Subjects and Objects of Environmental Legal Relations

Abstract

Introduction: the need to study the category “legal relationship” is generally recognized in the theory of law and state, as well as in all sectoral sciences. However, if the category “legal relationship” is sufficiently developed in relation to the “traditional” branches of law, then this issue remains relevant and new in relation to a fairly young branch of environmental law. The purpose of the research: to show the dynamics of development of modern doctrinal discussions on key issues of the theory of environmental law, namely, the categories of the subject and object of environmental legal relations. Objectives: to show the position of major Russian and foreign scientific schools on the theory of ecological legal relations; to identify the main scientific doctrine concerning the understanding of the subject of environmental legal relations; to consider the existing point of view on the category of the object of ecological relations. Methods: dialectical, system, logical, analysis, synthesis. Results: the dynamics of the doctrinal development of the concept of the subject and object of environmental relationship is investigated; the points of view of the leading environmental law schools of the CIS countries on the existing and prospective subjects of ecological legal relations are considered; the views of modern scholars regarding the recognition of climate as well as the person to be the subject of environmental legal relations are assessed within the category “the object of ecological relationship”. Conclusions: the paper argues that in the theory of environmental law, the categories “subject” and “object” of environmental legal relations are the most discussed today. The emergence of a new subject of environmental legal relations – “future generations”, mentioned in the legislation, seems to be justified. The paper presents a number of arguments in support of the existing proposals to expand the traditional list of the objects of environmental legal relations, with the addition of quasi-natural objects, agricultural ecosystem, climate, and many others.