Criminalization of environmental acts in the light of the ratio of administrative offenses and crimes

Abstract

Subject of research: the article examines the relationship between criminal and administrative jurisdictions, criminalization of acts with administrative prejudice in the field of environmental protection. Purpose of research is to systematize the criteria for criminalizing environmental acts and establishing administrative and legal prohibitions. Research methods: formal-legal, comparative-legal, system-structural analysis. The object of research is a complex of problems related to the criminalization of environmental offenses and their correlation with administrative offenses. Research findings: include the identification of a contentious inconsistency between the norms of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, which is caused by an underestimation of the public danger of certain administrative offenses. In this regard, it is proposed to criminalize the removal of fertile soil layers that cause significant harm, the failure to comply with the obligation to restore the land to a state suitable for its intended use, and the concealment or distortion of environmentally significant information. The study also substantiates the feasibility of expanding the use of administrative prejudice in criminal legislation to enhance its preventive effect.