Vol 25, No 2 (2021)
- Year: 2021
- Articles: 21
- URL: https://journals.rudn.ru/law/issue/view/1441
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-2337-2021-25-2
Full Issue
LEGAL RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Law genesis: problems of methodology
Abstract
The subject is related to the insufficient investigation of a general theoretical conception of the law genesis. The conception prevailing in Russian legal literature and proceeding from the inseparable connection between state and law genesis is “weak” in some aspects As a theoretical basis of this investigation the author uses the concept that regards a law genesis in the context of a world evolution. With this approach, the social factors of the emergence of law are preceded by natural factors of the same dimension, and the thesis about the emergence of law simultaneously with human society becomes the starting point in the study. As a result, the subject of the research acquires an interdisciplinary approach and includes the issues of nonlegal scientific disciplines, not only humanitarian (anthropology, ethnology, etc.), but also natural sciences (psychology, genetics of a behavior, etc.). The conclusion that the patterns of behavior development and the mechanisms of its regulation are formed at the natural stage of world evolution is of paramount importance. They arise in the form of reflexes and are then perceived by the merged norms of the custom-mononorm. The latter become a kind of connecting link in the transition from the natural mechanism of regulation of behavior to the social and from the preclass to the early class society regulation mechanism. Law genesis is considered in the article as a contradictory, multiaspect and multistage process with a natural and social content. Sociocultural differences between the countries of the West and the East led to the dissimilarity of the process of law genesis in both. In the first of them, with the victory of capitalism, law overcomes the phenomenon of fusion and appears in a “pure” form, while in the second, even today there are traditional relations and understanding of law, adequate to the preclass and early class era.
The socio-economic category “quality of life” in the analytical and legal discourse: the issues of the interdisciplinary research
Abstract
The article deals with the topical issues of searching and identifying legal indicators of the socio-economic category “quality of life”. The goals and objectives of social development, respect for and protection of socio-economic rights and freedoms of citizens, improvement of legislation in the study area are specified with the help of theoretical and applied methodological levels of legal analysts. The expediency of formulation and use of the legal criteria for the quality and standard of living is justified; it helps to identify the state as social and law-governed. The author focuses on the need to apply an interdisciplinary approach in the research of the category the “quality of life”, which is of mutual importance for legal, economic and, in general, socio-humanitarian science.
The сoncept and types of factual communities in the modern theory of law
Abstract
The article is devoted to the problems of formation and positioning of the category of “factual communities” in legal science. The relevance of this phenomenon in law is due to the need for a broader approach to the study of a set of factual circumstances that are the grounds for the emergence, change or termination of legal relations, which undoubtedly contributes to a more effective implementation of the goals of both lawmaking and law enforcement practice. The purpose of this article is to determine the prerequisites for the formation of the legal category under consideration, to identify the main types of factual communities, as well as to understand their functions. Achievement of this goal will make it possible with sufficient certainty to identify the main characteristics of the specified legal category, as well as to determine functional links with related legal concepts. The methodological basis of the article was made by modern achievements in the theory of knowledge. In the process of research, theoretical, general philosophical (dialectical, analysis, synthesis, deduction, systemic method), as well as traditional legal methods (formal-logical, normative-dogmatic and others) were used. In the course of the research, based on the analysis of the relationship of physical objects, phenomena and their groups among themselves, it was concluded that the term “factual communities” is a logical continuation of the development of the theory of legal facts, reflects the interconnected association of individual legal facts, as well as their actual composition. Such associations can have a different scope, as a result of which their functionality may also differ. The primary factual commonality is the actual composition. Factual systems are larger in volume and more complex in structure.
University codes of ethics: Legal nature and regulatory effect
Abstract
The issues of determining the subject of the code of ethics of a higher educational institution, identifying its legal characteristics, as well as the particularities of applying this regulator of relations are yet to be studied in Russia. In order to fill the gap in legal knowledge, we have made an attempt, starting with the analysis of the ethics of education in the broad sense, to generalize the Russian and foreign experience in adopting and applying codes of ethics and offer a modern vision of the essence and regulatory function of ethical codes in the practice of educational institutions. The study was conducted using general scientific and special methods of cognition: logical, functional, systemic-structural, methods of generalization, synthesis, induction, and deduction. Certain material conclusions are made based on the sociological research method. The code of ethics of a higher educational institution is a code of conduct for a good faith participant in the educational process. The code is a compromise between different types of ethics: that of a teacher and a student, of a student and an administrative employee. In this regard, the process of discussing specific practical cases and reflection in the code of effective scenarios of interaction between the parties in critical situations are of particular value. In their legal essence, codes of ethics are normative acts, but traditionally they are not regarded as legal acts, as they are adopted by bodies of professional communities and are not often supported by the power of state coercion.
PROCEDURAL LAW. PROSECUTOR SUPERVISION
The second cassation in the arbitration proceedings: The genesis, results of the procedural activity and prospects for uniformity of judicial and arbitration practice
Abstract
The article considers relevant issues on the topic of the Genesis and results of the procedural activity of the Judicial Board for economic disputes of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation as the second cassation instance. Taking into account, on one hand, the relative recency of this court in the arbitration process, and the significance of its role in the aspect of ensuring uniformity of judicial and arbitration practice on the other, this may prove to be of certain importance. The authors aim to summarize and analyze the judicial and statistical indicators of the second cassation for the 2015-2019 period. The methodological basis of the article consists of general scientific (analysis, analogy, description, synthesis, system-oriented) and private scientific methods (statistical, comparative legal, formal legal). Based on the results of the study, the main trends and problems of the second cassation review of judicial acts on economic disputes are identified. Based on the analysis of statistical indicators of cassation activity, the authors come to the conclusion that it is necessary to modernize the structure and functioning of the second cassation instance and increase its role in ensuring uniformity of judicial and arbitration practice. In conclusion, generalized proposals aimed at improvement of the efficiency of the second cassation instance are formulated. The study was conducted on the basis of judicial statistics published on the website of The Judicial Department of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
Application of digital technologies in litigation and dispute resolution
Abstract
By now (we mean 2020) “digitalization” has completely replaced the more general “modernization” and “innovation” from both the political vocabulary and the sci-entific agenda. It is difficult to say how long this trend will continue and what kind of socio-technological phenomenon will replace it. It can be “cyberization”, within which a person will begin to bring himself into line with the canons of the sci-fi cyberpunk’s and combine biological with technological (and digital at the same time) in his body, or vice versa, some kind of reactionary “naturalization”. Anyway, now the widespread adoption of digital technology is an indisputable and obvious fact. And this process applies to all spheres of society’s life, without bypassing legal proceedings and out-of-court settlement of disputes (or in other words - alternative dispute resolution), which can be significantly improved using digital technologies. This article analyses the practice and legislative regulation of the use of digital technologies in various forms of legal proceedings and such types of out-of-court dispute resolution as arbitration and mediation. Comparative legal method allowed to compare Russian and foreign legislations as well as approaches to determining the permissible limits of the use of digital technologies, including their “intellectual” variety. Individual proposals have been formulated to improve Russian legislation.
Urgent applications in French administrative justice
Abstract
The institute of urgent judicial decisions is a special procedure for administrative justice bodies in France, which allows to prescribe effectively and quickly a wide range of necessary measures (from the appointment of expert examinations to the suspension of normative administrative acts) and to protect the legitimate interests of individuals and organizations. There are two main categories of urgent judicial decisions, accordingly their functional purpose. The procedural features of urgent judicial decisions are related to the obligation of the French administrative courts to establish conditions for urgency and the need to prescribe certain measures as a matter of urgency. These criteria, being evaluative, are specified by the jurisprudence of the French administrative courts, according to which the judge determines whether there is a threat of causing “immediate” and “sufficiently serious” harm to the interests of the applicant and whether there is a need to take urgent measures, taking into account the circumstances of the case. At the same time, the urgent applications judge does not consider the case, but sets temporary measures that can be changed in the course of further proceedings. The article suggests creating mechanisms in Russian law that are similar to those existing in the French legal regulation of urgent judicial decisions in administrative cases. In particular, the author suggests expanding the powers of Russian courts to suspend normative administrative acts and individual decisions when courts take measures of preliminary protection in administrative claims.
Dispositivity principle in the criminal procedure of Azerbaijan Republic: concept and application in individual rights
Abstract
Unlike other principles of criminal procedure (such as legality, presumption of innocence, etc.), the principle of dispositivity (the principle of autonomy of the will of a participant in the proceedings) does not have an independent legal formula, enshrined in a separate article in the current criminal procedure legislation of Azerbaijan. In this regard, questions about the existence, concept, content, individual elements, manifestations, and scope of the principle are becoming relevant and at the same time highly disputable. The author aims to determine the essence of dispositivity, to consider its individual manifestations, as well as to develop scientifically sound recommendations for optimizing the application in practice of the norms of the Code of Criminal Procedure in regulating issues related to the dispositive basis of the criminal process. The set goals predetermined solution for such basic issues as study of the philosophical and legal concept of dispositivity; determination of determinants-manifestations of dispositivity in criminal proceedings as a whole; recognition of dispositivity as one of the autonomous principles of the modern criminal process of Azerbaijan. The study was conducted by methods of dialectical cognition based on the principles of reflection, comprehensiveness, unity of induction and deduction, determinism, contradiction, and unity of analysis and synthesis. The author has studied and summarized a great deal of doctrinal material and jurisprudence, and some selected judicial acts have been used as real models for casuistry of the issues addressed in the article. As a result of the study, the author substantiates that, despite the absence of an independent article in the CPC on this principle, dispositivity is an autonomous principle of criminal procedure, not covered by other principles; on the contrary, it enters into various correlative relations with them. In other words, the Code of Criminal Procedure does not provide a binding feature of the principle of criminal procedure. As the main determinants of the principle under study, the author proposes to consider a system of procedural rights of non-governmental participants in the proceedings that have the effect of initiating some kind of proceedings, and the “consent of a participant” category, which is a mandatory condition in the procedural decision-making mechanism of entities with power.
The revision of separate requirements for the position of investigator
Abstract
Issues and problems in the field of organization and activities of the preliminary investigation bodies in terms of implementation of the legal status of the investigator, as well as ways for their resolution are constantly in the focus of lawyers. The current state concept for training investigative personnel along with the system of qualification requirements for the position of an investigator of the Investigative Committee of Russia (hereinafter - the IC of Russia) have serious shortcomings. The fact is that there are no interrelated educational stages for a candidate for this job; there is neither any mandatory requirement for practical experience and career ladder in this field. As a result, a large number of investigators serving in the Investigative Committee of Russia simply do not have reasonable qualification and, accordingly, are not prepared for investigative work, which ultimately leads to a general decrease in the quality and effectiveness of preliminary investigation. This is absolutely unacceptable for a developed democratic and law-governed state. Lacking relevant practical experience and task-oeirented training, novice investigators are trusted to make important procedural decisions that significantly affect the life of a particular person. In this regard, a properly developed state concept, as well as a system of qualification requirements for the position of an investigator, including interrelated stages of its achievement, will contribute to the formation of highly qualified and trained investigative personnel that will favourably effect the entire preliminary investigation service.
CIVIL LAW
Related rights: conceptual approaches, definition and key features
Abstract
The development of technologies contributes to the emergence of new intangible objects that have potential value and are aimed at spreading the results of creativity and information. In this regard, the society is interested in encouraging the activities of entities that create such objects. One of the options for the protection of such objects is to grant the related rights. Considering the technological changes in society associated with the use of information and telecommunication networks and artificial intelligence, the issues of granting related rights to new entities gain relevance. In order to identify the possibility of expanding the institution of related rights and determine the directions of such expansion, the article analyzes the main approaches to the formation of the institute of related rights, their characteristics, and attempts to deliver a working definition of the concept of related rights. On the basis of a comparative analysis, the author considers Russian and foreign legislative acts in the field of intellectual property, international treaties on copyright and related rights, as well as legal literature. The most supported idea of the formation of the institute of related rights is the functional purpose of the activities of subjects of related rights, acting as intermediaries between authors and representatives of the public. However, the institute itself is evolving and recognition of related rights for new subjects depends not only on the functional purpose of the activity, but also on their organizational and/or economic contribution aimed at processing and disseminating works and information. It can be assumed that the institute of related rights will continue to expand with the development of technologies and the public demand for new services provided by new technologies.
National Green Finance Standard in Russia 2020 - a Breakthrough in Green Finance Regulations?
Abstract
The article is devoted to the analysis of VEB.RF's “Methodological Recommendations for Green Finance” published on July 13, 2020, named by many Russian experts as the National Green Finance Standard of Russia. This document was in-tended to define the criteria for “green” projects and financial instruments for enterprises and banks and, ultimately, describe the architecture of the national sys-tem of such financing. A similar document - “Taxonomy Regulation” - was adopted in the European Union on June 18, 2020. In this regard, a comparative analysis of the above issues is of particular importance. The purpose of the article is to form the idea of the national standard of “green” finance in Russia based on the analysis of regulations and scientific sources. The applied methods are empirical methods of comparison, description, interpretation, and theoretical methods of formal and dialectical logic. The following private scientific methods were used: legal-dogmatic and the method of interpretation of legal norms. The study showed that the main financial regulator in Russia is the Central Bank, and it is the regulatory documents of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation that should create a national standard for green financing. Without the approval of the Central Bank, VEB.RF’s guidelines are turning into just another methodology of the rating agency.
Critical evaluation of English and Saudi insurance law: A case for reform
Abstract
The global significance of English law continues, particularly in Saudi as it is the most frequently chosen insurance policy law. Both jurisdictions provide consumer protections in insurance markets including the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and…) Act and the 2015 Insurance Act and the Insurance Consumer Protection Principles 2014 in Saudi Arabia. This study aims to analyse the current reform impact on the interpretation of these doctrines between the UK and Saudi jurisdictions. In the last few years British insurance law has been significantly reviewed and modified and the most recent amendments, as per the Insurance Act 2015, are of the greatest significance and will be given due consideration within this paper. However, both the rationale for the reforms and the reform process will be reviewed as well as the UK perspective of the increasing rivalries between countries on account of legal business.
LAW AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES
Digitalization of state environmental management: Legal aspects
Abstract
This article discusses the features of the digital transformation of the following state functions: information support in the field of environmental protection, state accounting in the field of environmental protection, regulation in the field of environmental protection (in terms of the use of the best available technologies), state environmental supervision, and administration of fees for negative environmental impact (NVOS). It is proved that the data of the state register of objects of negative impact, formed as a result of the state accounting of objects that have a negative impact on the environment, the implementation of state environmental supervision, and the administration of fees for NWOS should become the basis for making environmentally significant decisions. To expand the scope of use of this information, it is proposed to ensure the interoperability of the state register data. In addition, the authors come to the conclusion that digitalization of technological rationing based on the best available technologies (hereinafter also BAT) is associated with the use of such technologies as data turnover regulation, experimental legal regimes (regulatory sandboxes) and assessment of the compliance of the applied technology with the best available technology. Moreover, when implementing state environmental supervision, inspections should be planned based on the hazard category of objects of negative impact and when conducting inspections, remote control methods should be used. It is also essential to introduce electronic test sheets for self-checking enterprises. Finally, the digitalization of calculating and collecting fees for NVOS should ensure the smooth functioning of calculating fees by the payer in digital format and control over the correctness of calculation and collection by the supervisory authority.
Compiling a jury in Russia in the context of digitalization
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the legislation governing social relations that develop in the process of compiling a jury when considering criminal cases with a jury trial. The relevance of the research topic is determined by the expansion of the jurors’ competence from June 1, 2018. Currently, one of the main reasons for revocation of court sentences passed with the participation of a jury is violations committed during formation of a jury. In this regard, the authors highlight the main procedural and organizational shortcomings of this process and make relevant suggestions: a) to improve the legislation governing the procedure for compiling a jury; b) to compile general and reserve lists based on information included in the Unified Federal Information Register; c) to perform video recording of the process [screen broadcasting] of a random selection of citizens from the general and reserve lists by a court staff member when compiling a preliminary list of jurors; d) to stipulate the right of citizens to defer the obligation to appear in court as a candidate for jurors to a later date; e) to apply new forms of sending invitations to appear in court to potential jurors.
Trends and lessons of anti-crisis legal regulationin in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract
The article attempts to structure the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the sociopolitical organization of society and legal regulation. The authors offer their own vision of the most significant changes that have occurred in various spheres of society in this specific period. The pandemic has demonstrated the diverse effects of digitalization (both highly positive in terms of social progress and sustainable development, and extremely negative). In addition, during the period of “antiviral regulation”, certain trends and patterns of legal regulation were spontaneously laid down; they can lead to fundamental and critical changes in the legal system. The article features the trends outlined by the pandemic and formulates proposals, allowing to take into account the extreme experience of survival in the conditions of the viral threat and to enter the post-pandemic world with minimal losses.
CRIMINAL LAW AND CRIMINOLOGY
Criminal law tools of combatting transnational corruptive criminality
Abstract
One of the most serious problems in the field of combating crime is the fight against transnational corruption crime. This type of crime already (de facto and de jure) exists as international crime and has a specific subject composition, geography of commission and complex objective reasons. The core of transnational corruption crime is bribery widely used by transnational corporations for achieving their corporate purposes. Combatting such crimes by means of criminal law is carried out at various levels: international, interregional, regional, subregional, bilateral, and domestic. The purpose of this article is to characterize transnational corruption, which is one of the forms of self-determination of crime. The article provides a comprehensive classification of corruption crimes based on various criminal law and criminological criteria. The author pays special attention to the fact that all transnational corruption crimes can be divided into main and auxiliary. At the same time, these two types of offences are often inseparable. The author proposes the main directions of criminal law impact on transnational corruption crime, which could be used in both the General part and Special part of criminal law. The methodology of the article is based on the laws of materialist dialectics. The article rests on a wide range of Russian and foreign sources of scientific, legal, statistical, sociological, and other nature. The author applied the following research methods: analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, systemic-structural method, logicallegal, and comparativelegal.
Organization of work to counteract illegal withdrawal of funds and money laundering through microfinance organizations
Abstract
The relevance of the chosen topic is due to the problems of ensuring the protection of personal rights when interacting with microfinance organizations, protection of personal data of citizens, fraudulent actions when entering into a loan agreement using copies of documents, personal data in the information telecommunications network “Internet”, as well as stolen or lost documents, protection of citizens’ rights when processing personal data by microfinance organizations to obtain a consumer loan. Ensuring the protection of society and the state by creating a legal mechanism to counteract the legalization (laundering) of income and funds withdrawal abroad. In the microfinance market, there are organizations that operate illegally; they do not belong to any state register, as a rule. You will never find any responsible persons at the legal address of such companies. Therefore, in case of damage, compensation for losses through civil mechanisms or appealing directly to the culprit or to the court is almost impossible. The average citizen is not able to ensure their own economic security and financial stability. Due to legal illiteracy and the specific features of this type of activity, the citizen is the vulnerable party of relationship. A growing social tension in connection with filing by creditors in the face of microfinance institutions is due to obviously overestimated obligations in the loan agreement in case they were not performed during a long period of default. Such practice was quite common prior to the amendments to the legislative acts regarding limitations on the accrual of interest on consumer credits (loans) for up to one year. The activities of microfinance organizations are directly related to financial transactions involving the transfer and provision of funds, which may be of interest to criminal circles or other persons engaged in money laundering and terrorist financing. The relevance of the research is also dictated by the lack of sufficient scientific recommendations to create the necessary legal mechanisms and train government agencies, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor’s office and the courts, in order to prevent infringement of citizens’ rights when they deal with microfinance organizations in obtaining consumer loans. The lack of effective management of such relations is dangerous in terms of requirements set up in article 46 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation on the right to guaranteed judicial protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens. The novelty is related to the attempts to analyze the activities of microfinance organizations not from the position of presenting this type of activity as an economic tool for providing financial assistance to vulnerable segments of the population, but as a potential threat to society, since uncontrolled monetary relations will lead to criminalization of the activity and further worsening of the financial situation of citizens. Practices of foreign countries show that these tools are implemented only in countries with a low level of economic development. In Western Europe, microfinance is practically not used; instead, other tools are applied, such as raising household incomes through the creation of highly qualified jobs, which is a contradictory practice. The purpose of the research is to study public relations in the field of microfinance organizations, identify gaps and contradictions in this area, develop and justify possible legal proposals to eliminate them. Based on the analysis of international agreements in the field of countering the legalization (laundering) of income and withdrawal of funds, mechanisms of interdepartmental interaction in the Russian Federation, it is advisable to develop measures aimed at improving Russian legislation on microfinance activities.
INTERNATIONAL LAW. FOREIGN LAW
International legal, technical and financial challenges for implementing the concept of space traffic management
Abstract
Focuses on the concept of Space Traffic Management (STM), the matter which has been of high interest for many space actors in the last three decades. With the emergence of the NewSpace era, and flourishment of commercial and economic incentives for space activities, this topic has gained the attention of many space actors in the preceding decades, thus turning into a separate agenda item in the Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. However, establishing and implementing such regulations is a challenging task, especially for new space actors. This article aims to assess the existing challenges of STM and provide solutions to overcome them. Firstly, this article provides the necessity of establishing such a regulation: it is evaluated and discussed while describing the requirements for achieving this goal. Secondly, the paper studies definitions provided by governmental and non-governmental entities regarding this concept and the measures taken towards its realising. Finally, the research discusses the challenges that space actors face regarding implementing this concept, both legal and practical. In conclusion, the authors highlight the importance of promoting endeavours and coordination among all current and potential space actors with due considerations for their relevancy.
Constitutional silence on election postponement in Ethiopia amidst a pandemic: A critique of constitutional interpretation
Abstract
Election postponement in Ethiopia, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has raised critical constitutional questions that have never been really thought before in the country’s constitutional law jurisprudence. This is because the state of emergency measure in Ethiopia, due to the spread of COVID-19, is in conflict with constitutional deadlines for elections. The constitutional lacuna is complicated by the absence of explicit constitutional provisions that indisputably govern election postponement. Although any legal measures to postpone election schedule and pass constitutional deadlock is far from simple, the Ethiopian government has suggested four possible ‘options’ to the constitutional dilemma: dissolving the parliament, declaring state of emergency, amendment of the Constitution and constitutional interpretation. Finally, the House of Federation (HoF), the Ethiopian upper House entrusted to interpret the constitution decided and postponed the election indefinitely until the pandemic no longer poses a risk to public health confirmed by the parliament which has direct vested interest in the outcome. This research investigates whether the constitutional interpretation option adheres to the premises of the Ethiopian Constitution or is it extra constitutional. Accordingly, the HoF provided superficial analysis and fallacious reasoning and failed to meaningfully grapple with the serious constitutional issues. The constitutional interpretation is not constitutionally bound and is defective. The manner the HoF managed the constitutional vacuum concerning election postponement, indisputably, was ‘constitutional interpretation’ by name but a political decision in practice.
REVIEWS. DISCUSSION FORUMS
Leading Russian legal theorist is 80 years old. For the anniversary of V.M. Syrykh
Abstract
Dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the famous legal scholar Vladimir Mikhailovich Syrykh, the author of over 40 monographs, textbooks, teaching aids, many hundreds of scientific articles and other materials. The scientist’s contribution to legal science is analyzed. We focus on the methodology of the theory of law, method structure, content of the materialist theory of law, etc. The exceptional contribution of the scientist to preparation and publication of the Encyclopedic Dictionary “Legal Science and Legal Ideology of Russia” is distinguished. The ideas and assessments of the author's recent historical and legal monographs on the Soviet regime, the Red Terror, and Stalinist repressions are illustrated.
Joint meeting of the academic council of the law institute of RUDN University and the editing college of the scientific journal of RUDN Journal of law
Abstract
The material is dedicated to the joint meeting of the Academic Council of the RUDN University Law Institute and the editorial board of the journal “RUDN Journal of law”. Indicators of the magazine for 2020 are demonstrated. We are talking about the number of articles received, published, rejected, etc. The roadmap for the development of the journal for 2021-2023 has been illustrated, as well as expert assessments of ANRI in recent years. The decision of the Academic Council of the Law Institute on the rotation of the members of the editorial board of the journal has been published.