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Vol 75, No 8 (2022)
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PRIVATE LAW / JUS PRIVATUM

9-22 622
Abstract

The purpose of the study is to determine the role of female entrepreneurship, the level of doctrinal reasoning and the need for legal regulation of this phenomenon. The paper demonstrates the significance of the women’s business segment and its positive dynamics. The author shows the negative impact of COVID-19 and the crisis in the economy concerning the development of women’s entrepreneurship. The data paper provides data concerning the proportion of women among the heads of organizations. The presence of «female» potential for small business is emphasized. The study identifies the trend for women to acquire the status of being self-employed. It is established that in science, representatives of sociology show the greatest interest in studying the problems of women’s entrepreneurship; less often researchers are interested in psychology and economics. Legal research in this field is very limited. It is noted that the legal doctrinal basis of women’s entrepreneurship in Russia has not been formed; there are practically no in-depth developments of the concept of women’s entrepreneurship, its types, and features of implementation. The paper describes the main directions of theoretical research of this problem. These include: the specifics of women’s entrepreneurship and barriers to its development; the «entry» of women into business and its management strategies; the attitude of family members to women’s entrepreneurship and the role balance. The author draws attention to the methodological basis of the study of women’s entrepreneurship, the peculiarity of which is an active appeal to such sociological methods as questionnaires and interviewing. The author performed an independent sociological survey and presented its results. The author expresses an opinion concerning the need to legitimize women’s entrepreneurship, develop a legal mechanism for regulating women’s business and an integral ecosystem of support for women’s entrepreneurship, proposing an algorithm of actions in this direction. It is concluded that when building a system of legal regulation, it is important to take into account the foreign experience that has brought results, while preserving the national differences of Russian women’s entrepreneurship.

23-34 394
Abstract

The paper is devoted to the problem of determining the real scope of tort liability for harm caused to health in the context of the mutual influence of the relevant legal design and alternative compensation forms, as well as an attempt to reconsider detected imbalances from the standpoint of existing, traditional and innovative theoretical concepts. It is established that modern legislation and practice leads to inconsistent use of recourse and quasi-recourse rights of claims for the purpose of holding liable a direct causer of physical harm and (or) expanding the scope of such liability, which requires justification of the conceptual principles of the adopted approach, allowing to narrow all cases of this kind to a single system. It is noted that the relations concerning compensation for harm to health provide extensive ground for discussing individualizing educational and preventive principles of tort liability, not related to the use of such a means of protecting a violated right as compensation for moral harm, which is caused by the conditional nature of the list of losses and costs provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 1085 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, by the existence of alternative ways to assess physical harm, implemented in special types of insurance and by the lack of a unified system for determining the consequences of causing damage to health and other factors. The author proposes the mechanism of objectification in the norms of civil law of the corresponding doctrinal decision applicable in combination with the current legal regulation of insurance means of compensation, constructions of liability for third parties and liability regardless of fault. Implementation of this proposal also requires departure from the restrictive method of determining the amount and nature of the harm caused to health to be compensated based on the norms of social security law and to make necessary amendments to Section 2 of Chapter 59 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

PUBLIC LAW / JUS PUBLICUM

35-46 380
Abstract

The article analyzes the reasons why the European Union classifies the Russian Federation as an offshore state (including Russia in the next edition of the list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions). The study determines the objectives of introducing the legal design of an international holding company into the domestic tax legislation and the tasks for which it is used. The paper proves that classification of special economic districts «Oktyabrsky Island of the Kaliningrad region» and «Russian Island of the Primorsky Territory» as low-tax jurisdictions aimed at assisting foreign organizations in tax evasion is unfounded. The paper examines legal innovations introduced into the Tax Code of the Russian Federation in order to exclude Russia from the European list of offshores. It is established that their application will potentially have a negative impact on the amount of budget revenues, and will also lead to the erosion of the foundations of state policy on deoffshorization of the Russian economy. The author gives negative assesment of haste adoption of amendments to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and their insufficient elaboration during the legislative process. The paper compares the states and territories classified as offshore by the Russian Federation and the European Union and describes low-tax jurisdictions associated with the major EU members, as well as the UK and Switzerland. The paper highlights a transit nature of the economies of a number of European Union members (the Republic of Cyprus, Malta, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, etc.) when moving financial assets from high-tax jurisdictions to low-tax ones. The above allows the author to come to unsatisfactory conclusions concerning «integrity» of the international tax policy of European states. The author used analytical and comparative legal methods to perform the study.

47-57 301
Abstract

The paper is devoted to the characteristics of legal relations arising at the stage of consideration of a disciplinary case and decision-making within the framework of disciplinary proceedings brought against civil servants. The study explains the content of this stage, mental and practical operations, procedural actions undertaken to establish objective truth in an individual and specific case, the final legal assessment of the established facts and circumstances by the person in charge.

The paper substantiates that a disciplinary case consideration and decision making constitutes a stage of proceedings in a disciplinary case or legal proceedings based on materials about a gross disciplinary offense that includes considering the case on the merits in order to establish factual and legal basis of the case and to make a lawful, fair and reasonable decision. The stage of consideration of the disciplinary case and decision-making involves logical and procedural activity of managers (chiefs), commanders, judges of the garrison military court aimed to establish the correspondence between the circumstances of the disciplinary case and the facts that actually took place (i.e. objective truth), to provide legal qualification of the offense by correlating the actual circumstances and elements of an offence and formulation of conclusions and adoption of decisions based on the circumstances of the case.

The paper states lack of procedural norms ensuring consideration of disciplinary cases and adoption of decisions concerning application of disciplinary penalties in the public service system (with the exception of the military service system), which determines the exact and unswerving adherence by law enforcement officers to the general principles of legal and disciplinary responsibility and the established rules applied to impose disciplinary penalties. A disciplinary case consideration by an authorized person in chief is practically implemented in the study of the proceedings files, performing an internal audit, examining the protocol on gross disciplinary misconduct of a military man. This circumstance presupposes further processalization of the legal enforcement activity under consideration and its regulation by the norms of administrative procedural legislation.

58-68 339
Abstract

The paper shows from the standpoint of constitutional and legal science that state control (supervision), municipal control, public control are inextricably linked with the functions of the state and form a part of the subject of constitutional law and an important element of modern Russian constitutionalism. With this in mind, control and supervisory activities have very strong theoretical and legal and constitutional grounds due to the special importance of such activities for the normal functioning of the state as such, the state and public system and to ensure the full implementation of the constitutional and legal status of the individual. The author highlights the following current trends in the development of public administration in our country that are of particular importance for the further improvement of control and supervisory activities: the orientation of public administration to citizens, their rights, needs, expectations and wishes; openness (transparency) of public administration; development of forms of interactive communications of public authorities and society; reduction of excessive administrative burden on subjects in respect of which control and supervisory activities are carried out; the widespread introduction of a risk-based approach within the framework of control and supervisory activities; increasing the role of public control as a significant form of feedback in the government-public dialogue, contributing to the improvement of public administration. It is important to conduct modern constitutional and legal studies of state control (supervision), municipal control and public control with mandatory consideration of the indicated trends and based on the relevant priorities, which will allow developing legal approaches, normative and practical proposals that ensure the client-centricity of public administration, its even greater openness and clarity for citizens and increasing the level of satisfaction of society with the results of activities of public authorities at all levels.

69-80 481
Abstract

The paper explains the main problems of anti-corruption security in public authorities. The lack of and disorganization of the state system of personnel selection and recruitment is the main determinant factor that contributes to the emergence, development and growth of corruption in public authorities. The author came to the conclusion that the lack of control and state monopoly in the state system of selection and recruitment of personnel has led to the situation when individuals (groups of individuals) have the opportunity to carry out activities for the selection and recruitment of state personnel pursuing their personal interests. In fact, this type of activity exists in parallel with legitimate state authorities. State personnel selection activities are carried out under the influence of shadow structures or individuals integrated into the system of state power, who have corrupt views and antisocial attitudes. The actual absence of a unified, effective state system of personnel selection creates corruption risks that directly affect the independence of state power. As a result, a partizan official does not seek to carry out socially useful activities or achieve socially useful results or social justice and equality. The main motive for staying in power for such officials is meeting their unfair personal needs, interests, and ambitions. The very fact that an official has an internal selfish motivation or other interest inevitably leads to the destruction of the public administration system. This is confirmed by the fact that the internal motivation of such an official (egoism, self-interest) does not allow him to achieve a socially useful result in his activities because his driving force is personal ambitions or other interest.

The author substantiates the need to distinguish between legal and illegal protectionism at the legislative level and to establish a state monopoly over this type of activity.

CRIMINAL LAW SCIENCES / JUS CRIMINALE

81-98 501
Abstract

Science considers the phenomenon of intersectoral differentiation of legal responsibility as the «fragmentation» of responsibility into separate types in a «vertical» manner. Proposals to consider the nature and/or degree of public danger as grounds or criteria for such differentiation acquire special significance in relation to the issue of distinguishing administrative and criminal responsibility in the light of acts involving elements of administrative prejudice. Since we are talking about related acts, only the degree of public danger, which at the same time has significance and grounds for criminalization, acts as such a basis. Proponents of the reasonable presence of the construction of administrative prejudice in the criminal law justify its occurrence in a re-committed offense either by a cumulative effect, subject to the mass dissemination of the relevant acts, or by the characteristics of the criminal’s personality, demonstrating his readiness for illegal behavior, including criminal one. We believe that both positions have the right to exist without being mutually exclusive. At the same time, the presence in the criminal law of a number of norms with signs of administrative prejudice is due more to considerations of expediency than to consideration of public danger, which is confirmed, in particular, by law enforcement data indicating non-application or single application. An address to the analysis of judicial practice suggests that at the level of law enforcement, the idea of intersectoral differentiation of administrative and criminal responsibility is not perceived, which manifests itself in underestimating the public danger of the criminal’s personality and violating the general logic of continuity of types of responsibility within their intersectoral differentiation.

99-107 329
Abstract

One of the consequences following the legislator’s attempts to radically improve the effectiveness of the norms on criminal liability for criminal bankruptcy in July 2021 was the addition of Article 195 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It came with a note the made it possible for the nominal head of the bankrupt organization to be exempt from criminal liability if they contributed by their actions to compensation for the damage caused by the crime. After analyzing this novel, the author paid attention to the fact that it accumulated not only statutory concepts common for the Russian criminal law, but also certain provisions inherent in competition law. Meanwhile, such a reception was of a shambolic nature, since the legislator did not use the concept of a person controlling the debtor (which, obviously, he assumed), but only one of the presumptions of control over the debtor — extracting benefits from illegal or unscrupulous behavior of the debtor, which does not seem quite correct. In addition, the comment does not imply any encouragement for the fake manager for disclosing information about the debtor’s property that was hidden by his controlling persons, although this approach is present in the bankruptcy law and increases the chances of creditors to restore their violated rights. Moreover, the exemption of the guilty person from criminal liability is for the most part dependent on the actions of third parties, and not the nominal value itself. The key conclusion of the study is that the considered norm is unlikely to be applied in practice both due to the lack of a proper incentive for the nominal value, and due to the uncertainty of the procedural mechanism of its application. Following the critical evaluation, the author proposes the optimal, in his opinion, revision of the analyzed norm.

HISTORY OF LAW / HISTORIA LEX

108-118 357
Abstract

The paper analyzes the evolution of anti-alcohol legislation as a way to combat drunkenness of the USSR population. The chronological framework of the study covers the period from 1917 to 1972. The purpose of the work is to consider the legal aspects of the evolution of anti-alcohol legislation in the context of the social realities of those years. The methodological basis of the work consists of two methods: problem chronological and historical legal. The completeness of the historical background of making certain decisions is impossible without recourse to the historical and legal method, which clarified Soviet everyday life and explained the reasons and conditions that prevented the achievement of maximum results in the fight against alcoholism and the spread of moonshine.

The novelty of the work is determined by the author’s vision of the problems of anti-alcohol regulation and the results of the state’s struggle with the growth of alcoholism of the population. An attempt has been made to find an answer to the following questions: why did the measures taken give a minimal or short-term effect; at what stages of the fight against drunkenness did elements of anti-alcohol legislation appear that remain relevant now? The author comes to the following conclusions: Anti-alcohol legal regulation in the USSR has come a long way: from an idea to legislation that can comprehensively solve the problem of reducing alcoholization of the population. The following vectors of the formation of legislation can be noted: the establishment of a state monopoly on the production and sale of alcohol; the fight against moonshine; the fight against drunkenness as a social phenomenon through public censure; the understanding of drunkenness as a problem requiring a comprehensive solution: medical and social, aimed at re-education through public censure or punishment (fine, placement by court decision in a compulsory rehabilitation centre, strengthening of criminal liability of persons who have committed a crime being intoxicated, bringing to criminal liability for involving minors in excessive drinking).

DISCUSSION PANEL / PRO ET CONTRA

119-129 659
Abstract

Gender inequality in the marriage and family sphere is most pronounced in the different attitudes of men and women to marriage registration, because it is men who, as a rule, prefer common-law marriage, and women are forced to put up with a model of relationships outside of the marriage, which deprives her of the rights provided for legitimate spouses. The analysis of the negative consequences of this problem allowed us to propose the following. It is necessary to legislatively fix the legal consequences of a long-term cohabitation of a man and a woman for those cases when, due to the death of one of the actual spouses, the marriage cannot be registered, which will contribute to the protection of the rights and interests of the other spouse. One more form of gender inequality is the practice when, in the vast majority of cases, a marriage is dissolved and the child remains in the care of the mother. This may adversely affects the psycho-emotional state of fathers deprived of the opportunity to live with their child, and children who wanted to live with the father, and not with the mother. It is necessary to form a stable judicial position based on the unconditional equality of the rights of the child’s parents, which is why decisions on such cases should be made following a comprehensive study of all the circumstances that testify in favor of both the mother and the father. One more form of gender inequality is a violation of women’s rights. Many fathers evade the payment of alimony for the maintenance of children, which is why the mother is entrusted not only with the upbringing of the child, taking care of his health, education, development, but also with the duty of his property maintenance, the burden of which she bears alone.

The results of the analysis make it possible to conclude that all these forms of gender inequality in marriage and family sphere should be investigated by not only legal science, but also psychology and sociology. It is vital as they have deep psychological, emotional and cognitive foundations that form differently in the minds of men and women and manifest themselves in different ways in their behavior.

JUDICIAL REVIEWS / RES JUDICATA

130-138 493
Abstract

The paper analyzes the development of law enforcement regarding the ability of certain contractual structures to change the legal regime of the marital property. Prior to the introduction of a mandatory notarial form of an agreement on the marital property division (Federal Law No. 391-FZ of December 29, 2015 «On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation») and clarification in paragraph 1 of Article 256 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation of the type of contract establishing the legal regime of the community property (Federal Law No. 217-FZ of July 19, 2018 «On Amendments to Article 256 of Part One and Part Three of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation»), law enforcement proceeded from the possibility of changing the community property regime (or part thereof) both following a marriage contract and any other agreement (contract) that does not contradict the current legislation. After legislative changes, the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation took different positions. In the activities of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, there has been a tendency not to qualify the terms of purchase and sale agreements, participation in shared construction and other transactions involving the emergence of shared ownership of spouses as a contract containing elements of an agreement on the community property division or a prenuptial agreement. The discrepancies between the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation and the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the form of the transaction concluded in fulfillment of the obligation of the recipient of the state certificate for maternal (family) capital to purchase a real estate object in the shared ownership of the second spouse and children are revealed. It is concluded that the dilemma between the freedom of choice of legal forms for the spouses to achieve the desired legal result with minimizing organizational, time and material costs, on the one hand, and ensuring that each of the spouses understands the coming legal consequences (which should be facilitated by notarization of the transaction) on the other hand, should be allowed at the legislative level.

IIMPROVEMENT OF LEGISLATION / NOVUS LEX

139-147 536
Abstract

The State Duma adopted the Federal Law «On Amendments to the Family Code of the Russian Federation and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation» (draft No. 835938-7). The paper discusses and analyses the new provisions of the Family Code of the Russian Federation from the point of view of scientific and law enforcement approach. The new version of paragraph 2, paragraph 3, Article 35 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation creates prerequisites for considering the fact that the counterparty in the transaction knew or should have known about the absence of the notarized consent of the spouse as a basis for recognizing transactions on the disposal of community property requiring such a notarized consent. In order to avoid different interpretations in judicial practice, the author substantiates the conclusion on the extension of the provision of paragraph 2 of paragraph 2 of Article 35 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation on the need to prove the above-mentioned fact to transactions provided for in paragraph 3 of Article 35 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation. Special attention is given to transactions on the disposal of exclusive rights, which may also be part of the community property. It is also concluded that it is advisable to enter the state of marriage of the owner of the exclusive right to registered objects into the registers of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation. Having considered the novelties of paragraph 2 of Article 39 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation on the expansion of the grounds for departing from the principle of equality of the spouses’ shares in the division of property by the court in relation to the provisions of paragraph 2 of paragraph 2 of Article 35 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, the author concluded that it was expedient to apply these norms in cases where the dispute on the recognition of the transaction invalid was not considered by the court, including if the statute of limitations has been missed, or it has not been possible to prove that the other party to the transaction knew or should have known about the other spouse’s disagreement to make the relevant transaction.

148-156 330
Abstract

The paper discusses the direction of the reform of the «regulatory guillotine», namely the development of new trends in regulation for control and supervisory activities. The reasons for the reform, its goals and objectives, as well as the results achieved are analyzed. The key reason for launching the «regulatory guillotine» is the problem of redundancy and obsolescence of the regulatory framework. The author characterizes the current state of control and supervisory activities carried out by the state authorities of the Russian Federation, analyzes trends and summarizes the results of the ongoing reforms. The paper considers the process of reforming control and supervisory activities in the Russian Federation, which, despite the adoption of Federal Law No. 248-FZ of July 31, 2020 regulating this field of activity, is still incomplete and its improvement continues. This is evidenced by the absence of an exhaustive list of the relations of types of control (supervision) and bodies obliged to carry out these activities. The author notes that today the legislator has fixed a strictly defined list of types of federal (state) control (supervision), in respect of which a risk-oriented approach is mandatory. Based on the analysis of regulatory legal acts of the regional level aimed at regulating state supervision in the field of protection of the population and territories from emergencies, the author concludes that these acts duplicate the provisions of federal laws. On the one hand, such parallelism contributes to the effective application of regional legislation, since the law enforcement officer has all the necessary provisions for the implementation of control (supervisory) activities collected in one document, on the other hand, not all duplicated norms contain primary information, therefore, they interfere with the understanding of the powers actually assigned to public authorities. It is pointed out that it is necessary to partially refuse to copy a number of norms that correspond to the specifics of regional state supervision in the field of protection of the population and territories from natural and man-made emergencies. The author concludes that the regulation of control and supervisory activities at the regional level needs to be finalized.



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ISSN 1729-5920 (Print)
ISSN 2686-7869 (Online)