Natalia Vladimirovna Kopelchuk

Th e article analyses the problems of establishing factual circumstances of environmental violations against soils,
presents examples from the judicial practice, shows the possibilities of using special knowledge when considering
cases relating to negative anthropological impact on soil-geological objects. Th e following methods were used in the
research: observation, analysis, synthesis, description, comparison. It is substantiated the need for wider application
of results of forensic examination of geological evidence in the administration of justice. Th e most eff ective and
science-based form of using special knowledge is forensic environmental examination and particularly geological
evidence examination or forensic environmental and soil expertise. Such kind of examinations are actively carried
out in FBE «Russian Federal Centre of Forensic Science of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation» and in
FSPI «Forensic Expert Centre of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation». It is given an example of a
complex forensic environmental examination. Proposals are presented to expand the range of persons conducting
forensic environmental and soil examinations.

The most promising areas of ecological assessment, regulation and quality management of soils and lands are: the study of their ecological functions and the role of the anthropogenic factors in the formation of the natural complex of lands that has developed within land plots, taking into account natural conditions, the type of land use and the relationship with natural environments; study of natural connections between the soil cover and subsurface geological layers; determination of permissible changes in soil quality during oil pollution, forest and peat harvesting taking into account the prospects of natural self-restoration of landscapes; the study of direct and inverse relationships of soils, aquatic environments and amphibian landscapes in conditions of land pollution; identification of the func- tional relationship between the state of soils and the quality of atmospheric air; study of aspects of contact of soils and other components of the environment with waste. The analysis of the existing legal norms aimed at protecting soils as a component of the environment allowed us to conclude that the structure of environmental legislation is incomplete, within the framework of which, among the existing federal laws regulating the protection of environ- mental components, a Law on Soil Protection needs to be developed.