Deforestation as One of the Problems of Modern Times: Relevant

Issues of Criminal Liability

Yulia Borisovna Samoilova

and Natalia Valerievna Petrasheva

Rostov Branch of St. Petersburg Academy of the Investigation Committee, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

Department of Criminal Law and Criminalistics, Don State Technical University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

Keywords: Criminal law, criminal liability, criminal policy, qualification of crimes, nature protection, deforestation,

ecology, timber.

Abstract: The objective of the research is to analyze the current criminal legislation in countering illegal logging.

Achieving the objective set has become possible due to solving the following tasks: analysis of the state

criminal policy in countering the ecological crimes; study of legislative base for its conformity to the needs

of the executor of law; study of Art. 191

of the CC of the RF and Art. 260 of the CC of the RF for identifying

the features of components of crimes to facilitate proper qualification of crimes; making suggestions on

improvement of legislation on forest protection. The choice and content of the study methods are conditioned

by its subject and tasks that allowed to use the scientific cognition method of three levels: empirical,

experimental-theoretical and theoretical levels. The clarification of particular features of the components of

crimes determined in the research that has been based on the current legislation and the analyzed judicial and

investigative practice will facilitate the correct criminal law assessment of socially dangerous infringements

regulated by Art. 191

of the CC of the RF and Art. 260 of the CC of the RF. As a result of the conducted

research, we concluded that the stability of the current legislation on forest protection directly depends on its

“mobility”, as the regulatory activity makes it possible to eliminate the existing gaps in the legislation

identified in the course of the law enforcement practice.

1 INTRODUCTION

The fight against crime is a historically long process,

in the course of which the state is forced to use a wide

range of active offensive measures. The forms,

methods and means of countering the negative social

events are developed on the basis of the state criminal

policy, which, like a canary in a coal mine, highlights

important national tasks, among which, of course, the

protection and strengthening of law and order can be

distinguished.

One of the forms of external expression of the

state criminal policy are the rules of law, and if the

current law is socially induced, reflects the objective

reality in terms of the conditions of life of society,

then it contributes to its progressive development,

ensures solving the tasks set upon its adoption. On the

contrary, the rules of law that do not meet the modern

realities can cause stagnation in economic and social

transformations.

Currently, one of the relevant criminal law

problems is nature protection (Ryzhkova E.I., 2021;

Helena Du Rées, 2001). The environmental

protection is subject to significant harm due to the

mistaken idea that the natural reserves resources are

limitless and inexhaustible, which has been rooted in

the minds of individual citizens and officials. One of

the most pressing problems in the field of ecology is

illegal logging, as well as trafficking in illegally cut

timber (Lynch, Michael J., 2016). Illegal logging of

valuable species has become critical. The researchers

note that the foreign furniture and parquet

manufacturers (China) purchase such valuable wood

species as oak, ash, elm, linden, in the scope that

significantly exceeds their permitted logging

volumes, and as a result, interferes with sustainable

forest management. Subsequently, the finished

products are sold in Europe, the USA, Japan

(Kabanets A.G., Milakovsky B.D., Lepeshkin E.A.,

Sychikov D.V., 2013). During the working meeting

with the President of the Russian Federation on

19/02/2021, Yuri Chikhanchin, the Director of the

Federal Financial Monitoring Service, noted that

together with the FSB, the MIA, the Prosecutor's

278

Samoilova, Y. and Petrasheva, N.

Deforestation as One of the Problems of Modern Times: Relevant Issues of Criminal Liability.

DOI: 10.5220/0010635300003152

In Proceedings of the VII International Scientiﬁc-Practical Conference “Criminal Law and Operative Search Activities: Problems of Legislation, Science and Practice” (CLOSA 2021), pages

278-281

ISBN: 978-989-758-532-6; ISSN: 2184-9854

Office, and the Investigative Committee, they work

on the issue of forest protection. In particular, the

criminal cases on timber smuggling have been

initiated in the Far East and in Ural. In the

Northwestern Federal District, they work on

identifying the foreign beneficiaries who participate

in shadow schemes.

It is impossible to achieve the desired results in

countering this kind of criminal activity outside of

science, since the development of the regulatory

framework and the improvement of the existing

criminal law rules providing for liability for illegal

logging are currently the starting points for further

improvement of the criminal policy on the ecological

safety issues (Maria X.Sanmartin, Mir M.Ali,

SeanLynch, 2019; Ranjan R. 2018). That is why, the

objective of the research is to analyze the current

criminal legislation in countering illegal logging. To

achieve the objective set, the following tasks should

be solved: analysis of criminal law rules, other

regulatory acts in order to understand the legislative

resource capable of properly responding to illegal

logging; identifying the features of components of

crimes as provided by Art.191

of the CC of the RF

and Art. 260 of the CC of the RF to ensure correct

legal assessment of the acts committed by guilty

persons; making suggestions on improvement of

legislation on forest protection. The scientific novelty

of the research mainly consists in that the authors took

an integrated approach to study the issue of the

effectiveness of the current legislation regulating the

issues of liability for illegal logging, as well as the

turnover of the illegally cut timber.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

The scientific research has been carried out using

several levels of cognition. The empirical methods

were comparison and computation. We compared the

previous legislation in the forest protection and the

current rules of law. We computed the statistical data

on the registered crimes as provided by Art. 191

the CC of the RF and Art. 260 of the CC of the RF.

The experimental-theoretical level of cognition

included such methods as historical and logic. Here,

having studied the given statistical data, we used

logical thinking and found out a tendency for growth

of crimes of the studied category. The theoretical

methods were analysis and generalization that we

used to make the basic conclusions and proposals on

improvement of the current legislation.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In our researches, we had already addressed to this

issue, but the problem has remain relevant for over

ten year period (Petrasheva N.V., Samoilova Yu.B.,

2008). It is known that the dominating consequence

of ecological crimes is the harm caused to the natural

environment, which is not limited to monetary values

(Lavygina I.V., 2003; Ryumina E.V. 2009; Persak N.,

2019). Among others, the environmental harm from

illegal logging consists in the depletion of forest

resources for legal business, increased pressure on

protective forests, destruction of opportunities for

traditional nature management, degradation of animal

habitats, including valuable and especially valuable

ones, as well as food potential (Kabanets A G.,

Milakovsky B.D., Lepeshkin E.A., Sychikov D.V.,

2013). It cannot be estimated in monetary value

(Robert I., McMurry., Stephen D. Ramsey, 1986;

Vallejos М., G.H.Camba Sans, S.Aguiar,

M.E.Mastrángelo, J.M.Paruelo, 2021).

In Europe, great attention is paid to environmental

issues, as well as the legal origin of timber entering

the market. On 03/03/2013, Regulation (EU) No.

995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the

Council of 20 October 2010 laying down the

obligations of operators who place timber and timber

products on the market (hereinafter - the EU

Regulation). The EU Regulation defines the operators

as the companies supplying timber and timber

products on the market of the European Economic

Space. It establishes the obligation of the operators to

introduce certain procedures and measures for

mitigating the risk of market entry of the products

made of illegally cut timber (Parsadanyan M.A.,

2020). This is so-called “due diligence system”. This

document is remarkable in the framework of the topic

under consideration that the effect of the EU

Regulation covers also the suppliers of the countries

where the timber is produced, including Russia.

It can be seen that the due diligence system has a

preventive role in the fight against illegal logging that

prevents legalization of illegal timber in the global

market, and is a means to prevent illegal logging.

Our state pays great attention to solving the

problem of illegal logging. Federal Law No. 415-FZ

of December 28, 2013 introduced Chapters 2

and 2

into the Forest Code of the Russian Federation, which

regulates the procedure for transporting timber and

accounting of the related transactions in the Unified

State Automated Information System for Timber

Accounting and Related Transactions (USAIS).

To enhance criminal liability for crimes

committed in the field of forestry, in 2014, the

Deforestation as One of the Problems of Modern Times: Relevant Issues of Criminal Liability

279

criminal liability for trafficking in illegally cut timber

was established (Art. 191

of the CC of the RF was

introduced by Federal Law No. 277-FZ of July 21,

2014).

This rule makes it possible to bring to criminal

liability not only the persons directly involved in

illegal logging (that is done often for mercenary

motives), but also the persons involved in its sale and

making it legal, that is, the entire “chain” persons

illegally “earning” ("profiting") on the destruction of

forests (Simon L. Bager, U. MartinPersson, Tiago

N.P.dos Reis, 2021).

134 crimes were registered in 2015, and 149 - in

2020. At this, 64 persons were identified in 2015, and

77 - in 2020. It can be seen that the practice of

bringing persons to criminal liability under this article

of the CC of the RF is currently developing. It is

supposed that the USAIS can have a positive

influence on the possibility of establishing the sign of

“knowingly illegal” timber.

This circumstance associated with the

introduction of Art. 191

of the CC of the RF in the

CC of the RF influences the statistical data of the

registered crimes as provided by Art. 260 of the CC

of the RF. Thus, 20,826 crimes as provided by Art.

260 of the CC of the RF were registered in 2010,

14,192 crimes - in 2015, and 12,260 crimes - in 2020.

It is obvious that there is a steady downward trend of

the number of registered crimes (Art. 260 of the CC

of the RF) (Romanova M.V., 2020), which only

focuses that most of the crimes in illegal logging are

classified according to Art. 191

of the CC of the RF.

The common purpose of the above components of

crimes induces difficulties in the issues of

delimitation of these criminal law rules, and

therefore, the law enforcement practice in resolving

this issue is ambiguous.

Thus, in the Nizhny Novgorod region, a citizen

was convicted under P. 3, Art. 260, of the CC of the

RF. The deputy prosecutor of the region did not agree

with the verdict and considered unjustified the court's

conclusion on the excessive imputation of cl. 3, Art.

191

of the CC of the RF on the grounds that “other

technological processes associated with illegal

logging are covered by Art. 260 of the CC of the RF”.

The prosecutor noted, and it is difficult to disagree

with, that the aforementioned rules have different

objects and a different objective side, as well as that

the actions on the illegal transportation for sale and

the timber sale, are not covered by the disposition of

Art. 260 of the CC of the RF. The first cassation court

supported the prosecutor and pointed out, that is

noteworthy: “the object of the crime as provided by

Art. 260 of the CC of the RF are public relations in

the field of ecological safety (Dalgaly T.A., Gostkova

D.Zh., 2021). The city court sentence was canceled.

Also, the Seventh General Cassation Court disagreed

with the opinion of the lawyer about the excessive

conviction under P. 3 of Art. 191

of the CC of the RF

arguing that the subject of crimes is the same, and the

illegal logging includes the import and disposal of

timber, since illegal logging makes no sense without

a sale. The court reasonably noted that the actions that

constituted the conviction under the two rules of the

Criminal Code of the Russian Federation are

different, and the illegal logging can be committed

with various motives, including those not conditioned

by self-interest, profit. The sentences where the

qualification under Art. 191

of the CC of the RF was

excluded were also appealed by the representatives of

the victim. An example is the decision of the Eighth

General Cassation Court dated July 24, 2020. The

convicted person, together with another person who

was not aware of the illegality of his actions and who

assumed that he was acting in the framework of the

law, performed the illegal logging. Subsequently, the

pine was removed from the illegal logging site and

was sold as legal timber in the framework of the

previously concluded purchase and sale agreement.

At the same time, the conducted analysis of the

court decisions evidences that the amount of damage

according to Art. 260 of the CC of the RF and

according to Art. 191

of the CC of the RF was

determined in the same way.

4 CONCLUSIONS

It should be taken into account that the illegal logging

causes the ecological harm. In accordance with the

note to Art. 260 of the CC of the RF, this damage is

calculated according to the rates and methods

approved by the Government of the Russian

Federation.

Currently, this is Resolution No. 1730 of the

Government of the Russian Federation dated

29/12/2018. After the tree trunk, bush and liana stems

are separated from the root, as well as other processes

related to logging, the crime ceases to be ecological.

Further activities on sale of illegally cut timber

will be already classified as a crime in the field of

economic activity. For incurrence of criminal liability

under Art. 191

of the CC of the RF, a large size of

damage must be established that cannot be calculated

using the same methodology and the same taxes as for

illegal logging, since it transforms into an economic

crime. It is obvious that in this regard, Resolution of

the Government of the Russian Federation No. 273

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dated 08/05/2007 (as amended on 11/10/2014, as

amended on 02/06/2015) adopted for the purposes of

191

of the CC of the RF was canceled. This has led

to a difficult situation, the executors were deprived of

the opportunity to duly establish the damage caused.

Currently, this gap has been eliminated by approving

the rates for calculating the value of the illegally cut

timber for the purposes of 191

of the CC of the RF,

Resolution of the Government No. 2306 dated

28/12/2020.

Thus, the continuous improvement of the

legislation is a forced measure that determines the

current law stability. By determining the direction of

the regulatory activity, the criminal policy of the

state, in our case this is the mobility of the law,

objectively determines the need for legal protection

of the environment. The results of the regulatory

activity become a part of the criminal policy and

represent a fusion of science and law enforcement

practice.

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