Formation of constitutional and legal foundations and guarantees of the right to a safe environment in Ukraine

The scientific article examines the formation of constitutional and legal foundations and guarantees of the right to a safe environment in Ukraine. It is substantiated that the importance of environmental protection as a key issue arose immediately with the active use of natural resources by man. A thorough historical tour and comparative analysis of the development of legal regulation of the protection of the right to a safe environment made it possible to single out six main periods on the territory of Ukraine. It was revealed that the key historical legal monument of Ukraine - «Russian Truth» is the act with which we associate the beginning of the first historical period of development of legal regulation of the protection of the right to a safe environment. The first historical period is characterized mainly by customary regulation of environmental protection, fragmentation and limitation of legal instruments of protection. Existing regulations mainly protected the rights of land owners and animals. It is proved that during the development of the Cossack statehood on Ukrainian lands, the approach to the customary regulation of the protection of individual natural resources was preserved. At the same time, in practice, extensive use of nature was widespread, in particular cattle breeding and agriculture, which rather quickly exhausted ecosystems, even leading to their destruction. It is proven that the third stage of historical development began in 1917 and is associated with changes in the political organization and restructuring of state institutions, the appearance of the first acts of the constitutional level and the guarantee of certain instruments in the field of environmental protection. It is substantiated that the fourth historical stage began in 1960 and lasted until 1990, characterized by the transition from the regulation of the use of natural resources to the adoption of environmental norms and the establishment of constitutional guarantees for environmental protection. The fifth stage (1991–2022) began with the independence of our state, the introduction of significant changes to the regulation of the processes of using natural resources, environmental protection, taking into account European and international approaches. During this period, a modern environmental policy was formed, which aimed to guarantee the implementation of constitutional guarantees for environmental protection. It has been proven that the sixth period of development (modern, which began on February 24, 2022 and continues to this day) is caused by a full-scale invasion, the task of irreparable damage to the environment due to war crimes and the need to change environmental legislation to respond to modern challenges and threats, restore and preserve natural resources.