Sustainable Development of Rural Areas of the Russian State as a Strategic Task and its Legal Support

Systemic economic, environmental and social problems of rural areas in modern world make the issue of public policy for their sustainable development particularly topical. The socioeconomic development of the Russian Federation, increased volumes of agricultural output, growing efficiency of the agricultural sector, full employment of the rural population and improving its living conditions, as well as achieving efficient land use require proper legal support. The main strategic planning documents regulating aspects of sustainable development of rural areas are represented by three groups of political and legal acts regarding their: 1) agricultural development, 2) sustainable development, 3) spatial development. Most research articles cover one of these aspects of facilitating the development of rural areas. The sources demonstrate the lack of comprehensive legal studies covering the issues of sustainable development of rural areas. The present article provides a comprehensive analysis of the legal regulation of facilitating sustainable development of rural areas in each of the aspects mentioned. The methods of comparative analysis and legal hermeneutics applied made it possible to reveal contradictions and gaps in the strategic planning documents. This precludes the possibility of specifying a single conceptual model of legal regulation of sustainable development of rural areas. The authors have considered the internal and external sides of the model of legal regulation, outlined the legal approaches to its formation in modern geopolitical, economic and social conditions. The article identifies the problems of legal support for sustainable development of rural areas and considers ways to solve them.