Legislative misconduct, which may be an act or omission in environmental legislation and which cause harm to the environment and, consequently, to human health, are referred to as environmental offenses. Responsibility for them is provided for depending on the severity of the consequences in the form of administrative, criminal, disciplinary, material and civil law.
Classification of environmental offenses
Their entire set is divided into three types:
- misconduct in the field in question;
- environmental crimes of a general nature in relation to the natural environment;
- tort (illegal actions).
The concept of legal liability
Through its application, state enforcement is implemented to fulfill the requirements in question.
Legal responsibility for environmental offenses is the relationship that develops between authorized state bodies in the field of environmental protection, as well as other similar entities and the individual or legal entity that committed the environmental offense, regarding the imposition of a corresponding penalty on the latter. In this case, the offender comes with adverse consequences.
When applying legal liability, the principle of state enforcement to fulfill the requirements of environmental legislation is implemented.
Functions of the type of responsibility under consideration
Among the main ones are:
- Encouraging the violator to comply with environmental laws.
- Preventive, which consists in ensuring that he does not violate these legal acts in the future.
- Punitive. Any person who commits an offense must be held accountable. Environmental offenses are no exception.
- Compensation - aimed at compensation for damage to the environment and human health.
Administrative liability for environmental offenses
In the field of nature conservation, this particular type of responsibility is most widely used. Administrative responsibility for committing environmental offenses is established in the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation at the federal level and laws on administrative offenses of the Federation at the local level.
Responsible for the commission of this misconduct may be recognized as an individual, starting from the age of 16. For a legal entity, liability arises if it is proved that it had the ability to comply with administrative legal norms, but did not comply with them.
Administrative liability for environmental offenses may be in the form of:
- a fine;
- deprivation of special rights;
- confiscation or forfeited seizure of products of illegal nature use or instruments for committing these misconducts;
- warning;
- administrative arrest;
- correctional work.
In this case, the third of the considered species can be both primary and secondary, while the remaining penalties are applied only as basic.
Types of environmental offenses involving administrative liability
They are defined in the Law on Environmental Protection. These include:
- non-compliance with its quality standards;
- failure to conduct a state environmental review, failure to comply with the requirements that were reflected in its conclusion or in the provision of knowingly false expert opinions;
- violation of environmental requirements at different stages of design and operation of various facilities;
- environmental pollution, which leads, as a result, to the deterioration of human health, harms the flora and fauna, property belonging to individuals and legal entities;
- damage or damage to natural ecosystems, as well as other natural objects, including natural monuments, nature reserves;
- violation of the order and rules of extraction, purchase and sale, exchange, import-export of flora and fauna objects, products created on their basis, mineralogical and biological collections;
- failure to comply with mandatory measures to restore the environment that has been violated, as well as the reproduction of natural resources;
- disobedience to the state bodies that issued the order during the implementation of state environmental control;
- violation of the requirements for storage, processing, disinfection, disposal and disposal of various wastes;
- the same with pollutants, including radioactive waste;
- exceeding the maximum permissible levels of exposure to ionizing radiation and others.
As already noted, administrative responsibility for environmental offenses is established mainly by the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation or by local administrative laws. They establish that both individuals and legal entities can be involved in it, and also that it can be applied to officials of the latter. One of the most common measures of liability for such violations is fines. Their size depends on the following circumstances:
- type of offense and its nature;
- the degree of guilt of the offender;
- the level of harm done to them;
- powers of the fine authority.
In accordance with the Code of Administrative Offenses, the amount of sanctions for individuals can be 500-2500 rubles, for legal entities - from 10 thousand to 300 thousand rubles. The latter mainly prefer that in case the fine cannot be avoided, they should be imposed on officials, since its size in these circumstances is reduced to 1,000-200,000 rubles.
These measures of responsibility can be imposed by ATS, specially created commissions under executive authorities, officials of specific control and oversight bodies.
Measures of administrative responsibility for committing environmental offenses can be imposed according to a simplified procedure without proper appeal to the judiciary.
The amounts of fines collected are transferred to the accounts of the respective state environmental funds. The guilty person who paid the fine is not exempted from compensation for damage, which is due to the fact that the former is a punishment measure, while the amounts received as a result of its imposition are transferred to special accounts of extrabudgetary environmental funds, and are not sent for compensation for harm.
In addition to the courts, administrative cases are examined by the police department, bodies of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare (in the event of damage to or destruction of signs of various sanitary zones, resorts, medical and health areas, failure to provide true information about the state of atmospheric air, radiation conditions, sources of drinking water supply), bodies carrying out a state environmental review
Disciplinary responsibility
She is one of the types of legal liability for environmental offenses. It is characterized by all the signs of the latter, and also has its own individual, which include:
- disciplinary offense committed by the perpetrator;
- the source of its establishment from a legal point of view are legislative and other official acts;
- it may involve employees who have an employment contract with the employer;
- the imposition of disciplinary sanctions against the violator of labor discipline, such as remarks, reprimands, including his strict form, as well as dismissal;
- they may be imposed by the relevant entities to which the authority to exercise disciplinary authority has been delegated;
- the latter is implemented in the form of disciplinary proceedings.
A disciplinary form of responsibility for environmental offenses may occur in relation to unlawful actions, improper fulfillment or non-fulfillment by an employee of those labor duties that are related to environmental rights under a labor contract or temporary assignment of the organization’s top management. Here, both the environment and the routine rules established within the business entity are the objects of offenses.
As a kind of disciplinary responsibility for environmental offenses, the deprimination of various categories of violators is distinguished on the basis of a certificate from the relevant environmental authorities.
The imposition of such penalties does not exempt the guilty person from other types of liability.
Material liability
It is a set of legal measures that are designed to preserve nature and differentially approach the assessment of the harm caused and those responsible.
The following signs are characteristic of liability for committing environmental violations:
- it is limited to a certain part of the income and should be comparable with the amount of damage, with the exception of some cases stipulated by legislative acts;
- an employee of a certain business entity may bear this type of responsibility only if there is proven guilt;
- lost profits due to damage to a particular employee are not refundable;
- if it was caused at normal production risk, then workers who allowed it should not be liable;
- the latter should occur no later than 2 weeks from the date of damage;
- Extrajudicial penalties may be imposed by the administration of an economic entity in the event that the employee agrees with this;
- damage is indemnified regardless of whether the employee is held liable for other types of liability for this misconduct.
This liability may be applied in the following cases:
- non-observance of maximum permissible concentration limits for emissions into various Earth shells, other unlawful actions of the intruder;
- damage to nature, including damage to a specific natural object, losses due to violations of environmental laws, expenses for restoration of a damaged object;
- establishing a causal relationship between the harm that has occurred and the unlawful behavior of the offender.
This type may be partial (in the case of a careless form of guilt) or complete (in the case of intentional damage).
Thus, the concept of liability for an environmental offense includes not only those types that are defined by codes of the same name, but also those that are defined by law.
Criminal liability
Its specifics in this area are as follows:
- the basis for attraction is an offense in the field of ecology with all the signs of a crime in the area in question;
- the object of the composition is a complex of social relations that take shape in the field of environmental protection and ecology;
- only individuals are involved in this type, the implementation of the functions of which is associated with certain impacts on the natural environment;
- penalties for this type of liability can be reduced to a fine, compulsory and corrective labor, deprivation of the right to engage in certain activities or to occupy certain positions.
The objectives of criminal liability for environmental crimes:
- ensuring environmental protection rules ;
- the established procedure for the implementation of activities related to a certain environmental impact;
- protection of environmental interests and the rights of individuals;
- ensuring environmental safety in relation to specific territories and citizens;
- prevention of deterioration in the quality of nature and the threats of the death of its objects.
The most commonly used type of criminal liability is imprisonment.
To resolve some issues that require special knowledge in the field of environmental protection and ecology, various biologists, including ecologists, as well as sanitary doctors, can be involved as experts.
The subject of environmental crime is not shrubs, woody vegetation that grows on garden plots, agricultural land, except for protective forest belts, as well as those that were damaged as a result of the natural forces of nature.
The distinction between criminal liability for environmental offenses and administrative offenses should be carried out on several grounds:
- the presence of major damage;
- the use of a self-propelled floating or other mechanical vehicle, various chemicals, and weapons of mass destruction in fishing;
- places of misconduct or crime.
The jurisdiction of criminal cases in environmental terms mainly refers to district courts.
The 26th chapter of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establishes environmental crimes for which criminal liability may arise. These include:
- violation of the rules of nature conservation during work or the handling of waste and environmentally hazardous substances;
- pollution of hydro-, atmospheric, lithospheres;
- violation of the rules for the protection of mineral resources and fish stocks;
- illegal hunting;
- destruction of the habitats of organisms listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.
Special environmental compounds are also found in other criminal codes of the Russian Federation. These include the concealment of information about those circumstances that pose a danger to the health or life of people, ecocide, violation of safety requirements at nuclear facilities.
In addition, allocate offenses are distinguished. These include those that perform relevant environmental functions only in certain circumstances. These may include:
- registration of illegal land transactions;
- violation of safety rules during various works, as well as some others.
Formulations are also distinguished that are not directly related to ecological, but which in some circumstances can be used to protect nature. These, in particular, include excess of official authority, official forgery, and others.
Civil liability
It is one of the types of legal liability for environmental offenses. It can be used in conjunction with the application of administrative, criminal and disciplinary measures.
In the Civil Code of the Russian Federation it is determined that environmental damage is understood as any deterioration in the state of nature due to a violation of environmental requirements with the derogation of any benefits, including property of individuals and economic entities, human health and life.
In civil cases, they can be considered those that are associated with liability for environmental offenses due to lost profits or compensation for non-pecuniary damage in the case of, for example, the destruction of green spaces.
The grounds for liability are defined in the Civil Code. These include:
- unlawfulness of action or inaction;
- causal relationship between them and harm;
- guilty party.
In most cases, if the violator proves that the damage was caused not through his fault, he is exempted from damages. But if the latter was caused as a result of using a source of increased danger, then release does not occur.
Such responsibility for environmental offenses is also called property. Thus, it is aimed at redressing, first of all, the corresponding damage to a specific person.
Finally
There are various types of liability under consideration. These include administrative, and criminal, and disciplinary, and material, and civil law. Responsibility for environmental offenses is provided for the commission of actions that cause damage to the natural environment, and, as a result, human life and health. Depending on the severity of the consequences, the magnitude of the damage and some other factors, one or another type of liability may be used or their combined effect is possible.