Natural Resources Legislation Research Articles

Legal support for an environmentally balanced system of natural resource management in terms of European integration of Ukraine

Legal support for an environmentally balanced system of natural resource management in terms of European integration of Ukraine

Problems of legal regulation of the use and protection of swamps

The article discusses issues related to the existing legal regulation of relations related to the use and protection of swamps. The physical and geographical features of marshes as natural objects affecting the peculiarities of their use and protection, their hydrological classification, the ecological significance of marshes for the sustainable functioning of aquatic and forest ecosystems are shown. Based on the analysis of the current legislation defining the procedure for the use and protection of wetlands, the ecological and legal problems of ensuring the protection of wetland ecosystems are highlighted. Using official statistical data on swamps and the lands on which they are located, the legal and environmental aspects of determining the legal status of a swamp as a natural complex, as part of wetlands and specially protected natural territories are considered. Conclusions are drawn about the need to differentiate wetlands as a negative phenomenon and the concept of a swamp, as well as the need to recognize a swamp as a complex ecosystem and develop legal regulation that would ensure proper protection of all its natural elements, based on the harmonization of environmental and natural resource legislation.

РАЦИОНАЛЬНОЕ ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИE ПРИРОДНЫХ РЕСУРСОВ В РЕСПУБЛИКЕ УЗБЕКИСТАН: ВОПРОСЫ ПРАВОВОГО ОБЕСПЕЧЕНИЯ

This article analyzes the role and importance of legal support for the rational use of natural resources. Based on scientific and legal judgments, the main directions of the environmental policy of the state in the field of rational use of natural resources and issues of further improvement of natural resource legislation are substantiated. The author pays special attention to the definition of such concepts as: “use of nature”, “use of natural resources”, “rational use of natural resources”, “sustainable development” and “legal regime for the rational use of natural resources”. The general and specific features of the legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in the field of rational use of land, water, subsoil, flora and fauna are analyzed. The main shortcomings of the legislation in this area are outlined; conclusions and recommendations are outlined for improving legislation in the field of rational use of natural resource legislation.

FEATURES OF THE ECOLOGICAL AND LEGAL MECHANISM IN THE AGRARIAN SPHERE: THE CONSTITUTIONAL ASPECT

The article highlights the actual problem of the peculiarities of the ecological and legal mechanism in the agrarian sphere in the light of the norms of the Basic Law. For the agricultural sector, land and other natural resources are the basis of activities for the production of crop and livestock products. The study of the topic of the article is aimed at demonstrating not only the environmental provisions of the Constitution of the RF aimed at ensuring protection and rational use of natural resources, but also the direct connection of constitutional norms with the opportunities and needs for the development of "green" agriculture. The study is carried out on the basis of the methodology of systematic analysis of the norms of the Constitution of the RF, ecological and natural resource law in the context of specific solutions of rational nature management and environmental protection in the agrarian sphere. In the context of the norm of Article 9 of the Constitution of the RF on the protection and use of land and other natural resources as the basis for the implementation of agricultural activities, the legal and methodological significance of the norm of Art. 42, according to which everyone has the right to a favorable environment, has been investigated, the author proceeds from the fact that maintaining a favorable state of the environment is the goal and main task of all ecological and natural resource legislation and law. At the same time, methodological emphasis is placed on the essential fact that it is the favorable state of the land, waters, atmospheric air that is the natural basis for conducting environmentally healthy agricultural activities. In the combination of the simultaneous operation of the norms of Articles 9 and 18, public authorities create and implement an ecological and legal mechanism. Taking into account the factor of environmental needs in the process of conducting agricultural activities in the formation and operation of the ecological and legal mechanism is an essential element of novelty. Independent conclusions of the author: environmentally friendly food products can be produced only in a favorable environment; Since land and other natural resources are the main conduct of "green" agriculture, an ecological and legal mechanism aimed at ensuring a favorable state of nature and taking into account the environmental needs of the agrarian sphere is created both within the framework of ecological and natural resource law.

НАУКОВІ ДИСКУСІЇ УЧАСНИКІВ ВСЕУКРАЇНСЬКОЇ НАУКОВО-ПРАКТИЧНОЇ КОНФЕРЕНЦІЇ "ПРАВОВІ ПРОБЛЕМИ РАЦІОНАЛЬНОГО ПРИРОДОКОРИСТУВАННЯ, ОХОРОНИ ПРИРОДИ ТА БЕЗПЕЧНОГО ДОВКІЛЛЯ В УКРАЇНІ", ПРИСВЯЧЕНОЇ 100-РІЧЧЮ ВІД ДНЯ НАРОДЖЕННЯ ПРОФЕСОРА В. Л. МУНТЯНА

Background. The article reviews the speeches of the participants of the All-Ukrainian scientific and practical conference, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Doctor of Law, Professor Vasyl Luk'yanovych Muntyan, on the topic "Legal problems of rational nature use, nature protection and a safe environment in Ukraine." The event was organized and held jointly by the Department of Land and Agrarian Law and the Department of Environmental Law of the Educational and Scientific Law School of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, October 21, 2022. The purpose of the article is analysis of scientific heritage of Professor Vasyl Luk'yanovych Muntyan, to highlight scientific-theoretical and legal approaches to the further development of environmental, land and agrarian legal research in the context of national environmental as well as land and agrarian policy, taking into account the proposals made by the participants of the conference from the standpoint of current legislation as far as the participation of our state in international and European integration processes is considered. Methods. The methodological basis of the research was the general scientific dialectical method of learning social phenomena in their interrelationship and development, as well as scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, interpretation of legal norms, formal and legal, historical, comparative and legal, prognostic methods etc. Results. The participants of the conference paid attention to the current problems of the development of agrarian, land and environmental law in the context of overcoming the consequences of large-scale russian aggression on the territory of Ukraine and the transition to peaceful development in the future. Proposals were given for improvement of environmental, land, agrarian and natural resources legislation and law enforcement practice, as well as for the development of environmental, land and agrarian legal science in Ukraine through the prism of generational inheritance and scientific heritage of Prof. V. L. Muntyan. In the scientist's research, the concept of rational nature management is embedded as a fundamental principle of environmental law, science and state management. The idea of legal provision of rational nature use meets modern requirements for reforming ecological and legal reality, harmonizing relations between man and nature on the basis of sustainable development and economical use of natural resources, development of Ukraine as a European, legal, social and ecological state, implementation of the constitutional principles of the Ukrainian people's property on land. More than 60 years ago, Prof. V. L. Muntyan actualized the need to solve the problems of wind and water erosion of soils, the negative impact of deforestation on the condition of agricultural lands and careless management; he pointed out the need to adopt the Law on Soil Protection. Conclusions. The need to eliminate fragmentation in further studies of problems of the methodology of development of environmental, land and agrarian law in order to form a system of guarantees of the effectiveness of the law, to determine ways of improving the legislation in the sources of national environmental, land and agrarian policy has been determined. The study and generalization of law enforcement practice will make it possible to evaluate the positive and negative results of the introduction of the principles of sustainable development, the elimination of corruption in the process of land reform, reforms in mining, forestry, water, agriculture, industry and other sectors of economy, ensuring environmental safety, observing and protecting rights human, prevention of negative climate changes. During the martial law and in the reconstruction period – after overcoming the Russian military aggression against our country – the entire legal system should be aimed at building Ukraine as a European, legal, social and ecological state.

NATURAL RENT AND OWNERSHIP OF EXTRACTED NATURAL RESOURCES (OIL, GAS, WOOD...)

In the systemic, even civilizational aspect of the legal regulation of environmental relations with respect to extracted natural resources withdrawn from nature, the article in this part examines the prospects for the development of the doctrine of environmental and natural resource legislation and law, the formation and implementation of this legislation and law itself; improvement of the theory of ownership of natural resources, including ensuring the function of natural justice of property rights in this area. The study is based on the methodological basis that land and other natural resources are a national treasure. Extracted oil, gas, wood are preserved, and should retain this quality to be a national treasure. Unlike the civil law thing, the ownership of which has the labor nature of ownership, natural resources as part of nature, as well as extracted oil, gas, wood are not created by human labor. Nature gives everything to man, to society for free. Everything that nature gives for free expresses the essence of natural rent. The profit of a private entrepreneur obtained as a result of the exploitation of land, subsoil, water, forests, and other natural resources should, to an appropriate extent, exclude natural rents. Natural rent should belong to the people, the nation.

Взаимодействие и соперничество основных принципов экологического законодательства

Environmental legislation consists of natural resource legislation and environmental legislation. They are supplemented by the environmental norms of other branches of Russian law. The Land, Water, Forest Codes, and other federal laws that make up the first part of environmental legislation contain the basic principles of legal support for rational use of natural resources. Federal laws on environmental protection, on environmental expertise, on the protection of atmospheric air, on radiation safety of the population, on specially protected natural territories, which constitute the second part of environmental legislation, provide for the basic principles of legal protection of the environment. The Urban Planning Code of the Russian Federation dialectically combines the principles of rational nature management and environmental protection. Between these principles, based on the requirements of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, there is a relationship in the form of a close relationship and at the same time some competition. It does not mean confrontation, but it is mostly caused by contradictions between the maximum use of natural resources, obtaining economic benefits from them and the legal protection of the natural environment in the interests of present and future generations. The task of comparing the basic principles of environmental legislation is to find an increase in the effectiveness of their concretization, shifting to norms and requirements, reconciling their discrepancies and discrepancies, including by focusing on understanding, combining general and private interests. This is achieved by clarifying the objectives and content of the principles, a combination of administrative and civil law methods of regulation, modernization and unification of terminology.

Legal Characteristics of the Hunting Agreement

The article considers the legal characteristics of the hunting agreement. The author emphasized the legal features of the hunting agreement by the analysis of the doctrine and norms of natural resource legislation: it is the object of complex regulation of various branches of law; this agreement has a special subject – measures for the conservation of hunting resources and their habitat and the creation of hunting infrastructure; the specifics of determining the terms of the hunting agreement and the procedure for its conclusion are established by mandatory norms; this agreement has a special subject composition; a hunting agreement is an investment agreement due to the presence of special qualifying features (an investment, an object of investment activity, a transaction for investing in an object of investment activity).

Осуществление судебной защиты от обвинений и компенсация вреда в европейском деликтном праве при рассмотрении дел о внедоговорной ответственности в нанобиотехнологической сфере

The article presents the basic results of scientific research of the peculiarities of the judicial and other legal protection from prosecution, and determine (establish) the existence of and compensation for damage in cases of non-contractual liability in the process of development, production, storage and distribution of nanobiotechnology, formed in European tort law, which is important in modern conditions of mass production and use of nanobiomaterials, causing the emergence of new risks for life and health, objectively requires the development of new techniques to ensure the safe existence of the individual, which is especially important in the context of uncertainty, including the threat of adverse consequences associated with the global spread of coronavirus and similar infections, some of which can have an artificial origin, and this causes, in turn tort liability delinquent and effective methods of forensic evidence, including judicial protection, the determination and compensation of harm (damage) caused by the unfavourable impact of nanobiomaterials. The subject of the study was the relationship that arises between developers, manufacturers and distributors of nanobiomaterials and nanobioproducts on the one hand and a person (individual), as well as on the environment and legal entities on which these types of materials and products have their own, including adverse effects, on the other. The main methods of cognition used in the study were logical, comparative, empirical, analytical, historical-legal, descriptive and others. The scientific novelty of the study was based on the conclusions according to which, first of all, in European tort law, the obligation to restore a pre-existing state should also be applied in case of contamination with nanobiomaterials, act as a deterrent factor that encourages suppliers and manufacturers to apply precautionary measures, and influence the preliminary studies and inspections carried out by them, and, secondly, material liability for damage caused in European tort law does not apply in advance – the risks of future damage are not compensable by themselves. Thus, plaintiffs are faced with the necessity of legal evidence the presence of something tangible, which can be assigned (determined by size), and compensation, that is, the demonstration of evidence about the harm caused (damages) or at least a solid of known probabilities that certain types of damage effects will manifest themselves later – on science related to nanobiomaterials, does not give a clear answer. In the future, the methods of judicial protection developed in European tort law, as well as the determination of compensation in cases of non-contractual liability in the nanobiotechnological sphere, in our opinion, can partly be reflected in domestic law, for example, in the civil and natural resource (environmental) legislation of the Russian Federation.

Participation of the state of Ukraine in providing the agreement as a grounds for the transfer of ownership to the land plot

The paper states that the current civil and land legislation contains numerous internal contradictions regarding the content of the papers, and is not always consistent in resolving various issues. It is necessary to eliminate the contradictions of the provisions of civil and land legislation, as well as to identify priorities in the regulation of land relations, to build a logical conceptual apparatus to protect the rights of legal entities. Public relations of land ownership form the basis not only of land relations, but also of many economic and social relations in society and the state. In cases where land acts as an object of civil turnover as real estate and is the object of property rights and other property rights, relations concerning land are regulated by civil law, but taking into account land and other natural resource legislation. It has been proven that land ownership is traditionally considered in objective and subjective meanings. An extremely important aspect of ensuring land ownership in the modern information society is the creation of joint information resources on state registration, cadastre and cartography. The current trend in the development of land legislation, from the post-socialist period to the present, undoubtedly has a positive dynamics, while leaving the ground for appropriate scientific and regulatory rethinking and improvement. Ukraine is consistently advancing by reforming various spheres of social and political life of society. The transition from predominantly state ownership of land to a variety of forms of land ownership has affected the procedure for recognizing private ownership of land. At the same time, the imperfection and lack of a unified approach to the regulation of land ownership leads to general theoretical problems, to the inability of the regulatory framework.

THE ARCTIC AS A SPECIFIC OBJECT OF ECOLOGICAL SAFETY

The article explores issues relevant to ecological and natural resources law concerning the Arctic as a specific object of use of natural resources of the region and their protection, i.e. its ecological safety. The importance of this study for the authors is due to the intensive environmentally significant activities being carried out in the region. Geographical and environmental specific features of the Arctic are noted - a large part of the territory of the Russian Federation, a significant geopolitical factor in the life of Russia. It is emphasized that the Arctic as a natural territory has a complex natural structure as a system of natural objects and resources, the relations about which are regulated simultaneously by the whole set of ecological and natural resources legislation and law. As an object of environmental safety, according to art. 72 of the Russian Constitution, the regulation of these relations is jointly administered by the Russian Federation and the subjects of the Russian Federation. The authors draw attention to the need to improve the legal regulation of environmental relations in the Arctic, in particular, in the form of the adoption of a special law on the Arctic, and defects in the development of ecological legislation of the Russian Federation. The main task is highlighted, which should be addressed by the development of ecological and natural resources legislation - the establishment of special regimes of nature use and environmental protection in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation.

Legal regime of subsoil use in Australia

The subject of this research is the Australian federal and regional normative legal acts that regulate subsoil use. The object is public relations in the sphere of land turnover, subsurface and natural resource management in the Commonwealth of Australia. The author describes the system and structure of normative legal regulation, as well as subsoil use in Australia. The work contains a list of sources of the Australian natural resources law; analysis of their content is carried out. Special attention is given to the legal regime of exploitation of subsoil resources of the continental shelf of the Commonwealth of Australia, licensing of subsoil use, the role of British monarchy in exercising the right of ownership of land by its subjects, and the authority for subsoil management. The scientific novelty of this article consists in the disclosure of legal regime of subsoil use in the Commonwealth of Australia in the context of amendments to Australian natural resources legislation, constitutional and administrative reforms. This work reflects the economic interest of the Russian Federation and domestic organizations of the fuel and energy complex in the Oceania Region, which defines its relevance. The presented materials can be used within the framework of comparative jurisprudence, lawmaking, for educational and other purposes. The author concludes on the preservation of public legal regime of subsoil use in Australia, namely with regards to turnover of licenses and shares therein.

Recycling: methodology for converting production waste into product (raw material)

The article is devoted to the issues of converting production waste into a product (raw material) based on natural resource legislation. The article distinguishes the concepts of "production and consumption Waste" and "secondary raw materials". In the current economic conditions, it is necessary for the enterprise to engage in certification, which gives the right to the legitimacy and accessibility of the transfer of production waste into products (raw materials). The article presents the procedure for developing technological regulations on the example of the production of fertilizer obtained from sewage sludge formed during the operation of municipal wastewater treatment facilities in the inner-city sewer system. The preparation of the following sections of the technical regulations is considered: General characteristics of production technology; characteristics of wastewater precipitation; permissible doses of fertilizer application based on wastewater precipitation; quality control of work; technology of fertilizer application based on wastewater precipitation; environmental protection; basic safety rules; fire safety rules. The paper focuses on the qualitative characteristics of wastewater precipitation to improve soil quality, namely, changes in the nutrient and water regime of the soil. The technology of preparation and production of sewage sludge provides for the arrangement of silt maps. Drying (dewatering) of sewage sludge is provided on cascading silt sites: the specified technical characteristics of the supply of wastewater to the silt sites, features of treatment and organization of spillage at the bypasses of the nadil water layer by settling and transferring it to the underlying maps. The paper presents the results of analysis of laboratory studies on agrochemical indicators, on the content of gross forms of heavy metals, analysis of sanitary-bacteriological and sanitary-parasitological indicators, the content of radionuclides and minerals in fertilizers based on sewage sludge. Based on the data obtained, the calculation of quality control of the work performed was made: the conclusion was made about limiting the doses of fertilizer based on OSV with a total nitrogen content in precipitation of no more than 30 t/ha or 3 kg/m2.

Reform of the system of oil and gas natural resource payments for the purposed of attracting investments: the experience of the People’s Republic of China

The subject of this research consists in the analysis of the experience of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on reform of the system of taxation of oil and natural gas extraction, which can present significant interest for Russian executive branch and researchers in the conditions of reform of Russian natural resource legislation, as well as introduction of the excess profit tax (Article 25.4 of the Taxation Code of the Russian Federation). Moreover, this is the first Russian-language writer article on exploring the content of the new PRC law “On Resource Tax”, which will be enacted from September 1, 2020. Based on the works of Russian, American, and Chinese scholars alongside Russia’s and China’s legislations, the article employs the method of synchronized and diachronic (historical) comparison and general scientific methods (formal-logical, analysis, synthesis) for determining peculiarities of China’s approach towards execution of legal reforms. The following specificities of China’s legal reforms were determined: preliminary formulation of goals of the legislative changes at the highest levels of state government, testing of the legislative changes in the territories of separate provinces, priority of goals of national development over budget revenue, adaptation of traditions of China’s legal technique to the requirements of foreign investors. The conclusions made in this research can be of interest for lawmakers, as well as all parties interested in comparative legal studies.  

Law Enforcement Issues in Natural Resource Legislation

Natural resource legislation is determined by the fact that for its full functioning it is necessary to create an integrated system of legal measures. The relevance of the work is determined by the fact that the use of the environment is currently being considered in an industry context and there is no synergistic assessment of the balance between the legal assessment of environmental impact and the structural content of the natural resource legislation industry. The novelty of the study is determined by the fact that for the first time in the article the current complex of natural resource legislation is considered, which studies the environment not as a complex of differentiated industries, but as a single environment in which the interaction between man and nature takes place. The authors of the article determine the possibility and necessity of a unified regulation of environmental management and the formation of an integrated national system of not only natural resource, but also environmental legislation. The practical application of the study is possible in the development of economic methods and measures for environmental protection, which will take into account the possibilities of environmental compensation

Breaking Backs and Boiling Frogs: Warnings from a Federal Dialogue between Water Law and Environmental Law

Law has long struggled to address cumulative environmental threats, as activities interact and aggregate to cause larger problems, from global climate change to water over-exploitation in the Murray-Darling Basin. Using two well-known proverbs – the straw that breaks the camel’s back, and the frog in a pot of water coming to the boil – this article critically examines how key elements of Australia’s most significant federal environmental and natural resources legislation treat cumulative environmental effects. Promising regulatory approaches are emerging. However, the structure and implementation of these linked federal legislative regimes ultimately permit metaphorical camels’ backs to be broken and frogs to be boiled. They risk insidious environmental degradation even in the absence of a conspicuous crisis. Judicial and policy development of key statutory concepts could guide a more effective response to incremental environmental change, and should be informed by experience of domestic, comparative and international legal approaches to controlling cumulative environmental effects.

The Different Meanings of Land in the Age of Neoliberalism: Theoretical Reflections on Commons and Resilience Grabbing from a Social Anthropological Perspective

Recent debates in social anthropology on land acquisitions highlight the need to go further back in history in order to analyse their impacts on local livelihoods. The debate over the commons in economic and ecological anthropology helps us understand some of today’s dynamics by looking at precolonial common property institutions and the way they were transformed by Western colonization to state property and then, later in the age of neoliberalism, to privatization and open access. This paper focuses on Africa and refers to the work of critical scholars who show that traditional land tenure was misinterpreted as customary tenure without full property rights, while a broader literature on the commons shows that common-pool resources (pasture, fisheries, wildlife, forestry etc.) have been effectively managed by locally-developed common property institutions. This misinterpretation continues to function as a legacy in both juridical and popular senses. Moreover, the transformation of political systems and the notion of customary land tenure produced effects of central importance for today’s investment context. During colonial times a policy of indirect rule based on new elites was created to manage customary lands of so-called native groups who could use the land as long as it was of no value to the state. However, this land formally remained in the hands of the state, which also claimed to manage common-pool resources through state institutions. The neoliberal policies that are now demanded by donor agencies have had two consequences for land and land-related common-pool resources. On the one hand, states often lack the financial means to enforce their own natural resource legislation and this has led to de facto open access. On the other hand, land legally fragmented from its common-pool resources has been transformed from state to private property. This has enabled new elites and foreign investors to claim private property on formerly commonly-held land, which also leads to the loss of access to land related common-pool resources for more marginal local actors. Thus, the paper argues that this process does not just lead to land grabbing but to commons grabbing as well. This has furthermore undermined the resilience and adaptive capacity of local populations because access to common-pool resources is vital for the livelihoods of more marginal groups, especially in times of crisis. Comparative studies undertaken on floodplains in Botswana, Cameroon, Mali, Tanzania and Zambia based on a New Institutional Political Ecology (NIPE) approach illustrate this process and its impacts and show how institutional transformations are key to understanding the impacts of large-scale land acquisitions (LSLA) and investments in Africa.

«Водні біоресурси» як термін у природоресурсному законодавстві

«Водні біоресурси» як термін у природоресурсному законодавстві

CURRENT TRENDS IN RULEMAKING IN THE FIELD OF LAND, TOWN PLANNING AND NATURAL RESOURCE LAW

The paper is devoted to identifying the specifics of rule-making in the field of land, city-planning and natural resource law, including the main innovations in the field of normative legal regulation of land, city-planning and nature-resource relations, trends in the development of state policy in this area, the impact of state strategic planning documents on law-making in the field of land, urban planning and natural resource relations, as well as general trends and prospects for the development of modern Russian land urban planning and natural resources legislation. According to the results of the study, the authors come to the conclusion that it is necessary to adopt a basic document, which will lay the conceptual basis for the formation of an integral, consistent, systemic, institutional environment for the ecological (including natural resource), land and town planning legislation. Creating «development institutions» of rule-making, based on specific, achievable, long-term goals, objectives, means and methods, is perhaps the most difficult, but necessary stage of transition to the new characteristics of rule-making in the field of land, city-planning and nature resource law.

Codification of the Natural Resource Legislation in the Russian Empire

The codification of the legislation on lands, forests, subsoil and other natural resources in the Russian Empire (1721-1917) is studied herein. Some sources of the systematization process in this field of legislation in the period, preceding the formation of the empire, from the time of the ʼCouncil Codeʼ to the reforms of Peter I (1649-1720) are revealed. Initially, the formation of the legal regulation in this field had the form of adoption of numerous separate legal acts. Such law-making methods were casual in nature and resulted in the emergence of internal contradictions in the legislation, which became too extensive and inconsistent. This was the strong reason for the urgent need for its systematization. The land law was most developed in Russia in the pre-imperial and imperial periods, which was due to the prevalence of agricultural production and the special importance of land relations. The land legislation was codified prior to other natural resource industries. The second most important in this area was the forest legislation. This was explained by the abundance of forests and their active use in economic activities, which required serious legal regulation. The importance of subsoil legislation had increased over time, due to increased exploitation of mineral resources. Later, water and faunal law began to develop actively and systematically. The milestone in the development of natural resource industries was M.M. Speransky's codification reform, the main result of which was the appearance of the ʼCode of Laws of the Russian Empireʼ. The separate codes included in it were specifically devoted to land, forest and mineral relations. First of all, they were the ʼCode of Survey Lawsʼ (vol. X), the ʼCode of Institutions and Forest Chartersʼ (vol. VIII) and the ʼCode of Institutions and Mineral Chartersʼ (vol. VII), which, however, were only the part of the array of legal norms on lands, forests and subsoil. Other volumes of the Code of Laws contained a large number of them. The norms of water and faunal law had no separate codes. Their systematization was carried out in the charters of the related branches of law. Along with this codification, a large number of separate normative nature-resource acts were issued. Not all of them were organically included in the relevant codes; they simply joined them as the official annexes. The systematization of the legislation on natural resources in the empire was not very consistent and was not always successful (Engelstein 1993: 339). Even after the most extensive imperial codification, it remained extremely fragmented. However, the demerger of certain natural resource charters from the Code of Laws as the separate codification units indicated the beginning of the formation of the land, forest and mineral law in pre-revolutionary Russia as the independent branches.