to the subject.
- Requisition. It represents the withdrawal of the site, according to the decision of the state agency on the terms and in the manner prescribed by the rules, with the payment of its value. The law allows challenging appraisal of the allotment in court.
- Confiscation. It involves the gratuitous seizure of the site in accordance with a judicial decision or in an administrative procedure for a committed offense. Such a measure is applied in cases strictly established by law.
Additionally
The legislation provides for the possibility of making demands on the restriction, termination, suspension of activities of citizens and enterprises that violate the norms of land law. Subjects that damaged natural resources as a result of their pollution, destruction, spoilage, depletion, unsustainable exploitation, destruction of natural ecosystems, complexes, landscapes, fully compensate for it or carry out restoration measures at their own expense.