ON ILLEGAL CUTTING DOWN OF FOREST PLANTINGS (DATA OF IRKUTSK REGION)
Introduction: the article deals with illegal cutting down of forest planting in Irkutsk region over the past five years. The estimation of changes of the legislation and litigation practice in the analyzed sphere is given. The authors noted some positive tendencies of the situation development. Conclusions were drawn on the need to solve the problems of law enforcement, which are not always based on the problems of legislation, since one of the factors determining criminal behaviour in the field of forest plantations is the lack of political will to solve the problems analyzed. Materials and methods: the normative basis of the study is formed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, criminal and environmental legislation regulating the implementation of activities for the legal rational use of forest resources and forest plantations in general, as well as formulating the basic provisions for the protection of forest plantations. The methodological basis of the study was the general dialectical method of scientific knowledge, which is universal, as well as methods of logical deduction, induction, cognitive methods and techniques of observation, comparison, analysis, generalization and description. Results: it was possible to assess the changes in both the legislative framework and the position of the highest court in the field of combating illegal logging of forest plantations. The factors that determine criminal behavior in the sphere of protection of forest plantations are: the lack of political will for the solution of the analyzed problem and the high corruptibility of officers of the public services, performing functions of control and protection of the natural environment. Summary and conclusions: there has been a favorable trend not only in theoretical approaches to solving the problem of illegal logging of forest plantations, but also in law enforcement: practical integrated steps to conduct a large number of interdepartmental operations together with law enforcement agencies, including Irkutsk region.