Legal protection of forests in Kievan Rus

Abstract

The article considers the issues of legislative regulation in the ancient monument of law – Ruska Pravda, issues of forest protection in the territory of Kievan Rus, in order to form a general comprehensive concept of forest protection in Ukraine in different periods of state formation. The relevance of the study is justified by the change of economic, political, social and legal development of Ukraine, which influenced the transition from the monistic paradigm of legal reality research methodology to the pluralism of research paradigms and allows a new assessment of development of forest protection norms on the territory of Ukraine. The most important factors that led to the formation of forest protection legislation of Kievan Rus are highlighted. A comparative legal analysis of the Short and Spatial editions of Russkaya Pravda was carried out. It is established that the Spatial edition differs from the Short edition by a larger number of articles on the protection of forestry, which is due to the process of formation of feudal society and the need for more detailed regulation of property rights. The features of this monument of law, which distinguished it from the legal acts created in subsequent periods, are indicated. Attention is drawn to the enshrinement in Russkaya Pravda of the norms of customary law, according to which «what is given by nature belongs to the whole society». Therefore, deforestation was not prohibited, but liability for theft of firewood was imposed by imposing a fine of 9 kunas, and for each cart with firewood – 2 kunas separately, while the law regulated fishing related to forests. The system of fines provided by Ruska Pravda for offenses related to forestry is described. Organizational principles of forest protection in Kievan Rus are considered. It is established that in this period there were no special organizational structures in this area and that law and order in the forests was provided by princely warriors with the participation of hunters. Key words: «Russian Law», Kievan Rus, forest protection, forestry, liability for violation of forest protection norms, theft, fine.