Land, Environmental and Natural Resources Law
Land law
Know the categories of land, forms of ownership (state, municipal, private), and the rights of use (permanent, temporary, lease, servitude). Understand the land cadastre, registration, allocation, and the rules on change of purpose. Know the protections for agricultural land and the procedure for expropriation for public needs, including compensation.
Environmental and natural resources
Understand environmental protection principles (precaution, polluter pays, sustainable use), environmental impact assessment, permits for emissions and waste, and liability for environmental harm. Know the regimes for water, forests, subsoil, and wildlife, and the licensing of resource use.
Traps
Common traps: assuming private ownership extends to subsoil resources (it generally does not); confusing a lease of land with ownership; and overlooking that expropriation requires a public purpose and prior fair compensation. Another trap is treating an environmental permit as perpetual when it is time-limited.
Rule of thumb
For any land question, ask: what is the category, who owns it, what right does the person hold, and is it registered? For environmental questions, ask whether a permit was needed and obtained.