Historical Aspects of the Formation of Public Prosecutor's Supervision in the Sphere of Environmental Protection

Abstract

Based on the analysis of the history of the formation and development of the activities of the prosecutor's office, as well as regulatory legal acts, the article considers the role and significance of this supervisory authority in the field of environmental protection and ensuring environmental safety in the period 1960-2000. The contribution and influence of the Soviet prosecutor's office in the protection of nature of the whole state is analyzed. The Soviet state, despite the significant measures taken in 1950-1970 in order to improve the environmental situation in the country, was not able to achieve high environmental performance indicators in full due to the inconsistency in solving environmental problems. At the same time, the adoption of the Law on the Public Prosecutor's Office of the USSR in 1979 facilitated the expansion of the competence of prosecutors in supervisory and coordinating activities to ensure law and order, as well as strengthening supervision, including in the environmental field. The author gives examples of the practice of prosecutorial activity of environmental prosecutors. It should be noted that the judicial reform of 1991 in the period of formation of a legal democratic state, the powers of the Prosecutor's Office had to be subjected to a significant transformation. Thus, in par. 6 of sec. 4 of the Concepts of Judicial Reform enshrined the following: "The gradual withering away of the public prosecutor's function cannot affect the state of law in the country, if the transition to the market will provide internal natural incentives for compliance with laws". However, as current practice shows, prosecutors, including specialized ones, are one of the tools to ensure and protect the constitutional rights of citizens to a favorable environment in a state governed by the rule of law.