THE SYSTEM OF LEGAL GROUNDS FOR COUNTERING ENVIRONMENTAL OFFENSES IN UKRAINE AND THE FUNCTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF ADMINISTRATIVE-LEGAL REGULATION

Abstract

The article examines the system of legal principles for combating environmental offenses in Ukraine and reveals the functional significance of administrative and legal regulation in the relevant mechanism. It is substantiated that this system is not reduced to a set of individual prohibitions, sanctions or control powers, but constitutes an internally related regulatory and organizational structure, within which legal principles, material and procedural norms, regimes for the protection of natural objects, the competence of authorized bodies, instruments of state environmental control and means of legal liability are combined. It is established that its structural blocks are material and legal, control and supervisory, procedural, jurisdictional and informational principles, and the system-forming role in their functioning is played by administrative and legal protection and state environmental control. It is shown that administrative and legal regulation occupies a central place in the mechanism of combating environmental offenses, since it is through it that the general provisions of environmental legislation are transformed into specific management decisions, forms of control, procedures for recording violations, administrative acts, coordination actions and jurisdictional response. Special attention is paid to the problems of regulatory consolidation and practical implementation of the legal principles of combating environmental offenses. It is proven that the current mechanism is characterized by incomplete systematicity, fragmentation of legal regulation, weak coordination between response entities, insufficient quality of environmental data, uneven law enforcement and insufficient efficiency in identifying and holding accountable persons guilty of causing environmental damage. On this basis, the directions for improving administrative and legal regulation related to the systematization of environmental and tort norms, procedural streamlining of administrative proceedings, institutional strengthening of state environmental control, transition to a preventive and risk-oriented response model, digitalization of environmental monitoring, harmonization of national approaches with European standards, and development of special procedures for documenting environmental damage caused as a result of armed aggression are substantiated. It is concluded that only a comprehensive update of the regulatory, institutional, and informational components can ensure the transition from a fragmented response to individual violations to a holistic system of legal support for environmental law and order.


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