Problematic Issues of Compensation for Environmental Damage: Comments on the Margins of the Review of Judicial Practice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

Abstract

Author analyses some positions of the Review of judicial practice on the application of environmental legislation, approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on 24 June 2022. This review is the first dedicated entirely to environmental issues, and prepared as a result of the seminar of the Supreme Court on the practice of courts in the field of environmental protection. The author notes the presence of disputable interpretations in this review, and also highlights the various facets of the views taken by the Supreme Court and the problems of their practical implementation. Among such problems, there is a lack of uniformity in understanding the harm to the environment, the absence of many environmental quality standards as an obstacle to fair compensation for damage to nature, compensation for environmental damage for lawful activities on general terms with illegal users of natural resources, an extremely high standard of proof in cases of environmental compensation for users of natural resources, the difficulty of holding state bodies accountable, etc. The author also highlights the trends in legal regulation and law enforcement practice in the field of nature management and environmental protection outlined by the Supreme Court (“pro-state” bias in resolving disputes, strengthening the priority of monetary compensation over in-kind compensation for harm and the fiscal function of the compensation, etc.).