Legalization of Aviary Hunting as Another Controversial Result of Domestic Law-Making

Abstract

The article presents results of a comprehensive study of the Federal law “On amendments to the Federal law “On hunting and conservation of hunting resources and on amendments to several legislative acts of the Russian Federation” and the Federal law “On the animal world”, including the history of its design. This Law allows hunting wild animals kept in semi-free conditions and in artificially created habitat (“aviary hunting”). The research was carried out using formal legal and system methods, as well as methods of modeling and comparative law. Its purpose is to find out what is correlation of legislative innovations with “hunting” and environmental legislation and what are possible consequences of their application. The relevance of the research is highlighted by the negative public response accompanied process of designing and approving the law on “aviary hunting”, which is in clear contradiction with the legislative trend of humanizing the treatment of animals. It is proved the purpose of the Law is to legalize illegally conducted “aviary hunting” in order to ensure the continuation of this activity already legally and to remove it from the bans, restrictions and requirements established in the Federal Law on hunting and hunting rules. The Law on “aviary hunting” does not conform to legal concept of hunting and main provisions of the natural resources and environmental legislation of Russia, provide in fact, the illegal “privatization” of wildlife, which is state property now, as well as areas of hunting grounds by permitting to build real estate in the form of capital structures. It is argued that the foreign experience of “aviary hunting” referred to by the initiators and authors of the Law is not applicable in the Russian legal system based on another principles. As a consequence, legislative innovations does not match the concept of state ownership of wildlife, violate the following basic legal requirements: separation of the right to use the animal world from the right to use land and other natural resources, implementation of wildlife use methods that do not allow cruel treatment of animals, in accordance with the principles of humanity. Retrospect shows that in Russia “aviary hunting” was not widespread even in the conditions of landlord ownership. A forecast of negative consequences of the adoption of the Law on aviary hunting is given, and a proposal is made to cancel or invalidate its provisions.