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The right of ownership over natural resources in Russia is a key element of the legal regulation of relations in the field of nature use. It covers a set of legal norms regulating the possession, use and disposal of land, water, forests, minerals and other natural resources. In the subjective sense, this right is expressed in the rights of the owner to effectively use resources, comply with environmental standards and protect the interests of the state and society.
According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, land and natural resources may be owned by private, state, municipal and other forms of ownership. Possession and use of them must be carried out without causing damage to the environment and violating the rights of others. Citizens and organizations have the opportunity to freely dispose of their property, extracting its useful properties, selling, transferring or leasing it, provided that this does not contradict legislation.
The forms of ownership of natural resources include state, municipal, and private ownership. State ownership is divided into federal and the ownership of subjects of the Russian Federation, while private ownership includes the ownership of individuals and legal entities. Legislation establishes which land plots, subsoil, water objects, and forests may be in one or another form of ownership, as well as rules for their alienation and transfer between owners.
Special attention is given to subsoil, water objects, forests, and wildlife objects. Subsoil and the minerals contained therein are state property and can be used under licenses. Water objects and forest areas are regulated depending on the category of land and forms of ownership, while wildlife objects are under joint management by the state and subjects of the Federation, with citizens and organizations being able to acquire ownership rights over extracted resources in accordance with established procedures.
The effectiveness of using property rights over natural resources depends not only on the presence of legal norms, but also on their application. A stable system of legislative acts and clear distribution of powers between levels of government create conditions for rational use of nature, environmental protection, and sustainable economic development. Such a legal basis ensures a balance of interests between the state, society, and owners of natural resources.
M.M. Brinchuk considers property rights over natural resources in both objective and subjective meanings. Property rights over natural resources in the objective sense refer to a set of legal norms regulating ownership relations. In the subjective sense, they refer to the set of entitlements of the owner to possession, use, and disposal of land, water, forest resources, and other property objects1.
According to Article 9 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, land and other natural resources are used and protected in the Russian Federation as the basis for the life and activities of the peoples living on the corresponding territory. Land and other natural resources may be owned by private individuals, the state, municipal entities, and other forms of ownership. According to Article 36 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, citizens and their associations have the right to own land in private property. Ownership, use, and disposal of land and other natural resources are carried out freely by their owners, provided that this does not cause harm to the environment or violate the rights and legitimate interests of other persons. The conditions and procedures for using land are determined on the basis of federal law.
According to paragraph 1 of Article 209 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the owner is entitled to the rights of possession, use, and disposal of their property. Possession in civil law refers to the actual control over a thing2. Use is the extraction of useful properties from a thing. For example, the possibility of preparing timber within the boundaries of a forest plot. Whereas disposal refers to determining the legal fate of a thing. For example, the possibility of selling a land plot.
An important role in regulating social relations arising in connection with the circulation of natural resources is played by paragraph 3 of Article 129 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, according to which land and other natural resources may be transferred or pass from one person to another in other ways to the extent that their circulation is permitted by laws on land and other natural resources.
In general theory of law, the following forms of ownership are provided for: state ownership, which is divided into ownership of the Russian Federation (federal ownership) and ownership of the subjects of the Russian Federation; municipal ownership; private ownership, which is divided into ownership of individuals and ownership of legal entities.
According to Article 15 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, land plots owned by citizens and legal entities (private property) are those acquired by citizens and legal entities on the grounds provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation. Citizens and legal entities have the right to equal access to acquiring land plots in ownership. Land plots belonging to state or municipal ownership may be transferred into ownership by citizens and legal entities, except for land plots which, in accordance with the Land Code of the Russian Federation and federal laws, cannot be in private ownership. Foreign citizens, stateless persons, and foreign legal entities may not own land plots located in border territories, the list of which is established by the President of the Russian Federation in accordance with federal legislation on the State Border of the Russian Federation, as well as on other specially designated territories of the Russian Federation in accordance with federal laws.
State property includes lands not owned by individuals, legal entities or municipal formations. The division of state ownership in land into the ownership of the Russian Federation (federal ownership), the ownership of the subjects of the Russian Federation and the ownership of municipal formations (municipal ownership) is carried out in accordance with the Land Code of the Russian Federation and federal laws (Article 16 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation).
Land plots belonging to federal ownership include those recognized as such by federal laws; land plots for which the right of ownership of the Russian Federation arose during the division of state ownership in land; and land plots acquired by the Russian Federation on grounds provided for by civil legislation (Article 17 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation).
In the ownership of the subjects of the Russian Federation are land plots: which have been recognized as such by federal laws; whose ownership rights of the subjects of the Russian Federation arose during the delimitation of state ownership in land; which have been acquired by the subjects of the Russian Federation on grounds provided for by civil legislation; which have been transferred to the subjects of the Russian Federation from federal ownership without charge.
In the subjects of the Russian Federation - the cities of federal significance Moscow and Saint Petersburg, a land plot from which the owner has renounced ownership rights becomes the property of the subject of the Russian Federation - the city of federal significance Moscow, or the subject of the Russian Federation - the city of federal significance Saint Petersburg, as of the date of state registration of the termination of ownership rights to it, unless the laws of these subjects of the Russian Federation provide otherwise that such land plot is the property of municipal formations located within the territories of these subjects of the Russian Federation (Article 18 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation).
According to Article 19 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, land plots in municipal ownership include those that have been recognized as such by federal laws and laws adopted in accordance with them by subjects of the Russian Federation; those for which the right of municipal ownership arose during the delimitation of state ownership of land; those acquired on grounds established by civil legislation; and those transferred to municipal ownership from federal ownership without charge.
If other federal laws do not provide otherwise, a land plot for which the owner has renounced ownership becomes the property of the city district, urban or rural settlement as of the date of state registration of the termination of ownership rights over it, or in the case of the location of such a land plot on an inter-settlement territory, the property of the municipal district where the land plot is located.
Lands owned by the subjects of the Russian Federation may be transferred free of charge to municipal ownership for the purpose of their development, including beyond the boundaries of municipal formations. Land plots owned by the subjects of the Russian Federation may be transferred free of charge to municipal ownership in order to provide them to certain categories of citizens and (or) non-commercial organizations established by citizens, in accordance with subpoints 6 and 7 of paragraph 39.5 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation.
Land plots owned by one municipal formation may be transferred free of charge to the municipal ownership of another municipal formation for the purpose of their provision to certain categories of citizens and (or) non-commercial organizations established by citizens, in accordance with subpoints 6 and 7 of paragraph 39.5 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation.
Land plots owned by subjects of the Russian Federation or municipal property may be transferred free of charge to the ownership of subjects of the Russian Federation - cities of federal significance, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Sevastopol, for their provision to certain categories of citizens in accordance with sub-paragraph 6 of paragraph 39.5 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, as well as to certain categories of citizens and (or) non-commercial organizations established by citizens, provided that the grounds for free allocation of land plots to these persons are stipulated by the Land Code of the Russian Federation or other federal laws.
According to Article 1.2 of the Law of the Russian Federation "On Subsoil", subsoil within the territory of the Russian Federation, including underground space and useful minerals, energy and other resources contained in the subsoil, are state property. Issues related to ownership, use, and disposal of subsoil are under the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and subjects of the Russian Federation.
Subsoil plots cannot be the subject of purchase, sale, gift, inheritance, contribution, pledge, or alienation in any other form. Rights to use subsoil resources may be transferred or passed from one party to another to the extent permitted by federal laws.
Minerals and other resources extracted from the subsoil, under the terms of the license, may be owned by the federal state, the property of subjects of the Russian Federation, municipal, private, or in other forms of ownership.
Aquatic objects are owned by the Russian Federation (federal ownership), except for ponds and flooded quarries located within the boundaries of land plots owned by a subject of the Russian Federation, municipal formation, individual or legal entity. Ponds and flooded quarries located within the boundaries of a land plot owned by a subject of the Russian Federation, municipal formation, individual or legal entity are respectively owned by the subject of the Russian Federation, municipal formation, individual or legal entity, unless otherwise provided for by federal laws.
The right of ownership of the Russian Federation, a subject of the Russian Federation, a municipal formation, a physical person, or a legal entity in respect of a pond or an impounded quarry ceases simultaneously with the cessation of the right of ownership to the corresponding land plot within which such water bodies are located. The aforementioned ponds and impounded quarries may be transferred in accordance with civil law and land legislation. Transfer of these water bodies without transferring the land plots within which they are located is not allowed. These land plots cannot be divided if such division would result in the division of a pond or an impounded quarry.
The natural change of a river's course does not lead to the termination of the Russian Federation's ownership rights over this water body. The forms of ownership of groundwater bodies are determined by mineral law legislation.
Forest land plots that are part of the forest fund belong to federal ownership. The forms of ownership for forest land plots that are part of lands of other categories are determined in accordance with land legislation (Article 8 of the Forest Code of the Russian Federation).
The fauna within the territory of the Russian Federation is state property. The Russian Federation has sovereign rights and exercises jurisdiction on the continental shelf and in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation regarding wildlife in accordance with the procedures established by this Federal Law, other federal laws, other normative legal acts of the Russian Federation, as well as international law norms. Issues relating to ownership, use, and disposal of wildlife within the territory of the Russian Federation are matters of joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the subjects of the Russian Federation.
The norms of civil law relating to property, including sale, pledge, and other transactions, apply to objects of the animal world to the extent permitted by this Federal Law and other federal laws. Relations concerning possession, use, and disposal of objects of the animal world are regulated by civil legislation to the extent that they are not regulated by this Federal Law.
Objects of the animal world removed from their habitat in accordance with established procedures may be owned in private, state, municipal, or other forms of ownership. Relations concerning possession, use, and disposal of such animals are governed by the civil legislation of the Russian Federation, this Federal Law, laws and other normative legal acts of the Russian Federation, as well as laws and other normative legal acts of the subjects of the Russian Federation (Article 4 of the Federal Law "On the Animal World").
Aquatic biological resources are owned by the federal government, except for aquatic biological resources living in ponds and flooded quarries, which may be owned by the federal government, the property of subjects of the Russian Federation, municipal or private ownership.
Legal entities and citizens who carry out fishing in accordance with the procedures provided for by this Federal law acquire the right of ownership to the caught (fished) aquatic biological resources in accordance with civil legislation (Article 10 of the Federal Law dated December 20, 2004 No. 166-FZ "On Fishing and Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources").
Atmospheric air is not an object of property rights.
As Yu.I. Shuplyetskaya notes, modern environmental management largely depends not on the allocation of new rights to users or owners, nor even on revising existing provisions, but rather on the effectiveness of law enforcement activities. And one of the conditions for the effectiveness of such activities, in our view, should be the stability of the current system of normative legal acts, as well as the completion of the "indefinite" process of redistributing powers between levels and branches of government3.
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