Legal regime of land

General Provisions

The legal regime of land determines the legal basis for the use, protection, and management of land resources, considering land as a vital natural object and means of production. Land and topsoil are inseparably linked to other components of nature, and their rational use is the foundation of sustainable societal development.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes the principle of protection and use of land as a basis for life and economic activities, stipulating that regulation of land relations takes into account simultaneously the natural, economic, and property value of land. Legislation considers land an object of ownership and other real rights.

Land legislation in Russia is under the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and its subjects, including the Land Code of the Russian Federation (ZK RF), federal laws, and laws of the subjects of the Russian Federation. Norms of land law contained in other regulatory acts must comply with the provisions of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, ensuring uniformity of legal regulation.

The legal regulation of land relations is also carried out through decrees of the President of the Russian Federation, decisions of the Government of the Russian Federation, and acts of executive authorities and local self-government bodies. These normative acts form a management system aimed at the rational use of land, their protection and prevention from degradation.

The main legislative acts forming the legal regime of land include federal laws on environmental protection, land reclamation, turnover of agricultural lands, land management, and regulation of soil fertility. The combination of these norms ensures comprehensive legal regulation of land use and protection.

As noted by Yu.G. Zharikov, land and topsoil, being an inseparable part of the entire ecological system of our planet, are inextricably linked to its other components: water, forests, animals and plant life, mineral resources, and other values of the earth's interior. Without land and soil, the use of other natural resources is practically impossible. At the same time, mismanagement in relation to land will immediately or in the near future cause harm to the entire surrounding natural environment.

Article 9 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation stipulates that land and other natural resources are used and protected in the Russian Federation as the basis of life and activities of the peoples residing on the corresponding territory. At the same time, regulation of relations concerning the use and protection of land is carried out based on the concept of land as a natural object protected as an essential component of nature, a natural resource used as a means of production in agriculture and forestry, and the basis for conducting economic and other activities on the territory of the Russian Federation, and simultaneously as

immovable property, regarding the object of ownership rights and other rights on land (subparagraph 1 of paragraph 1 of article 1 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation). According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, land legislation¹, as well as issues of ownership, use, and disposal of land², are within the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the subjects of the Russian Federation. The relevant provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation are developed in the Land Code of the Russian Federation. According to Article 2 of the aforementioned Code, land legislation, in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, is within the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the subjects of the Russian Federation. Land legislation consists of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, federal laws, and those adopted in accordance with

The norms of land law contained in other federal laws and laws of the subjects of the Russian Federation must comply with the Land Code of the Russian Federation (ZK RF).

Land relations may also be regulated by decisions of the President of the Russian Federation, which must not contradict the Land Code of the Russian Federation (ZK RF) or federal laws. The Government of the Russian Federation adopts decisions regulating land relations within the authority defined by the Land Code of the Russian Federation, federal laws, and decisions of the President of the Russian Federation regulating land relations.

On the basis of and in accordance with the Land Code of the Russian Federation (ZK RF), federal laws, other normative legal acts of the Russian Federation, laws and other normative legal acts of the subjects of the Russian Federation, executive authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation within their authority may issue acts containing norms of land law.

On the basis of and in accordance with the Land Code of the Russian Federation (ZK RF), federal laws, other normative legal acts of the Russian Federation, laws and other normative legal acts of the subjects of the Russian Federation, local self-government bodies within their authority may issue acts containing norms of land law.

Alongside the Land Code of the Russian Federation (ZK RF), the main federal laws defining the legal regime of land include: Federal Law «On Environmental Protection» (which defines the legal regime for all components of the natural environment, including land); Law of the Russian Federation «On Land Tax»³; Federal Law «On Land Reclamation»⁴; Federal Law «On the Transfer of Land or Land Plots from One Category to Another»⁵; Federal Law «On the Circulation of Agricultural Lands»⁶; Federal Law «On State regulation of the preservation of fertility of agricultural land"⁷; Federal Law "On Land Management"⁸.