Legal Regime of Water Covered Lands on the New Round of Development

Abstract

The article provides a detailed analyses of the amendment to Article 102 of the Land Code of the RF introduced by the Federal Law dated 11.6.2021 No. 163-FZ. It is concluded that exclusion from the article of a provision that earlier prohibited creation of land plots on water-covered lands would cause uncertainty in correlation between land use and water use law in cases connected with allocating of water objects, including allocating of lands covered by waters into use. Another amendment that envisages that water covered lands entirely located within lands of other categories shall be excluded from the category — water covered lands, requires to review the institute of federal ownership of water covered lands and to add clarifications to land law concerning admissibility of general civil transactions rules to lands with water objects within other land categories, including land leasing rules without involving water law. As summarized, the author states that a new concept on separation of juridically indivisible water and water covered lands is being introduced into land and water law. To prevent legal uncertainties in law implementation and compliance it would be needed to harmonize respective provisions of land and water legislation.