The issue of increasing legal responsibility for environmental damage

Abstract

Protection of nature, during an armed conflict, should be recognized as an absolute value. The result of the Russian military aggression in Ukraine was the large-scale destruction of the living environment, massive pollution of the land, atmosphere and water environment with the use of methods and means of conducting military operations aimed at causing great and long-term damage. The brutality of the Russian Federation’s military invasion of Ukraine led to dire humanitarian consequences and serious environmental damage. Ukraine will be left with a toxic environmental legacy for future generations. Based on this, our state is obliged to create a sufficiently clear legal field at the national level, which would include responsibility for causing damage to the environment. The imposition of legal responsibility for offenses in the field of environmental protection should be a signal that such behavior is unacceptable.
 The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution on the negative impact of war on nature, which defined the crime of “ecocide”. The resolution recognizes the need to amend the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court by adding a new criminal act. The article analyzes the provisions of the current criminal legislation on ecocide. Taking into account the negative experience of Ukraine during the conduct of military operations, it can be stated that the environment has a direct, primary impact on the life and health of people and all living beings, which are recognized as the highest value. Damage to the environment, as a result, leads to the deterioration of the conditions of existence of all types of flora and fauna. That is why the offense of ecocide needs to be distinguished in international legal acts on a level with such crimes as genocide, crimes against humanity, acts of aggression and war crimes.