Environmental law and natural resource law: if “divorce” is relevante?

Abstract

The article examines the problems of the environmental law structural system. The urgency of this issue has increased signifi cantly due to the repeated attempts of some researchers to justify the need to separate from the environmental law of its natural resource unit and create a new branch of law, along with environmental law, the subject and scope of which will be signifi cantly narrowed. A brief historical digression into the study of the relevant issue in Ukrainian science over the past 60 years was made. The connection between the evolution of legal thought and the development of environmental legislation at diff erent stages is substantiated. The views of modern supporters of such a question are analyzed. Attention is focused on the signifi cant disagreements of researchers in understanding the subject and system of the proposed new branch of law: some of them suggest a separation of utilization, on the one hand, and protection, on the other; others are talking about the allocation in some areas of diff erentiated regulation of relations for the utilization and protection of certain natural resources while leaving in the fi eld of environmental law regulation of integrated environmental relations; from time to time there are other approaches that never completely coincide with each other, even among supporters of the independence of natural resource law. It is emphasized that such inconsistency of researchers’ opinion only delays the process of systematization of environmental legislation, which is long overdue, especially from the standpoint of law enforcement. The relationship between the system of law and the system of legislation is studied in the context of preparation for the systematization of environmental legislation. The conclusion is made about the need to preserve the unity of the branch of law that regulates relations in the system «man - nature». Key words: environmental law; natural resource law; branch of law; system of law; system of legislation; systematization of environmental legislation