Increasingly, the environment and the problems of its protection are becoming the subject of discussions not only of specialized organizations, but also of society as a whole. And therefore, there is a need for the timely creation and implementation of special norms that environmental law would absorb and effectively use .
The sources of this branch of legislation are diverse and require thoughtful consideration and systematization, which is proposed to be considered below.
General Provisions on Sources
Legal doctrine refers to this phenomenon as a whole set of acts, the norms of which contain the legal regulation of the considered branch of law. However, various scientists offer a variety of options for dividing them into species. So, the system of environmental law sources can be carried out according to 2 main criteria:
- the nationality criterion subdivides all sources into directly national, developed and adopted in the country, and international;
- the criterion of "strength", which determines the division of sources according to the strength of their action, prescribed in the basic law of the state.
The presented classifications are typical for almost all components of the legal field of the country. But it is the industry under consideration that has its own special method of division. This system of sources of environmental law is based on the principle of determining an object. And therefore, it distinguishes such sub-sectors as faunistic, floristic, space, air, the earth's subsurface industry, and so on.
The most acceptable for understanding is nevertheless the second of the systematizations considered, which will be considered below.
Sources of Environmental Law: A Detailed Consideration
The first in a series of sources and actually being the basis for the adoption of others is the constitutional act. As a rule, it contains norms – priorities and norms – goals, on which environmental law is based. Sources that will be discussed below do not have the right to contradict these defining concepts. As a rule, this act lays down the human right to a healthy environment, to the preservation of natural diversity and the corresponding principles on the use of natural resources.
The second in a number of sources is an international act. As a rule, his position is ambivalent: until he has passed the ratification procedure, he cannot be considered a source. In this case, the international treaty is a kind of “study guide”. However, after it has been adopted in the system of state legislation , it gains force in excess of the operation of the Constitution, unless otherwise specified in the fundamentals of the legal system. A characteristic feature of such environmental treaties is their dualistic nature. On the one hand, they can contain peremptory norms, and on the other, they can only indicate the direction of action in a recommendation key.
The third in a number of sources is the law. Environmental law can operate with both specialized and general laws. In this case, this form of expression of the rule of law details the implementation of the rules — goals laid down in the first two forms.
Sources of Environmental Law include various by-laws. Their role in this case comes down to two essential points:
- operational regulation of the circumstances;
- detailed enforcement of the law.
They include the law-making activities of the entire government, the President, as well as the administrative units of the country (regions, districts, autonomous republics, and the like).
It is worth noting that the sources of environmental law differ from their "counterparts" in that they are dynamic. This circumstance is explained by the fact that the environmental situation around the world is in a state of critical decline. So, it is necessary to fix at the state level the rules not only to use the wealth that nature endows with the country, but also to take measures to restore reserves, protect against encroachments and other activities that can have a beneficial effect on the environment.
From the foregoing, it follows that the sources of environmental law are a dynamic institute of legal science that incorporates not only national but also international law.