On the principle of equal access of people and legal entities to the acquisition of ownership of water objects

Legal principles constitute the nucleus of any branch of law. They determine its basic ideas and a vector of its development; they can be used for correcting a legal deficiency. Water law is not an exception. The principle under consideration is one of 16 principles of water legislation (Article 3 of the Water Code of the Russian Federation). Under Article 8 of the Water Code of the Russian Federation (WC of RF) all water objects are owned by the Russian Federation (federal ownership) except ponds and flooded pits. The latter, being located within the limits of land plots which belong to the subject of the Russian Federation, to a municipal unit, a person or legal entity, are owned either publicly or privately. The right to ownership of ponds or flooded pits is terminated concurrently with the right of ownership of the land plot where they are located. Proceeding from the above, there cannot be any right of private ownership of all water objects but only of ponds and flooded pits. The author concludes that ponds and lakes differ due to the natural character of lakes (unlike usually artificial ponds). The distinctions between ponds and water reservoirs are not of a universal character and should be drawn according to two criteria: their size determined by the subject of the Russian Federation and their intended use. It is necessary to update the WC of RF with such notions as «water reservoir», «pond» and «flooded pit» since this will enable us to avoid conflicts and social tension especially in the regions with a shortage of water; they will exclude the possibility of privatizing big water bodies including water reservoirs. The principle under consideration is an inter-branch one. Civil legislation defines a general content of the right of ownership of water objects whereas water legislation determines its specific features and character as well as the peculiarities of the mechanism of realizing legal powers of water objects' owners. The principle above has been formulated in Article 3 of the WC of RF incorrectly since water objects, including ponds and flooded pits are not independent objects of civil rights and their legal regime reminds the one of widespread mineral deposits or tree and shrubbery vegetation. Therefore, it is better to understand the given principle in terms of the access to land plots with ponds and flooded pits. However, this poses the question whether the given principle is one of the land law principles.

Keywords

Authors

References