Constitutional And Legal Doctrinal Model Of Public Ownership Of Natural Resources

Abstract

The article deals with the study concerning the basic conceptual positions of scholars who have differing doctrinal views on the conceptual apparatus of public ownership of natural resources. The doctrinal concept of ownership of natural resources is based on the constitutional model of the right of ownership of the Ukrainian people to objects of nature and includes the most essential, fundamental notions that mainly determine natural resources as public domain or the ones that fall under its characteristics. On this basis, there has been derived the author's own understanding of the essence of the category of «public ownership of natural resources». Public ownership of natural resources is a prerequisite for the realization of public interests (public social and state interests), to ensure the economic foundations of the constitutional order and national security and to maintain the quality of the environment for the present and future generations. It is proved that the earth and other natural resources that are not only in public but in private property must be used only taking environmental public interests into consideration. The duty of the state as a public legal formation is to regulate interference in the relations of ownership of natural resources legitimately. The state is endowed with the greatest capacity to become the conveyer and defender of public (social) environmental interests. Public environmental interests, the bearer of which is society in general, should acquire a clear outline and the specific legal content through the normative laying down principles, priorities, prohibitions and restrictions that are intended to ensure the safe environment.

There has been proved the necessity of legislative laying down the concept, types, entities, content and peculiarities of implementation of the right of public ownership to natural resources, which is an objective requirement of time and environmental legal doctrine.