Justice In Russia Research Articles

ИСТОРИКО-ПРАВОВЫЕ АСПЕКТЫ СТАНОВЛЕНИЯ ИНСТИТУТА АДМИНИСТРАТИВНОЙ ЮСТИЦИИ В РОССИИ

The historical and legal aspects of the formation of the institute of administrative justice in Russia are considered. Conclusions are drawn that this institution has gone through a long path of development both during the period of tsarist Russia and during the years of soviet power. It is emphasized that the institute of administrative justice plays an important role in the realization of constitutional rights and freedoms in a legal, democratic state.

A measure of justice: Citizen legal advocates, lay lawyering, and access to justice in Russia

What can access to justice look like in an authoritarian setting? In Russia, the law allows ordinary citizens who do not have a legal education to act as so-called citizen legal advocates (CLAs) in both criminal cases and cases on administrative offenses (non-criminal infractions). Drawing on qualitative fieldwork among CLAs in training sessions and in court, we show that lay people can enhance access to justice by impacting defendants’ experiences of the legal process itself despite the likely negative legal outcome. Through their multiple roles from legal advisors and coaches to guardians of prisoner welfare, we demonstrate the ways that lay people can contribute to access to justice at every stage of a defendant's journey through the system. Examining the case of lay lawyering in a repressive setting enables us to elicit and zoom in on practices—often obscured in the existing outcome-oriented scholarship—that are meaningful for access to justice in courts and prisons across the democratic/authoritarian divide.

Visibility Politics of Disability Representative Civil Society Organizations Pursuing Social Justice in Russia

ABSTRACT The study investigates the visibility politics used by civil society organizations representing persons with disabilities in Russia. The article applies the framework of social injustice developed by Nancy Fraser enabling the distinction of affirmative and transformative visibility politics that allow these actors not only to affirm guaranteed rights but also to promote structural changes. The study is based on the analysis of interviews collected in Russian cities, and information from open sources. It emerges that the reconfiguration of civil society results in civil society organizations implementing mainly affirmative changes although transformative visibility politics challenging ableist assumptions also occurred in the restricted political environment.

Comparative legal analysis of the concepts of "judicial composition" and "composition of the court" in the organization of Russian justice

Comparative legal analysis of the concepts of "judicial composition" and "composition of the court" in the organization of Russian justice

Справедливость как основа возрождения России

The higher the level of development of the legal culture of a society, the stronger the need of citizens for legal regulation that ensures a more equitable distribution of material, social, cultural and other benefits. To do this, it is necessary that the most vital issues for the majority of Russian citizens be resolved by holding referendums in accordance with part 3 of Article 3 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Justice in Russia is the beginning that unites the majority of Russians and should become the main purpose not only of justice, but also of the activities of the legislative and executive authorities. All efforts should be directed at building a fairly organized, legal, high-tech state based on our ancestral values and a society of spiritually, intellectually and physically developed people.

Учет мнения детей при разрешении споров об их воспитании: практика в Советской России и эволюция нормативного закрепления

Introduction. The Soviet law postulated the priority of the interests of children as the main principle of resolving family disputes. The Modern Russian legislator has adopted this approach. Currently, cases of mandatory consent of children to perform a legally significant action have been established and the procedure for ascertaining the opinion of minors has been regulated. Did a child have the right to vote in Soviet courts? The answer to this question will help to understand the historical background of the formation of the juvenile justice in Russia. Methods. The study was based on dialectics, which acts as a general methodology of scientific knowledge. General scientific, special and specific scientific methods were used. A generalization of the judicial practice of the Soviet period was carried out using analysis, synthesis, induction and deduction. The results obtained were processed using the interpretive method. A comparison of legal regulation in different historical periods is carried out (comparative research method). The principle of historicism made it possible to assess the dynamics of the development of the child’s right to express his opinion when resolving a dispute and to identify cause-and-effect relationships between the Soviet and modern approaches to this issue. Results. It was revealed that in the Soviet Russia the question of taking into account the opinions of children when resolving disputes about their upbringing was raised by judicial practice: first in individual cases, then in uniform explanations. The court was required to take into account the views of children. The forms of ascertaining the child’s wishes were different; priority was given to out-of-court interviews. The older the children were, the more likely it was that a decision would be made in accordance with their wishes. At the same time, the practice of courts, which limited themselves only to the child’s opinion, received a negative assessment. It was necessary to evaluate how well the children’s wishes corresponded to their real interests, the reasons for the lack of contact with persons applying for education, and the living conditions that were created for the children. The continuity of the Soviet experience in modern legal regulation of taking into account the child’s opinion in family disputes is revealed. The requirements developed by Soviet lawyers are applicable to modern court cases.

Историко-правовая характеристика института судебной защиты прав человека как основы взаимодействия публичной власти и гражданского общества

The article is dedicated to the study of a number of tendencies in the development of judicial protection of human rights from the standpoint of the assurance of efficient and constructive cooperation between public government and the civil society. The author justifies the opinion that contemporary Russian justice as the main component of the mechanism of judicial protection of human rights and freedoms is supplemented with efficiently developing institutions of prosecution, advocacy, notaries, corporate and individual legal assistance, civil society; however, certain models, examples and patterns from the state law history of the country could play a positive role as well.

Российская судебная власть и иностранные подданные, выходцы из приграничных восточноазиатских государств на Дальнем Востоке Российской империи (конец XIX начало – XX в.)

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of the implementation of Russian justice in respect of Chinese and Korean subjects in the Amur and Primorsky regions of the Russian state. It considers the solution of the issue of extraterritoriality of the Chinese subjects, the attempt of the local administration to establish control and gain sustainable influence over the traditional Chinese and Korean courts in, as well as the solution of the problem of jurisdiction of the Russian magistrate court over cases involving Chinese subjects living in the Zazeisky district of Amur region.

Мировая юстиция в современной России: быть или не быть?

The article studies the institution of justices of the peace in the historical and comparative law aspects and uses such study as the basis to determine de lege ferenda the role of a contemporary Russian justice of the peace in the national legal system along with the vector of development of the domestic criminal lay justice. The author justifies the need for the revival in the contemporary conditions of the “peace making” model of justice of the peace court to be used in cases where criminal punishment can be much less effective than conflict resolution through settlement: by performance of a number of conditions that wind such conflict down and eliminate its consequences. The publication suggests the respective expansion of professional competencies of a justice of the peace and statutory consolidation of his mission as a mediator, which can be an important step in the improvement of this critically important Russian judicial institution.

“Railway justice” in the Processes of Acculturation in the Frontier Zones of Asian Russia in the Late 19th — early 20th Century (Bukhara Emirate and Northern Manchuria)

The article is a comparative study of two variants of the “railway justice”, i.e. justice systems in the Russian exclaves in the Emirate of Bukhara and the Northern Manchuria at the end of 19th — beginning of 20th century. Basic mechanisms of integration and acculturation of both territories and their population was railway infrastructure (Central Asia and Chinese Eastern Railways) and judicial institution connected with it. The research is based on the wide circle of sources: archival materials of court cases, legal acts of central and regional authorities, hand-books, analytical woks and contemporary memories. The correlation of Russian jurisdictions of different levels is studied. The special attention is paid to court practice of the Russian political agency and lay justice in Bukhara and mixed Russian-Chinese courts in the Northern Manchuria. Authors found that Russian justice in both exclaves on the one hand were based on the imperial post-reform legal rules and on the other hand were adopted for the specific interstate context, ethno-confessional diversity of territories, local legal culture. Russian courts were succeeded in the provision pf basic law and order and promote the processes of cultural legal integration of the studied regions and their varied population. Distinctions of two justice models are connected with difference competence of the Russian post-reform courts in the Emirate of Bukhara and Northern Manchuria. Central authorities and administration of the Chinese Eastern Railway took into account and discussed the Bukharan experience of deeper justice integration, but saved the wide latitude of mixed Russian-Chinese courts.

РЕГУЛИРОВАНИЕ ЮРИСДИКЦИИ В ОТНОШЕНИИ КОРЕННЫХ НАРОДОВ СИБИРИ В ПЕРИОД ПРАВЛЕНИЯ ЕКАТЕРИНЫ II

The evolution and development of the jurisdiction exercised over Siberia’s indigenous population remains poorly understood. The purpose of the study is to analyze the changes in jurisdiction over the peoples of Siberia under Catherine II, as well as to determine their role in the processes of formation of territorial entities and the prospective provision of their stability. In this perspective, the topic of North Asian integration is being explored for the first time. The work is based on the ideas of the “new imperial history” and the theory of acculturation. The article concludes that the reforms of Catherine II created a new judicial system beyond the Urals, which was of a dichotomous nature. The imperial legislator combined the courts of estate jurisdiction with the lower bodies of justice, acting on the basis of customary law, granted the population the right to choose the form of court for the consideration of the bulk of the cases. The institution of “rural assessors” in the courts contributed to the active involvement of the indigenous population in the sphere of Russian justice. The development of legal regulation of jurisdiction and the deployment of the jurisdictional activities of state bodies turned various ethnic communities into an organic part of the population of territorial entities created in Siberia, which acquired stable systems of social ties and relations.

Отдельные вопросы перспективы использования «электронного правосудия»: опыт Российской Федерации и зарубежных стран

The article addresses the peculiarities of digitalization of Russian justice and the problems arising in the course of this process. Exploring the “electronic justice”, the author analyzes the domestic specifics of its legal regula-tion, focusing in detail on such problematic aspects as the definition of the essence and features of the desig-nated concept, and also considers the status of electronic evidence, after which he compares them with similar institutions in a number of foreign countries, including European countries, India, as well as China. Separately, the author examines international acts on the regulation of the digitalization of justice. The study shows the im-portance of introducing digital institutions into the practice of law enforcement. Digitalization of judicial pro-ceedings, the objective consequence of which is the introduction of both individual technological innovations and, in general, the transition to electronic justice, necessitates the reform of classical and the creation of fun-damentally new judicial institutions. Based on the generalization of issues of legislative regulation and the practice of applying international and the experience of some foreign countries, the author justifies that it is quite possible to use certain different elements of electronic justice in domestic legal proceedings, for example, the creation of specialized judicial structures by analogy with the Chinese judicial authority, whose jurisdiction includes Internet disputes.

Thinkers of Russia of the XV-XVI Centuries About Justice

At the end of the XV–XVI centuries, Russian religious and secular thinkers discussed a number of issues related to the formation of a sovereign state, the formation of a permanent army subordinate to the head of state, the organization of power, administration and judicial proceedings in the country. The topic of righteous judgment, discussed back in the XI–XIII centuries, was not only in demand, but also became the focus of attention of prominent thinkers and publicists of that time. The authors analyze the works of Russian philosophers who defined the foundations of the doctrine of justice in Russia of the late Middle Ages and have not lost their significance in the modern period. The scientific article completes the cycle “Medieval Russian thinkers about justice”, which includes articles besides it: “The first words about justice in Russia (The Election of 1076 and ‘Bee’)” and “Russian thinkers of the XI–XIII centuries about justice”. Knowledge of the past is important for the future and allows not to repeat its mistakes, and therefore the problem chosen for research remains relevant and needs further study.

Vehicle Seizure for the Purpose of its Confiscation as a Measure to Enforce Criminal Proceedings in Russia

The paper analyses the seizure of property as one of the basic institutions of ensuring criminal justice in Russia. The author provides the most recent practice of district (city) courts, as well as courts of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, based on the legal standing of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in compliance with the new paragraph «d« of Part 1 of Article 104.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation regulating confiscation of a vehicle used in the commission of crimes stated in Articles 264.1, 264.2 or 264.3 of the Criminal Code. The statutory provisions under discussion have been included into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation recently. The paper determines the key features of judicial practice concerning the issues of enforcement (in the form of seizure) and confiscation, although not directly specified in the law, but significantly affecting the court’s decision concerning application of the norms in question. The author proves strong influence of the civil law rules on the solution of the issues under consideration in criminal proceedings. In particular, the author refers to the appeal decision of the court of the constituent entity that refers to the definition given by the Judicial Board for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.Using cases, the author justifies the necessity of the following additions: Paragraph 7.1 supplementing Part 1 of Article 73 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation obliging the prosecution to collect evidence to resolve the issue of seizure of any property subject to confiscation; amendments to paragraph 8 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 17 of 14.06.2018, regulating the seizure by the court; dissemination of all the above (analysed) norms and provisions on the situation with the commission of crimes provided for in Parts 2‑6 of Article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (the addition of the specified elements of crimes in paragraph «d« of Part 1 of Article 104.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation); legislative obligation of state registration of transactions with vehicles (their purchase and sale, barter, donation, etc.) with their introduction into the unified state register (by analogy with the USRT) of the information about their owners (with the creation of such a register).

Judicial Investigators of Siberia: “Transitional” Justice of the Late 19th Century

One of the means of improving Russian justice in the era of Alexander II was the introduction of judicial investigators. Belatedly, in 1885, they were introduced into the pre-reform Siberian justice system and until 1897, were intended to investigate crimes together with police officials, which was a kind of transitional step towards the subsequent improvement of the court. The use of micro-historic detailing, as well as legislative acts, reports, materials of personal origin, statistics, periodicals, and archival documentation make it possible to comprehensively examine the activities of specialist investigators in Siberia on the eve of the Judicial Statutes of 1864 applied to the region, thereby significantly supplementing the ideas about the patterns of transformations of justice in the late Russian Empire, conditions of functioning of state bodies on the Siberian outskirts and their critical condition. The reform of 1885 was inconsistent, and as a result, the investigative part did not have sufficient resources or the ability to fight crime effectively. The content and staff of judicial investigators turned out to be insignificant; many were young and had no professional experience. Also, they fell into a hostile bureaucratic environment, managed extensive areas and were guided by outdated rules of procedure, but at the same time, they demonstrated official superiority in investigations over different ranks of the police. The latter ones were quite often ignorant and did not try to perform their secondary investigative duties. The activities of police officials were characterised by slowness and lack of professionalism, which worsened the performance of the entire Siberian investigative apparatus. Audits revealed systemic disorders and caused its arsenal to be regarded as unsuitable for defeating crime, and in government circles, the idea of the need for a new judicial transformation in Siberia prevailed. Having become a part of archaic justice in 1885–1897, the institution of judicial investigators confirmed the impossibility of the continued existence of “transitional” justice and called for the need to apply Judicial Statutes in full.

К вопросу о прямом действии прав и свобод человека

The article considers proposals for the creation of an alternative to the ECtHR, an international court of human rights; Russian Court of Human Rights; the transfer to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of the authority to check for compliance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation of court decisions of other courts. The author believes that the above proposals can hardly be called a priority task for Russian justice. According to the author, a court decision can be checked for compliance with the law, and not with human rights. Only normative acts can be tested for compliance with human rights. In Russia, this task is successfully performed by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, which can be regarded as a worthy alternative to the ECtHR.

Justice in the Process of Regional Conflict Settlement: Analysis of Russia’s Strategy, 1992-2021

Research in the field of regional conflict resolution rarely touches on the issue of justice. This paper aims to identify what understanding of international justice underlies Russia’s actions as a mediator/peacekeeper in the process of regional conflict resolution in the 1990s-2010s. The study also contributes to the understanding of Russia’s foreign policy by clarifying Moscow’s views on the essence and parameters of a just global order. The paper provides a study of the dominant Russian views on the essence of justice in international relations. It offers an insight into Russia’s peace-making and conflict resolution activities in the context of the three concepts of global justice and taking into account the factor of national interests. The study concludes that the dominant understanding of international justice in Russia is that which corresponds to Allen Buchanan’s concept of subjective justice. In Moscow’s view, international justice is a set of rules developed in the process of consensus driven negotiations between the great powers. According to this logic, a just settlement of the regional conflict is possible only on the basis of the consensus of the parties to the conflict and in accordance with the interests of the global and regional powers concerned. The fair interaction of the great powers in the settlement of the regional conflict and the impact that the conflict resolution could have on the development of the international order were of crucial importance for Moscow within the period under consideration. Moscow’s activity in the conflict resolution in the post-Soviet space generally corresponded to the model of justice as mutual recognition, but with absolute priority of Russian national interests. The strategy for resolving regional conflicts in the post-Soviet space could only be understood in the broad context of relations with Western countries and has changed in line with the development of these relations.

The First Words about Justice in Russia (Izbornik 1076 and "Bee")

The study of the history of the formation of Russian statehood cannot do without the study of issues of law and justice. The Election Book of 1076, despite its predominantly moral and religious content, and The Bee, which includes teachings on various issues formulated on the basis of the works of ancient philosophers and fragments from the Holy Scriptures and the works of the Church Fathers, contain topics on issues related to the realization of law and the administration of justice, which have not lost their relevance today relevance. Based on the analysis, the authors come to the conclusion that the studied historical monuments were the traditional basis of the legal understanding and justice emerging in Russia and have not lost their significance in the light of the present time.

Об эволюции отечественной практики отношений основного и дочернего обществ

From the point of view of improving the efficiency of competition law and corporate business management, it is of interest to regulate relations and transactions between the parent and subsidiary organizations. The key to understanding the regulation of relations between the main and subsidiary enterprises is to consider them as a single economic entity and property complex. Therefore, often transactions between the main and subsidiary enterprises are considered as unilateral, gratuitous. In the legal language of Russian justice, the peculiarity of such transactions is called “lack of direct counter representation”. The Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation No. 8989 approved the principle: “The absence of a direct counter-provision is a feature of the relationship between the main and subsidiary companies, which, from an economic point of view, are a single economic entity”. We will look at various cases of jurisprudence (the body of court decisions) that apply this principle, and see how this principle has evolved and developed. Judicial acts referring to Decree No. 8989 have impressively expanded the situational field of its application. Variants of such schemes: gratuitous transfer of fixed assets of the main company to a subsidiary and vice versa, as well as in relations between subsidiary structures; preferential pricing in contractual relations between the main and subsidiary companies, as well as in relations between subsidiary structures (finished products, raw materials, components, energy carriers, works, services, etc.); gratuitous transfer by holding companies of the results of intellectual activity; implementation of the contribution of the main company to the property of the “daughter” in compliance with the procedure established by law; the obligation of the subsidiary company to strictly comply with the specifics of the use of the relevant property established by law for the parent company; forgiveness of the debt of one of the companies associated with corporate control of another; mobilization of dividends of a subsidiary company to pay debts of the main company in the course of its bankruptcy; guarantee transactions of one holding company to secure obligations of another; transactions of preferential borrowing in relations between holding companies; gratuitous transfer of funds from one holding company to another, explicitly or implemented within the framework of a “business contract”.

Living memory and light of truth (Kryazhkov V.A., Mityukov M.A. History of constitutional justice in Russia)

The paper highlights the publication of the first comprehensive edition on the history of domestic consitutional justice. An attempt to reconstruct the prehistory of domestic constitutional normative control supported by a profound source base is one of the values of the retrospection section (until 2001). The paper marks two opposite interpretations of constitutional control — constitutional (value-based) and functional (pragmatic). The ambivalent understanding of the nature of constitutional jurisdiction results in groundless, both conceptually and empirically, reproaches of constitutional justice for politicization. The chapters on the current stage provide both less properly justified and contradictory theses than those expressed in retrospection section chapters. Lack of strength of the expressed arguments adversely affect the methodological integrity and conceptual unity of the entire text.