Sources of environmental law: National legislation of Ukraine and international legal documents

Abstract

In this article, we consider the Constitution of Ukraine, international agreements, and norms of international law as the foundations of environmental legislation. This study provides a detailed analysis of the provisions and principles enshrined in international legal acts and Ukrainian legislation related to the protection and conservation of nature. The Constitution of Ukraine establishes the state’s environmental strategy, guarantees citizens the right to a safe environment, and mandates state actions to ensure environmental protection. International agreements, which Ukraine has signed and ratified, are equally significant, holding priority over national laws and forming a part of the domestic law. The international legal acts include declarations, principles, and other documents that do not have binding legal force but have significant impacts on the state’s formation and development of environmental law. These acts serve as typical frameworks in environmental protection, granting flexibility in implementation. Therefore, the most effective way to implement such acts into the national legislation of Ukraine is through state adoption based on the text of international legal acts or their individual articles on domestic law. The main ways to solve the problems of implementing international legal acts in environmental protection in Ukraine are as follows: (i) operational addition or amendment of national environmental legislation, (ii) determination of specific mechanisms and ways of implementing international obligations undertaken by Ukraine in environmental protection, and (iii) creation of separate units within the structure of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, which concentrates their activities on relevant international legal acts and ensures cooperation in this direction.

Keywords

International treaties / International legal acts / Environmental law / Environmental protection / Law

Funding

None.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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