Legal and Organizational and Managerial Problems of Preventing Criminal Pollution of Lake Baikal as a World Natural Heritage Site

Purpose. Lake Baikal is a unique natural object of tectonic origin, the largest natural reservoir of fresh water and the deepest lake on the planet. In 1996, Lake Baikal was included in the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and was awarded the status of “World Heritage Site”. In the modern period, the problems of preventing criminal pollution of Lake Baikal remain relevant. Pollutants continue to enter and accumulate in the lake, there remains the problem of discharge of wastewater that has not been treated in accordance with the established procedure, taking into account the regulated standards, as well as the problem of pollution of the Selenga River, which is the main tributary of Lake Baikal. In this regard, it is important to improve the legal mechanisms for preventing criminal pollution of Lake Baikal and eliminate the organizational and managerial problems that arise when using them. Methodology: аlong with general scientific and specific scientific, historical-legal and comparative methods were used for a complete and objective study of the problem of environmental safety. Conclusions. It is substantiated that one of the organizational problems associated with the detection and prevention of environmental crimes, including criminal pollution of Lake Baikal, is the lack of environmental police units in the system of internal affairs bodies, which would ensure comprehensive prevention of crime and other offenses not only in the lake, but also in the Baikal natural territory. The conducted study proved that the development of legislation on the protection of Lake Baikal should be carried out in a comprehensive and systematic manner, and the problems of preventing its criminal pollution should be studied constantly and discussed annually in the Security Council of the Russian Federation. Scientific and practical relevance. The main problems of preventing criminal pollution of Lake Baikal as a world natural heritage site are formulated and the main areas are determined, the work on which assumes a positive result — saving the lake and preserving it for future generations. Keywords: Baikal is a World Natural Heritage site, criminogenic factors of lake pollution, crime prevention, legal mechanisms.