Civil Liability for the Damage Inflicted on Natural Objects: Gaps in the Russian Legislation

Introduction. Global climate change, the reduction of wildlife populations, and ecological disturbances remain the most acute problems – the negative anthropogenic impact on nature increases and becomes more diverse. Therefore, the work on the creation of the efficient tools for protecting and restoring natural resources continues at the international and national levels of legal regulation. One of these tools is civil liability for the damage inflicted on the natural objects, which is insufficiently elaborated in the Russian legislation. The aim of the paper is to analyse the problems of legal regulation in the field of conservation and use of the natural objects in the Russian Federation and to offer recommendations to solve them.

Materials and Methods. To conduct the research, philosophical methods of cognition (metaphysics, dialectics of objectivity, empirical, prognostic, logical), as well as the general scientific methods (complex analysis) and specific scientific methods of cognition (comparative and system analysis for studying the interdisciplinary relationships between civil and environmental law) were used.

Results. The efficient application of the civil liability mechanisms for the damage inflicted on the natural objects is hindered by the following main gaps in the Russian Federation legislation: the lack of uniform and clear terminology; shortcomings in the methods of assessing the environmental damage; inconsistency between the principles of compensation for the environmental damage in different branches of law; insufficient role of anticipatory measures in preventing the environmental damage.

Discussion and Conclusion. Based on the results of the analysis, a number of proposals have been outlined to improve the acting legislation of the Russian Federation, which will ensure implementation of the civil liability measures for violation of the laws regulating the use of wildlife objects and their habitat. The reasoned recommendations developed by the author can be used as a theoretical basis for the advanced scientific developments in the studied field. 

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