Professor Andreeva O.A
Taganrog Institute of management and Economics, Russia

Implementation of the international environment protection law into the Russian legal system

The environmental crisis caused by numerous problems dealing with the necessity to satisfy the material needs of society leads to the expansion of economic activity. In its turn, this expansion leads to the accumulation of the production wastes and their consumption, thus increasing the risk of environmental disasters. So the problem of preventing environmental disasters that could lead to irreversible consequences is becoming urgent. Environmental problems are threatening the world community and they can’t be solved by one state. This problem requires joint efforts of all the nations in creating a single legal mechanism in the field of nature protection.

New global threats of the XXI century are international and can have irrevocable consequences all over the world. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance the monitoring of environmental threats including adoption of the relevant rules of international and national law through criminal, environmental and other types of responsibility. Due to economic and political integration into the international cooperation it is necessary to analyze the correlation of legal regulation of economic impact on the environment, interaction of law and ecology.

One of the important tasks in the framework of the international environmental protection is the creation of unified norms and concepts related to environmental safety. This requires the interaction between international and national law, aimed at the efficient performance of functions connected with the protection of nature utilization. The interaction of international law and national law may be carried out through the international legal norms implementation into the Russian law system basing on the universally recognized legal principles. The Institute of international law implementation contributes to the transformation of international law into the national system of Russian law, thus recognizing the state legal power. Therefore, the implementation of international law into the Russian legislation concerning the nature protection can contribute to the ordering of legal relations in this sphere.

Moreover, the international law has an impact on the system of the Russian law in different spheres: in the field: of protecting human rights and freedoms, the environment, naval law, protection against terrorism, etc. The profitability of implementing international norms into the national legislation in the field of the environment protection is due to the necessity to provide the international ecological safety, prevent global ecological catastrophes which can be realized through the tough cooperation of all states in this field. As all generally recognized principles and norms of international law and international treaties are a constituent part of the law system of the Russian Federation, Article 15 of the RF Constitution states that they have priority over national legislation, which provides interaction between the legal systems of the states.

At present only the provisions of treaties that are ratified by the Russian Federation are used. Ratification means an international act by which a state expresses its consent to be bound by international Treaty. The implementation of the international Treaty is an essential element of the contractual process. The reason is if the ratified agreement is not implemented or implemented improperly, it does not perform its functions concerning regulating relations, and thus eliminates the possibility of any legal relations. That is, the norms are actually not working.

International principles and standards are made by representative majority of states and they are reflected in different international treaties, resolutions of international conferences. In accordance with the principles presented in the UN Declaration “ On principles of international law concerning friendly relations and cooperation among states in accordance with the UN Charter”, each state is obliged to faithfully execute their commitments according to the international agreements. Besides, the states are obliged, regardless of their political, economic and social differences, to cooperate with each other in various fields of international relations with the objective of maintaining international peace and security and to promote international economic stability and progress, welfare of nations and international co-operation. These provisions are based on the principle of good faith performance of the international obligations laid down in the Charter of the United Nations.

There are several international treaties fixed in the national regulations according to which the Russian Federation possesses some rights and responsibilities ensuring environmental safety. Thus, According to the main Principle 1, «Stockholm Declaration» UN person has the right to freedom, equality and favourable conditions of life in the environment that allows a dignified and prosperous life, and bears the responsibility for its protection and improvement, for the benefit of present and future generations. This principle is laid down in article 42 of the RF Constitution, establishing everyone's right to favourable environment, reliable information about its condition and to compensation for damage caused to his health or property by ecological offence.

The main function of the international law is the solution of the world community problems, which means the inviolability of the principle of compliance with international norms and obligations. This provision corresponds to article 81 of the Federal law «On the environmental protection», which establishes «voluntary international cooperation in the field of environmental protection». Therefore, despite the close cooperation of the states at the international level in the field of environmental protection, no state has the right to intervene, directly or indirectly, for any reason whatsoever in the internal or external affairs of another state.