Department of problems of agrarian, land, environmental and space law

During the period of activity of the Department of Agrarian, Land, Environmental and Space Law, the efforts of its employees have made a significant contribution to the development of scientific research into the problems of legal regulation of social relations in agriculture, in the land sector, in the field of use, reproduction and protection of the natural environment, ensuring environmental safety, as well as in the field of space and energy law.

In fact, the history of scientific research on the Department's topics can be traced back to the beginning of the activities of the Sector of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, on the basis of which the academic Institute of State and Law was later established. These studies were initiated in 1949 by Ts.V. Botsyan (Bychkova). In particular, during that period, she wrote such works as «Legal Issues of Electricity Supply to Agriculture» (1953) and «News in the Statutes of the Agricultural Artel» (1958). In 1956, she defended her PhD thesis on the topic: «The Meaning and Peculiarities of Contractual Relations between Collective Farms and State Organizations».

Since 1961, scientific and industry groups began to be organized within the Sector on a non-profit basis, including the collective farm and land law group. And among the series of monographic works published at that time by the Sector, which dealt with the problems of the development of the state and law that were relevant under those conditions, were the works «Legal issues of the activities of inter-collective farm associations by Ts.V. Bychkova and V.L. Muntyan (1961) and «Administrative and legal protection of collective farm property» by V.L. Muntyan (1961).

In the late 50s and early 60s of the 20th century, the Sector began to conduct the first scientific research in Ukraine in the field of legal nature protection and rational use of nature. Scientific research in the relevant direction was first conducted «in the depths» of agrarian and legal (collective farm and legal) science by specialists in this particular field of knowledge,However, they can be safely considered as those who initiated a new, environmental, direction in the legal science of Ukraine. In 1957—1962, V.L. Muntyan began to actively engage in the problems of collective farm law and legal protection of nature in the Sector. In 1960, he defended his PhD thesis on the topic «Administrative and Legal Protection of Collective Farm Property». In 1964, the first monographic legal work in the Ukrainian SSR by V.L. Muntyan of an environmental orientation «Administrative and Legal Protection of Collective Farm Property» was published. Legal Protection of Forests of the Ukrainian SSR», and in 1965 another of his works, «Legal Protection of Soils of the Ukrainian SSR», was published (Published by the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR and the Ukrainian Society for Nature Conservation and Promotion of the Development of Natural Resources).

Continuously developing this scientific direction, in the following year, 1966, under the seal of the Sector of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, a new book was published, dedicated to the legal protection and rational use of another important natural resource — water. The authors of this study were Ts.V. Bychkova and V.L. Muntyan. The book entitled «Legal Regulation of Water Relations in the Ukrainian SSR» examines the issue of legal regulation of the exploitation of water resources and the preservation of their useful qualities.

Considering the scientific ecological and legal research of the Sector of the 1960s from the perspective of today, it should be noted that these first creative searches were conducted in conditions when environmental issues had not yet fully become an independent field of legal research, they were only making the first applications for the right to independent development.

On June 24, 1969, by Resolution No. 202 of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, the Sector of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR was reorganized into the Institute of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. In Appendix No. 2 to the said Resolution, the following was stated: «Structure and scientific profile of the main divisions of the Institute of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR» it was established that one of the areas of research work of the Department of Public and Economic Administration was the study of the role of law in strengthening economic ties between industry and agriculture. Thus, one of the main areas of research in the conditions of that time was officially established and the foundation was laid for the formation of a separate, subject-oriented structural research unit — the Department.

In the early 70s, Z.A. Pavlovych joined the research of agricultural law problems. In 1973, he defended his PhD thesis «Material liability of collective farm members for damage caused to the collective farm (based on materials of the Ukrainian SSR)».

In the 1970s, a new stage in the Institute's ecological and legal research began. In particular, there was a certain reorientation from the development of resource-based aspects of environmental protection to the consideration of complex problems in the relevant field. This was largely facilitated by scientific developments associated with the name of Yu.S. Shemshuchenko. The object of research interest of the monograph by I.O.S. Shemshuchenko and V.F. Pohorilko «Administrative and Legal Protection of Nature of the Ukrainian SSR» was the issue of implementing the state's environmental protection function by means of administrative and legal (managerial) influence. Gradually, a fairly powerful problem group on legal environmental protection was formed, which initially functioned in the Department of State (Constitutional) Law (Head A.P. Taranov), and from February 1979 — in the Soviet construction department, headed by Yu.S. Shemshuchenko. It was he who headed the relevant problem group, which included M.I. Malyshko, N.R. Malysheva, N.D. Krasilich, and later — M.I. Erofeev, V.A. Maksimkov, M.I. Matyora.

It should be noted that the field of research related to the environmental protection function of the state and its implementation in the process of public administration became dominant in the scientific ecological and legal developments of the department's scientists in the next 15—20 years. At the same time, scientific research in this direction is consistently deepening, and this, in turn, brought the Institute of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR in the late 70s to the level of leading centers for the study of environmental and legal problems in Ukraine.

Among the monographic works with the participation of scientists from the problem group on environmental law, published in the following decade (mid-70s — early 80s) under the Institute's seal, are: «Organizational and Legal Issues of Environmental Protection in the USSR» Yu.S. Shemshuchenko (1976); «Legal responsibility in the field of environmental protection» Yu.S. Shemshuchenko, V.L. Muntyana, B.G. Rozovsky (1978); «Environmental Protection in Cities (Organizational and Legal Issues)» by the authors: Y.S. Shemshuchenko, N.R. Malysheva, N.D. Krasilich, B.G. Rozovsky, M.I. Malyshko (1981); «State Control over the Protection of Atmospheric Air» by M.I. Malyshko (1982); «Councils of People's Deputies and Environmental Protection» author team: Yu.S. Shemshuchenko, N.R. Malysheva, N.D. Krasilich, S.O. Bogolyubov, V.V. Kostytskyi (1984); «Environmental protection from noise impact (legal and organizational issues)» N.R. Malysheva (1984); «Legal environmental protection in the field of industrial production» author team: Yu.S. Shemshuchenko, N.R. Malysheva, N.D. Krasilich, V.A. Maksymkov, M.M. Brinchuk, V.V. Kruglov, V.I. Andreytsev, S.M. Kravchenko (1986).

In 1977, a problem group on legal problems of agriculture was created in the Department of State and Legal Problems of National Economy Management (head V.V. Tsvetkov). It included V.I. Semchyk (head), Z.A. Pavlovych, T.V. Bychkova, V.P. Nagrebelny and P.F. Kulynich (1980). This group studied the following planned topics: «Legislative framework and practical recommendations for inter-farm cooperation in agricultural production» (1977—1979); «Legal issues of agricultural management in conditions of inter-farm cooperation» (1980—1982); «Legislative framework and practical recommendations for improving agricultural management in conditions of specialization and concentration of production» (1981—1983). Based on the results of scientific research by the problem group in the Department, the monograph by Ts.V. Bychkova, «Agreement in Production and Economic Relations between Agriculture and Industry» (1980) and the collective work «Legal Issues of Inter-Farm Cooperation in Agriculture» were prepared and published authors: V.I. Semchyk, T.V. Bychkova, V.P. Nagrebelny, Z.A. Pavlovych, V.P. Zenin, V.V. Grechko, Z.A. Pidoprigora (1981).

In 1982, namely on June 14, in accordance with order No. 74 signed by the director of the Institute of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR B.M. Babiya, on the basis of two departments existing at that time — The Department of Constitutional Law and Legislative Improvement and the Department of Soviet Construction Problems were created, and three new departments of the Institute were created. Among them was the Department of Legal Problems of Agriculture and Environmental Protection. Yu.S.Shemshuchenko was approved as the Head of the Department. The Department included two creative problem groups of scientists: on legal problems of agriculture (since 1990 — agrarian law) and on legal problems of the environment (since 1990 — ecological law).

The first fifteen years of scientific activity resulted in dozens of monographic works. Among them, in the field of agrarian law, in addition to those mentioned above, the following are worth noting: «Legal Protection of Collective Farm Property» by V.I. Semchyk (1978); «Organizational and Legal Issues of Agricultural Management» by Z.A. Pavlovich (1979); «Legal position of collective farm specialists» by V.I. Semchyk and V.Z. Yanchuk (1979); «Legal issues of inter-farm cooperation in agriculture» edited by V.I. Semchyk (1981).

At this time, an increasingly wide range of legal scholars, both in Ukraine and in other republics of the former USSR, are involved in the development of environmental issues. Environmental legal research is beginning to be carried out, in particular at the Faculty of Law of the Taras Shevchenko Kyiv State University under the leadership of V.L. Muntyan, as well as in scientific institutions and higher legal educational institutions of Lviv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk and some other scientific centers. In the context of expanding the geography of centers of scientific research on this issue, a creative scientific team of the All-Union level was formed within the Department, which, according to the recognition of an authoritative scientist in this field, the then head of the Department of Environmental Law of Moscow State University, V.V. Petrov became the basis of the Kyiv scientific school of environmental law, headed by Yu.S. Shemshuchenko, whose achievements include many fundamental works.

Undoubtedly, one of them is the individual monograph by Yu.S. Shemshuchenko «Legal Problems of Ecology», published in 1989. In it, the author, from the standpoint of his twenty-year experience in science, expressed his own thoughts on some of the topical ecological and legal problems of that time. This is the issue of the human right to a favorable environment in the light of the concept of human rights; the issue of universal ownership of natural resources; trends in the development of environmental law and the problems of codification of relevant legislation; problems of mechanisms for implementing environmental legislation and legal responsibility in this area. The study of all these problems is united by a single goal — improving environmental quality management by means of legal regulation and other state influence.

The restructuring of social life in the Soviet Union, which began in the mid-1980s, democratized the processes of scientific development, which was also reflected in the clarification of the Institute's research topics for 1986 and subsequent years. In particular, the main areas of his scientific research included organizational and legal issues of the development of the agro-industrial complex and environmental protection. Based on this, at that time the attention of the Department's scientists was focused on the study of the following planned scientific research topics under the leadership of Z.A. Pavlovich: «Legislative framework and practical recommendations for improving agricultural management in conditions of specialization and concentration of production» (1981—1983); «Problems of improving management and legal regulation of production economic relations in the agricultural complex» (1984—1986); «Legal means of stimulating the efficiency of agricultural production in the agro-industrial complex» (1987—1989).

In January 1988, the head of the Department of Legal Problems of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, Yu.S. Shemshuchenko, was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR in the specialty «Law». And on October 12 of the same year, the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR approved Yu.S. Shemshuchenko as the director of the Institute.

After that, a system of measures was developed to restructure the Institute's scientific activities based on rethinking, first of all, ideological stereotypes in the field of state and law, inherited from the times of the single-party command-administrative system. The structure of the Institute was also reformed to meet the new directions. As a result, the Department of Legal Problems of Agriculture and Environmental Protection received a new name — Department of Legal Problems of Ecology and Agrarian Law.
The beginning of the so-called «perestroika» process in the USSR in the 1980s significantly affected the field of environmental protection. In such conditions, a creative team of environmental lawyers, the backbone of which was made up of scientists of the Department, prepared and in 1990 published a monographic study «State Management of Environmental Protection in the Union Republic» (authors: Yu.S. Shemshuchenko, N.R. Malysheva, M.I. Erofeev, N.D. Krasilich, B.G. Rozovsky, S.M. Kravchenko, M.M. Brinchuk).

At this time, scientific research in the field of agrarian law also continued, which found its manifestation in such publications as: «Legal Issues of the Activity of Production Agrarian and Industrial Associations» (edited by Yu.S. Shemshuchenko, a team of authors Semchyk V.I., Pavlovich Z.A., Bychkova T.V., Kulinich P.F., Usenko M.I. K., 1983); individual monograph by Semchyk V.I. «Property legal relations in agriculture». K., 1984; «Legal status of RAPO» (1986) by V.I. Semchyk, Ts.V. Bychkova, Z.A. Pavlovich, P.F. Kulinich, «Rational use of reclaimed lands: issues of legal support» by P.F. Kulinich (1987); «APC and law» Yu.S. Shemshuchenko, V.I. Semchyka, T.V. Bychkova, Z.A. Pavlovich (1988), «Production-economic relations in the agro-industrial complex (organizational and legal issues)» (edited by Yu.S. Shemshuchenko, the team of authors V.Y. Semchyk, Z.A. Pavlovich, C.V. Bychkova, P.F. Kulinich, 1988; «Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR: Implementation of its Principles and Norms» (edited by Taranov A.P., a team of authors Shemshuchenko Yu.S., Sirenko V.F., Semchyk V.I. and others. K., 1988); «Production and Economic Relations in the Agricultural Complex (Organizational and Legal Issues)» (1989) V.I. Semchyk, Ts.V. Bychkova, Z.A. Pavlovich, P.F. Kulinich, «Prevention of transboundary pollution (international legal problems)» by O.O. Shyshka (1990), «Nature and Law» by Y.S. Shemshuchenko, V.V. Kostytsky, P.F. Kulynich (1991), etc.

The modern, qualitatively new stage in the Institute's activities began with the adoption in 1990 of the Declaration on State Sovereignty of Ukraine and in 1991 — the Act of Proclamation of Independence of Ukraine. After that, with the collapse of the USSR, significant changes occurred in approaches to the study of state and legal issues in Ukraine. One of the priority areas of scientific research of the Institute in the early 1990s was the problem of legal regulation of agrarian relations and environmental protection.

During this period, the creative group of agrarian and land law under the leadership of V.I. Semchyk developed the following scientific & research topics: «Problems of improving the economic mechanism of the agricultural complex in the conditions of economic restructuring» (1990—1992); «Problems of legal regulation of agrarian relations in Ukraine in market conditions» (1992—1994); «Problems of implementing agrarian legislation of Ukraine» (1995—1997); «Problems of property rights in agriculture of Ukraine» (1998—2000).

In the 1990s, dozens of monographs on relevant topical issues were published by the department's scientists. The most important of them in the field of agrarian and land law were: Semchyk V.I.'s individual monograph «Cooperation and Law» (1991); «Agricultural Industry: Legal Issues» (edited by Yu.S. Shemshuchenko, authors Semchyk V.I., Kulynich P.F., Pogribnyi O.O., Oliynyk V.O. (1992); «New Forms of Agricultural Production: Organizational and Legal Issues» (editor-in-chief Semchyk V.I.; collective of authors Semchyk V.I., Pogribnyi O. O., Kucherenko I.M., Usenko M.I., Bychkova Ts.V., Petryna V.N., Soniuk V.A. K., 1994); «Property Law in Consumer Cooperatives of Ukraine» (edited by V.I. Semchyk, collective of authors Semchyk V.I., Shemshuchenko Y.S., Babenko S.G., Pogribnyi O.O. (1996); «Modern Agrarian Policy of Ukraine: Problems of Formation» (edited by Sabluk P.T. and Yurchyshyn V.V., a team of authors Sabluk P.T., Yurchyshyn V.V., Semchyk V.I. and others. K., 1996); «Property Rights under the Constitution of Ukraine» by Semchyk V.I. (1997).

Ukraine's acquisition of independence and the associated opening of new prospects for the development of ecological and legal, land and agrarian legal research, at the same time posed a number of fundamentally new problems for science, caused by the fact that the old all-Union legislation could no longer ensure proper regulation of social relations, and the new legislation of Ukraine had not yet been created.

At this time, scientists of the Department substantiated the need for a comprehensive approach to regulating the protection and rational use of the entire natural complex, which was implemented in the Law of Ukraine of June 25, 1991 «On Environmental Protection». The Department's employees V.I. Oleshchenko, N.R. Malysheva, and V.V. Kostytskyi directly participated in the development of this Law. The law became the basis for further regulation of relevant relations in Ukraine, comprehensively covering the problems of nature protection, rational use of natural resources, and ensuring environmental safety.

The mass of environmental legislation created in subsequent years developed and deepened the basic principles and norms laid down in the above-mentioned law. In the 1990s of the last century — in the early 2000s, the environmental legislation of Ukraine was mainly created. Directly involved in its formation were the employees of the Department Yu.S. Shemshuchenko, N.R. Malysheva, V.I. Oleshchenko, M.I. Erofeev, V.V. Kostytsky and others.

Several draft editions of the Land Code, Forest Code, Water Code of Ukraine, Subsoil Code of Ukraine, Laws of Ukraine «On Ecological Expertise», «On the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine», «On Air Protection», «On hunting and game management», «On drinking water and drinking water supply», «On environmental audit», «On the ecological network of Ukraine», amendments and additions to the Code of Ukraine on administrative offenses,The Criminal Code of Ukraine, a significant number of presidential decrees and government resolutions on relevant issues — this is far from a complete list of the legislative achievements of the first years of independent statehood in our country. The Department's scientists took an active part in both creating the conceptual foundations of these bills and in the direct preparation of their texts.

Since the 1990s, Ukraine has formalized its membership in a large number of international environmental agreements. Fulfillment by the Ukrainian side of international obligations under these treaties, implementation of their provisions into national legislation, harmonization with the existing regulation of relevant relations - all this required thorough scientific research.

One of the important areas of such research after Ukraine ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1994 was the scientific development of legal issues related to biodiversity conservation in Ukraine. The Department's employees V.I. Oleshchenko, N.R. Malysheva, and N.D. Krasilich have considerable scientific achievements in the relevant field. Thus, V.I. Oleshchenko and N.R. Malysheva participated in the collective interdisciplinary work «Biodiversity of the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve», which contains the results of the analysis and proposals on the legal principles of preserving biotic and landscape diversity, determining state policy in this area, and regulating the activities of the biosphere reserve (1997), N.R. Malysheva prepared several chapters of the textbook «Reserve Affairs in Ukraine» (2003), N.R. Malysheva, V.I. Oleshchenko, N.D. Krasilich, S.V. Kuznetsova based on the results of relevant scientific research prepared a collective monograph «Legal Principles of Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Ukraine» (2003).

One of the most pressing problems of an ecological and legal nature, the development of which came to the fore in the late 90s and early 2000s, was the problem of the environmental rights of citizens, their guarantees, and the provision of protection and defense.V.I. Oleshchenko participated in the preparation of the Guidelines on Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making (UNECE, 1996), which later formed the basis of the famous Aarhus Convention of 1998 «On access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters».

During the same period, N.R. Malysheva participated in the preparation of a number of both monographic and popular publications on issues related to the ratification of this Convention by Ukraine.In 2000, N.R. Malysheva co-authored the Guide to Access to Information on Environmental Issues «I Have the Right to Know», and in 2001 the book «Court Protection of Environmental Rights of Citizens», which was favorably received by judicial officials, for whom the category of cases related to the protection of citizens' environmental rights turned out to be new, not sufficiently understood and complex.

The Department's scientists did not remain aloof from the urgent problem of forming Ukraine's own national agrarian and land legislation at that time. Based on the results of scientific research, scientific reports and scientific notes with conclusions and recommendations were prepared and sent to state bodies of various levels. The employees of the Department took an active part in the preparation of a number of draft Laws of Ukraine. Thus, in 1992, V.I. Semchyk prepared an alternative draft of the Law of Ukraine «On Peasant (Farming) Economy», which was sent to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. He also participated in the preparation of certain sections of the Law of Ukraine «On Collective Agricultural Enterprise», adopted on February 14, 1992. In 1996, V.I. Semchyk developed an alternative draft of the Law of Ukraine «On Agricultural Cooperation», which was taken as the basis for developing the final version adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in 1997. Employees of the Department (V.I. Semchyk, P.F. Kulynich, T.P. Protsenko) also participated in the development of draft laws of Ukraine «On Fisheries» and «On the Rural Settlement Network», etc.

One of the areas of scientific research of the Department's environmental lawyers in the second half of the 1990s was the issue of the operation of environmental law in new economic conditions, in the context of the transition to a market economy. Implementing the principles of sustainable development, approved by the UN Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the work of the Department's scientists N.R. Malysheva, M.I. Erofeev, V.N. Petrina is published under the Institute's seal «Environmental and legal issues of scientific and technical progress» (1993 year). In the following monographic study «Economic and Legal Issues of Ecology» (1996), the Department's team of authors, including Y.S. Shemshuchenko, N.R. Malysheva, M.I. Erofeev, N.V. Yeremeeva, S.V. Kuznetsova, S.I. Ryshchenko, focused on such new legal realities in the relevant field, as a mechanism for paying for environmental pollution, the functioning of special environmental funds, changing priorities and emphases in the regime of material liability for environmental damage, expanding the scope and increasing the role of contractual relations in the field of environmental protection, etc.

From the first years of independence, having clearly defined its commitment to a market economy, Ukraine has undertaken to adapt its legal system to the norms and principles by which Europe lives. It was precisely these issues in the environmental and legal sphere that were the subject of N.R. Malysheva's individual monograph «Harmonization of Environmental Legislation in Europe» (1996), on the basis of which the author successfully defended his doctoral dissertation.

After the adoption of the Constitution of Ukraine in 1996, the Department's scientists proposed ways to bring the current agrarian and land legislation into line with the Fundamental Law. These issues are most fully reflected in a scientific report, which in 1997 was submitted for consideration by the Ministry of Agro-Industrial Complex of Ukraine to be taken into account when developing appropriate measures,and also in the collective monograph «Agrarian legislation of Ukraine: problems of efficiency» (1998). Editor-in-chief — V.I. Semchyk, authors — T.V. Bychkova, Z.A. Pavlovych. P.F. Kulynych, V.M. Stretovych, O.O. Pogribnyi, T.P. Protsenko, O.A. Polivodsky, V.A. Soniuk.

In addition to the planned topics, the problem group of the Department of Legal Problems of Agrarian Law carried out research on self-financing topics that were relevant at the time.

These include:

• «Legal support for the implementation of the National and regional programs for the social development of villages»;
• «Improvement of the legal framework for the functioning of consumer cooperation»;
• «Legal regulation of consumer cooperation in Ukraine and other countries».

After a number of structural adjustments were made at the Institute in the 1990s, at the end of 1998 the Department of Legal Problems of Ecology and Agrarian Law was reorganized into the Department of Problems of Agrarian, Land and Environmental Law, which continued to be headed by Yu.S. Shemshuchenko.
The achievements of the creative team of the Department at that time were qualitatively implemented in the process of developing draft legislative acts. Thus, V.I. Semchyk and P.F. Kulynich prepared an alternative draft of the Land Code of Ukraine, which was sent to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The new, currently valid, Land Code of Ukraine was prepared on the basis of an alternative draft law adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on October 25, 2001 and which entered into force on January 1, 2002.

V.I. Semchyk, as part of the working group of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, participated in the development of the draft Law of Ukraine «On Cooperation», which was adopted on July 10, 2003. P.F. Kulynich prepared the drafts of: the Law of Ukraine «On the procedure for allocating land plots in kind (on the ground) to owners of land shares (shares)», adopted on June 5, 2003, the Law of Ukraine «On Farming», adopted on June 19, 2003 and the Law of Ukraine «On Protection of Constitutional Rights of Citizens to Land», adopted on January 20, 2005.

At the same time, the Department's scientists conducted active explanatory work to the population regarding the operation and application of the new agrarian and land legislation of the young state of Ukraine. In particular, V.I. Semchyk and P.F. Kulynich in 2002—2003 conducted such work on the First National Television Channel in the program «Rural Time». In 2002, P.F. Kulynich began to host a legal page on the daily program of the First Channel of the National Radio «Agronovyny» in which he provided answers to letters from radio listeners on the application of land legislation.

A new scientific activity for the Institute in the 1990s was the preparation and publication of textbooks, in which the Department's employees also actively participated. Since then, the following textbooks have been published and are used in the educational process: «Cooperative Law» edited by V.I. Semchyk (1998); «Land Law. Academic Course» edited by V.I. Semchyk and P.F. Kulynich (2001); «Land Law of Ukraine» edited by M.V. Shulga (co-authors V.I. Semchyk and P.F. Kulynich), «Environmental Law of Ukraine. Academic Course» edited by Y.S. Shemshuchenko, whose team of authors included N.R. Malysheva, N.D. Krasilich, S.V. Kuznetsova, M.I. Erofeev (2005); V.I. Semchyk, P.F. Kulynich, M.V. Shulga «Land Law of Ukraine. Academic Course» (2008), etc.

Collections and commentaries of the current legislation of Ukraine, prepared with the participation of researchers of the Department, are also popular: «Nuclear Legislation of Ukraine» edited by Yu.S. Shemshuchenko (1998); «Space Law of Ukraine» edited by Yu.S. Shemshuchenko, N.R. Malysheva (four volumes, 5 books, publication continues); Commentary to the Law of Ukraine «On Space Activities» (edited by N.R. Malysheva), «Land Code of Ukraine: Scientific and Practical Commentary» edited by V.I. Semchyk (2002, reprinted in 2004 and 2007), «Farming: Legal Principles of Creation, Functioning and Termination» (2004, co-author P.F. Kulynich), «Law of Ukraine «On the Procedure for Allocation in Kind (on the Ground) of Land Plots to Owners of Land Shares (Shares)» P.F. Kulynich (2004), etc.

During the existence of the Department, its scientists have repeatedly been awarded academic and other prizes, titles, and state awards. In particular, in 1984, the Medal of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR with the prize for the best work of a young scientist — the monograph «Protection of the environment from noise impact (legal and organizational issues)» was awarded to N.R. Malysheva.In 1991, the D.Z. Manuilsky Prize of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine was awarded to Yu.S. Shemshuchenko and N.R. Malysheva — for a series of works on legal problems of environmental protection; in 1992, the Honorary Titles of «Honored Lawyer of Ukraine» were awarded to N.R. Malysheva and V.V. Kostytsky; in 1995, the Honorary Titles of «Honored Scientist and Engineer of Ukraine» were awarded to Y.S. Shemshuchenko and V.I. Semchyk; in 1996 the Honorary title of «Honored Lawyer of Ukraine» was awarded to V.M. Stretovich; in 1997 the Prize of the Presidium of the NAS of Ukraine named after V.P. Vasylenko was awarded to Y.S. Shemshuchenko — for the book «The Rights by Which the Little Russian People Are Judged»; in 2002, the honorary title of Honored Lawyer of Ukraine was awarded to V.I. Oleshchenko; in 2003, P.F. Kulynich became the laureate of the Yaroslav Mudryi Prize, awarded by the Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine for a significant contribution to the study of land law issues; in 2004, the Laureates of the State Prize of Ukraine in the field of science and technology were Yu.S. Shemshuchenko and V.I. Semchyk; in 2005, the Laureates of the State Prize of Ukraine in the field of science and technology were N.R. Malysheva and V.I. Oleshchenko; In 2006, the Prize of the Presidium of the NAS of Ukraine named after M.P. Vasylenko was awarded to V.I. Semchyk and P.F. Kulinych — for the series of scientific works «Theoretical problems of agrarian and land reforms and legislative process in Ukraine»; in 2006, D.V. Busuyok became the winner of the competition for a scholarship of the NAS of Ukraine for young scientists, etc.

The fruitful work and active civic position of the scientists of the Department were recognized with state and other awards. In particular:

Y.S. Shemshuchenko was awarded: the orders of «Yaroslav the Wise» of the 5th and 4th degrees; the medals «Veteran of Labor», «For Labor Distinction»;

V.I. Semchyk was awarded: the orders of «Bohdan Khmelnytsky» of the 3rd degree, «For Merit» of the 3rd degree, «Holy Prince Volodymyr» of the 4th degree, «Yaroslav the Wise» of the 5th degree, medals «For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941—1945», «Veteran of Labor», «Defender of the Fatherland»;

V.V. Kostytsky was awarded: Orders of «For Merit of the 3rd and 2nd degree;

T.P. Protsenko was awarded: Badge of «Excellent Education Worker of Ukraine» etc.

In its activities, the Department actively cooperates with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, its Committees, legal services of the Apparatus, with the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine, the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine, The Ministry of Environmental Protection of Ukraine, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the Supreme Court of Ukraine, the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine, the Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, internal affairs bodies, local executive authorities, local governments, their associations, other authorities. The Department's scientists are members of numerous scientific advisory councils under the relevant state bodies, work in commissions, working groups, etc. created by them.

The scientific ideas of the Department's employees undergo initial testing in student classrooms, during lectures to students of the Kyiv University of Law of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Semchik V.I. — cooperative law, Malysheva N.R. - environmental law, Kulynich P.F. — land law; Protsenko T.P. — agrarian law, Busuyok D.V. — special courses in land law), at the Faculty of Geography of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (V.Oleshchenko — environmental law, natural resource management, international environmental law).

The department maintains close creative contacts with the Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, the Institute of Legislation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Yaroslav the Wise National Law Academy of Ukraine (Kharkiv), Law faculties of Kyiv and Lviv National Universities, Institute of Economic and Legal Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Donetsk), Odessa National Law Academy, Academy of the Security Service of Ukraine, National University of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, University of Internal Affairs (Kharkiv), Lviv State University of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, National Agrarian University, Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University, etc.

Of the foreign centers, the Department maintains the closest ties with the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation, the Law Faculty of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow State Law Academy, Russian State Agrarian University «MSKHA named after K. Timiryazev», Law Faculty of Belarusian State University, University of Poitiers (France), Institute of Environmental Law (Washington, USA), McGill University (Montreal, Canada), the Center for Remote Sensing of the Earth and Space Law at the University of Mississippi (USA), and oth

er scientific centers and educational institutions.

Thus, at all stages of its formation and development, the Department of Agrarian, Land and Environmental Law Problems of the V.M. Koretsky Institute of State and Law of the NAS of Ukraine tries to conduct in-depth legal scientific research, to promote the implementation of modern scientific principles of legal regulation of relations in agriculture, land relations and relations on the use, reproduction and protection of the natural environment into the practice of state and legal construction. The department has actively influenced and continues to influence the state of both sectoral legal science (agrarian law, land law, environmental law, natural resource law, energy law, nuclear law, space law) and Ukrainian legal science as a whole.