Environmental crimes in a transnational context. Topical issues of international environmental disputes as a risk of threat to the world legal order. Giorgi Matiashvili

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      Throughout the history of international law, it has been based on the principle that the ancient Romans formulated as “pacta sunt servanda” – “treaties must be observed”. In contrast to the situation within the state, where the observance of law is ensured by the state apparatus in international relations, where there is no supranational power, states are forced to take their protection into their own hands when their rights are violated. At the same time, they seek support from other states, interested in maintaining the authority and effectiveness of international law, in order to jointly resort to sanctions or other coercive measures to restore violated rights. Currently, these actions of states are regulated by the UN Charter.

      By being closely connected with politics, international law itself was in the past and currently remains a field of acute political struggle between various groups of states for the development and application of its institutions and norms in accordance with their interests.

      In the era of Ancient Rome, international law reflected the relations of the hegemony of Ancient Rome and its subordinate peoples that existed at that time, in the Middle Ages it determined the relations of states – suzerains and vassals, and at a later time – the relationship of European monarchies with each other.

      In the 20th century, there was a significant democratization of international relations, and, nevertheless, at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, some of the most developed states seek to limit the effect of the sovereignty of other countries, proving that in the era of globalization and economic and technological progress, the borders between countries are erased. Some authorities and groups of NATO states\ (this is a military-political bloc, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the North Atlantic Alliance (Eng. North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO;) – uniting most of the countries of Europe (including Turkey), the United States of America and Canada) \ lay claim to the exclusive right to maintain Western-style order and democracy in various parts of the world. Under the pretext of “humanitarian intervention”, they are ready to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, acting as an international policeman. Often, the “struggle for the right” undergoes along the line of dividing the interests of the countries of the developed North and the developing South. Unfortunately, the attempts of individual states to ignore the norms of international law and sometimes directly violate them, have not gone away, which ultimately has a destructive effect on the ecology of the regions.

      &3 The rights and power

      The basis for the preservation of the world and the planet’s ecosystem is the international legal system provided for in the UN Charter. The UN Security Council has the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security in all aspects. In carrying out this task, the Security Council acts on behalf of all UN member states. The UN has the right “to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace”. The realism laid down in the UN Charter lies in the fact that the composition of the Security Council, authorized to take such measures, up to forced ones, includes five great powers – permanent members of the council, which, subject to their consent, are able to ensure the fulfillment of the peacekeeping tasks assigned to the UN.

      At the same time, the UN has a democratic system of annual discussion of all world problems in the main body – the General Assembly, where all member states participate in the adoption of recommendatory decisions with the right to vote on the basis of the principle of their sovereign equality. This system of UN, although it seems to require constant updating, is on the whole the most advanced stage in the development of modern international law.

      In accordance with the principles of the UN Charter, states have developed and put into effect many treaties that determine the current state of international relations. Such important treaties include agreements between Russia (USSR) and the United States on the reduction of strategic armament, the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, treaties on the prohibition of nuclear-weapon tests, agreements on the non-deployment of nuclear weapons in outer space, the Antarctic Treaty, agreements on nuclear-weapon-free zones in various regions of the world, treaties on NATO, the CIS\ (The CIS countries are the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) established in December 1991. The CIS unites: the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Uzbekistan and Ukraine) \,the European Community, agreements on regional integration associations, the OSCE Final Act, Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations, Statutes of the UN Specialized Agencies, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Civil and Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982, agreements on the protection of the environment and natural resources and so on.

      The listed and many other agreements and declarations, as well as decisions of the UN and its international organizations, customs, recognized as legal norms, and decisions of international judicial bodies, form a general system of international law, within framework of which international relations are carried out today in all spheres of humankind existence.

      &4 General provisions and the concept of international law of environmental protection

      Surrounding Nature Environment – a complex of natural systems, natural objects and natural resources, including atmospheric air, water, land, subsoil resources, flora and fauna, as well as climate in their interconnection and interaction.

      A favorable natural environment – such a state of natural objects that form the environment created by human being, as well as the quality of life and conditions that meets the legally established standards and regulations regarding its cleanliness, resource intensity, ecological sustainability, species diversity and aesthetic richness.

      Protection of the natural environment – activities to preserve and restore (if it is violated) a favorable state of the ambient environment, prevent its degradation in the process of social development and maintain ecological balance.

      The concept and resources of international environmental law.

      International environmental law – a set of international legal principles and norms, regulating international relations regarding the protection of the environment from harmful effects, the rational use of its individual elements in order to ensure optimal conditions for the life and health of individuals, as well as the very existence of mankind as a whole.

      Significance of international environmental law

      The access to regulating relations of the issues of the international level regarding the environmental protection is conditioned by two main factors: the development of scientific and technological progress, a sharp increase in the human population, which leads to an imbalance in world environmental ties (today, humankind does not possess natural enemies capable of regulating its population).

      Principles of international environmental law.

      The principles of international legal regulation are generally divided into three groups: General (generally recognized) principles of international law; The principles of international law, having environmentally friendly importance; Special (sectoral) principles of international environmental law.

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