SIBERIAN LAW HERALD
ISSN 2071-8136 (print)
ISSN 2071-8144 (online)

List of issues > Siberian Law Herald 2025. 2

Received on 06.03.2025; approved on 21.04.2025; accepted for publication on 13.05.2025


The problem of preventing environmental and environmental-legal risks of rule-making on lake Baikal

Author(s)
Shornikov Dmitry Vladimirovich
Abstract
The article is devoted to the problems of legal regulation of environmental protection and nature management in the Baikal natural territory. Controversial issues related to environmental and environmental-legal risks arising from anthropogenic activities, including rulemaking and enforcement, are considered. The author analyzes the results of expert and analytical studies, including the concept of modernization of the Federal Law “On the Protection of Lake Baikal,” noting that many proposals remain unrealized, but relevant. The article paid the particular attention to the concept of “environmental risk” and its minimization. The author supports the idea of highlighting environmental and legal risks as a separate category associated with violation of environmental legal rules. Risk mitigation measures are proposed, including an expansion of regulatory impact assessment (RIA) and environmental assessment during the rulemaking phase. In conclusion, the author proposes to conduct a legal experiment on the introduction of environmental assessment for bills related to Lake Baikal, which will help reduce social tension and preserve the unique ecosystem of the lake.
Keywords
Lake Baikal, Environmental Risks, Environmental and Legal Risks, Legal Protection of Nature, Environmental Assessment
About the Authors
Shornikov Dmitry Vladimirovich – Candidate of Juridical Sciences, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of International Law and Comparative Law, Director of the Research Institute of Legal Protection of Baikal, Law Institute, Irkutsk State University (1, K. Marx st., Irkutsk, 664082, Russian Fede­ration), ORCID: 0000-0002-1875-7277, RSCI Author ID: 8378-8763, Researcher ID: M-8437-2018, e-mail: abirvalg35@mail.ru
For citation
Shornikov D. V. Problema predotvrashcheniya ekologicheskih i ekologo-pravovyh riskov normotvorchestva na Bajkale [The problem of preventing environmental and environmental-legal risks of rule-making on lake Baikal] Sibirskij yuridicheskij vestnik [Siberian Law Herald]. 2025, no 2(109), pp. 158–163. – DOI 10.26516/2071-8136.2025.2.158 (in Russian)
UDC
349.6
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26516/2071-8136.2025.2.158
References
1. Bogolyubov S.A. Ekologicheskaya ekspertiza proektov pravovyx aktov. Zadachi i provedenie ekologicheskoj ekspertizy zakonoproektov [Its environmental examination of draft legal acts. Tasks and carrying out its environmental examination of bills]. Yuridicheskaya texnika [Legal technology], 2022, no. 16, pp. 403-410. (in Russian)

2. Bulgakov V.V., Brosalina A.A. Ekologicheskij komplaens: ponyatie, osobennosti, rol v snizhenii ekologo-pravovyx riskov i obespechenii ekologicheskoj bezopasnosti [Environmental compliance: concept, features, role in reducing environmental and legal risks and ensuring environmental safety]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Pravo [Bulletin of Tomsk State University. Law], 2023, no. 50, pp. 117-131. (in Russian)

3. Itogovyj analiticheskij otchet po provedeniyu ekspertno-analiticheskogo issledovaniya po teme “Zakonodatelnoe obespechenie socialno-ekonomicheskogo razvitiya Bajkalskoj prirodnoj territorii i soxraneniya ekosistemy ozera Bajkal”, podgotovlennyj Finansovym universitetom pri Pravitelstve Rossijskoj Federacii [Final analytical report on conducting an expert analytical study on the topic: “Legislative support for the socio-economic development of the Baikal natural territory and the preservation of the ecosystem of Lake Baikal”, prepared by the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation]. Manuscript. Project leader A.V. Popova. Moscow, 2024, 830 p. (in Russian)

4. Shornikov D.V. et al. Itogov`j analiticheskij otchet ekspertno-analiticheskogo issledovaniya (EAI) po teme “Pravovoe obespechenie gosudarstvennoj politiki po sberezheniyu ekosistemy ozera Bajkal. Razrabotka nauchno obosnovannoj koncepcii modernizacii FZ “Ob oxrane ozera Bajkal” [The final analytical report of the expert analytical study (EAR) on the topic: Legal support of state policy to preserve the ecosystem of Lake Baikal. Development of a scientifically based concept for the modernization of the Federal Law “On the Protection of Lake Baikal”]. Manuscript. Irkutsk, 2018. 759 p. (in Russian)

5. Kichigin N.V. Minimizaciya i preduprezhdenie ekologo-pravovyx riskov [Minimization and prevention of environmental and legal risks]. Zhurnal rossijskogo prava [Journal of Russian Law], 2018, no. 8, pp. 144-154. (in Russian)

6. Kichigin N.V. Pravovaya neopredelennost i yuridicheskie riski v ekologicheskom prave: postanovka problemy [Legal uncertainty and legal risks in environmental law: problem statement]. Pravovye riski v sisteme publichnogo upravleniya [Legal risks in the public management system]. Monograph. Sci. eds. V. I. Avdiysky, M.A. Lapina. Moscow, 2014. pp. 36-51. (in Russian)

7. Kichigin N.V. Ekologo-pravovy`e riski kak universalnyj kriterij ocenki e`kologicheskogo zakonodatelstva [Environmental and legal risks as a universal criterion for assessing environmental legislation]. Zhurnal rossijskogo prava [Journal of Russian Law], 2021, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 138-151. (in Russian)

8. Kolobov R.Yu. Ramsarskaya konvenciya kak e`lement mezhdunarodno-pravovoj oxrany ekosistemy Bajkala [Ramsar Convention as an element of international legal protection of the Baikal ecosystem]. Sibirskij yuridicheskij vestnik [Siberian Legal Herald], 2020, no. 1 (88), pp. 102-111. (in Russian)

9. Kolobov R.Yu., Dicevich Ya.B. Ob’’ekt vsemirnogo naslediya “Ozero Bajkal” kak associativnyj kulturnyj landshaft: postanovka problemy [World Heritage Site “Lake Baikal” as an associative cultural landscape: statement of the problem]. Zhurnal rossijskogo prava [Journal of Russian Law], 2024, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 132-142. (in Russian)

10. Malxanova E. V., Dicevich Ya. B. Problemy pravovogo obespecheniya oxrany` ob``ektov vsemirnogo prirodnogo naslediya v Rossii [Problems of legal support for the protection of world natural heritage sites in Russia]. Mezhdunarodnoe pravo [International Law], 2022, no. 4. Available at: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/problemy-pravovogo-obespecheniya-ohrany-obektov-vsemirnogo-prirodnogo-naslediya-v-rossii (data of access: 30.01.2025) (in Russian)

11. Pozdnyakova P.V. Ekologicheskij komplaens – institut chastnogo ili publichnogo prava? [Is environmental compliance an institution of private or public law?]. Pravo. Zhurnal Vysshej shkoly ekonomiki [Law. Journal of the Higher School of Economics], 2024, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 28-52. (in Russian)


Full text (russian)