Russian Federation Constitution Research Articles

Economic justification for taxation and tax fairness: a new look at an old problem

A search for criteria of economically justified and fair taxation has been going on for a long time within studies in philosophy of law, constitutional law and tax law. Often such studies are one-sided and incomplete. The criteria developed by researchers, as well as research-based definition of “economic justification for taxation,” are unsatisfactory and unsuitable for practical use. Without understanding economic justification for taxation, it is impossible to give answers to many practical questions, in particular: is a tax economically justified or not? The purpose of this article is to formulate a new universal, practically applicable definition of “economic justification for taxation,” reflecting modern Russian and foreign ideas about fiscal social contract and constitutional principles of taxation. To achieve this goal, the author resorts to a comparative analysis of two incompatible principles of fair taxation: the equivalence (benefit) principle, arising from “individualistic” Anglo-Saxon theory, and the ability-to-pay principle that is based on continental European “welfare-state” doctrine. The author uses equivalence (benefit) principle to develop a so-called “beneficiary” theory of economic justification for taxation. The beneficiary theory is for the first time set out in this article. The beneficiary theory offers a new understanding of economic justification for taxation which is unconventional for Russian tax law and establishes a clearer – compared to previously known – criterion of economically justified taxation. This criterion makes it possible to identify economically unjustified taxes that do not comply with provisions of tax legislation and Russian Federation Constitution, and therefore can be applied when challenging: 1) validity of legislation establishing economically unjustified taxes; 2) constitutionality of tax legislation. The author, using the beneficiary theory he developed, assesses economic justification for bachelor tax and vehicle tax paid by owner of a vehicle not in use.

Анализ состояния и перспективы развития пассажирского железнодорожного транспорта для перевозки маломобильных групп населения

Purpose: To ensure the accessibility for population groups with reduced mobility of facilities and services in the sphere of railway transport that will provide for their mobility as well as the possibility to access various objects and services (medical, educational, cultural, etc.) Methods: Analysis and evaluation of the requirements of legislative, regulatory and industrial technical documents to provide reduced mobility population groups with equal with other citizens rights on Russian Federation Constitution. Review and analysis of international practices and different use cases of passenger rail cars to transport reduced mobility population groups. Joint study of the subject by JSC "Russian Railways" with scientific organizations of All-Russian Scientific Institute of Railway Transport and Institute of Hygiene on Railway Transport as well as with All-Russian Society of Disabled People. Results: Based on the results of technical and economical studies, decision was made to place specialized compartment for wheelchair users in a staff car. For this purpose, specialized area from unbraked end of a staff car has been organized which includes adapted compartment, adapted toilet, wide corridor and entrance zone equipped with stationary lift for boarding/detrainment of wheelchair users. Minimally necessary list of equipment to tool up adapted compartment and toilet is grounded. All these proposals were included into Technical Task on a new staff car with a body from stainless steel. Analysis of demand for staff cars with specialized area for wheelchair user transportation and annual traffic volume over the last period have been carried out. Based on the analysis of reduced mobility passenger turnover and the assessment of European railways practices, it is recommended to pursue works on increase the seating capacity in staff cars for passengers of pointed category. Practical importance: Based on the conducted research, the necessity to increase the seating capacity for wheelchair users with accompanying persons has been shown. It has been demonstrated that this issue can be solved using staff cars with stainless steel bodies. Even greater prospect for increasing seating capacity for wheelchair users opens up for new cars (Class "2023") which are being developed in accordance with “T” overall dimensions (car width increase from 3100 to 3400 mm) and lengthwise arrangement of sleeping places in compartment.

Ethics and Professionalism in the Activities of Representatives of Subjects of Public Control in the Russian Federation

The Russian Federation Constitution enshrines the legal status of the multinational people of Russia as the bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power in the country. However, the constitutional principles of democracy and the participation of society in the management of state affairs need a system of legal guarantees, the most important of which is the institution of public control. The basis of the legal regulation of this institution of civil society is a system of legal principles - the basic, most general principles that determine the content and main directions of regulation of this institution of civil society in the Russian Federation. A number of scientific research methods are used in the work: comparative legal, historical legal, formal logical and a number of others. This article is devoted to the analysis of ethics and professionalism in the activities of representatives of public control in the Russian Federation as its principle. The authors substantiate the need to expand the list of principles enshrined in Article 6 of Federal Law No. 212-FZ dated 21.07.2014 "On the Foundations of Public Control in the Russian Federation", in particular, the principles of centralism and decentralization in the organization and activities of subjects of public control, ethics and professionalism in the activities of their representatives, responsibility (both their representatives and officials, as well as representatives of objects of public control). The authors formalize and examine the main problems that prevent the consolidation and implementation of this principle of public control. The author has developed and substantiated a system of measures to resolve these problems, including by introducing amendments and additions to the legislation of the Russian Federation.

ZEMSTVO REFORM IN RUSSIA: HISTORICAL AND LEGAL CONTEXT

The article deals with the issues of legal regulation of zemstvo self-government in the second half of the 19th century on the basis of valid acts of the Russian empire. Urgency of addressing this theme is determined by the next stage of municipal reform in Russia, conditioned by the inclusion of local self-government and state administration into unified system of public power organization by the Constitution of Russian Federation of 1993 and by the necessity of generalization of historical experience for providing legislative bodies of power with recommendations on application of some legal constructions that haven't lost their significance after a century. The author analyzes the guidelines, decrees and regulations, which laid down the order of organization of zemstvo self-government in the Vyatka province. She describes in detail the transformations carried out in the districts that make up the present-day Udmurtia, comparing the laws of 1864 and 1890. The competence of zemstvos, order of formation, functioning and interaction of zemstvo bodies in exercising their powers are revealed in details. Special attention is paid to the legal regulation of electoral rights of different categories of the population. At the end of the article some conclusions are formulated for effective organization of public administration with zemstvo reforms in modern legal conditions.

Interaction of the principle of independence of judges and the principle of independence of advocacy in civil proceedings

The article examines the forms of interaction of the eponymous principle of independence in the professional activities of a pleader and a judge in a civil process. The conditions of independence are necessary for the judge and the pleader to be free in political, economic and intellectual terms for the qualitative implementation of professional activities. The author concludes that the independence of a pleader, as well as the independence of judges, has its own limits in subordination to Constitution of Russian Federation and the law, guarantees of the independence of pleaders and judges are similar in content. Guarantees of the independence of professional activities of judges and pleaders in the Russian Federation are the organizational independence of the judicial system and the bar, the activities of the bodies of judicial and bar community, the ban on interference in their professional activities, as well as the ban on engaging in any activities other than those defined in the law. Mutual respect for judicial and pleader independence makes the procedural activities of the pleader and the court in civil proceedings more effective and rewarding.

Economic development of regions during reforming the constitutional and legal model of power delineation in Russian Federation

According to the Russian Federation Constitution, all constituent entities have equal rights. However, equal rights are not synonymous with equality. Equal rights mean legal equality only; in other meanings, they differ significantly from each other. However, if the territorial, demographic and some other differences of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are the result of objective reasons, and in general do not affect the quality of life of the Russians living there, then the economic differences have more serious consequences. The article makes and attempt to examine the possibilities of economic independence increase in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The authors state that the currently existing model of power delimitation is based on the consolidation of the main powers of the federal authorities, while the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are mainly entrusted with financially-intensive powers, which are not always provided with the necessary resources. This matter allows the federal center to accumulate significant financial resources with their subsequent distribution across regions, often in accordance with subjective and non-transparent criteria. In addition, the authors propose the measures to change this situation, in particular, an assessment of power implementation effectiveness at a specific level of power; the ensured provision of the constituent entity powers of the Russian Federation with the necessary resources; use of the system of minimum state social standards.

WHY DO RUSSIANS NEED THE STATUS OF A "STATE-FORMING PEOPLE"?

The article discusses possible political consequences of the introduction of the following novella: Russians are a “state-forming people”, tied to the Russian language, into Article 68 of the Russian Federation Constitution. This amendment turns the author of the Constitution, the "multinational people of Russia," into a “multinational union of peoples”, where, notwithstanding a formal equality, the “state-forming” people predominates. As a result, in Russia there are "non-state-forming peoples" who speak other languages and compose over a quarter of the population. Most for thousands of years have resided on their native lands, which were included (often by the use of force) into the Russian Empire no more than 200-250 years ago. It seems they can claim to have participated in the “formation” of this common state not to a lesser degree than the Russians, who were suddenly given the status of a “state-forming” people. This amendment is clearly populist in nature, representing an example of legal nonsense. In addition, its adoption does not change anything for the position of the Russian majority, causing so far only dull irritation among representatives of the political elites and open protest of the intellectual elites of other peoples of Russia. Each change to the Basic Law must be carefully considered and absolutely necessary, and at the same time lead to the consolidation of the peoples of Russia, and not to their separation. Further, the article analyzes the issue of some foundations for the stability of the Russian state.

Formation of public-private model in Russia health care organization

The pandemic of COVID-19, the threat of technogenic and anthropogenic character, brought to the foreground non-market aspects of the general, corporate branch culture and strategy in medicine and health care. Therefore, in many countries, despite differences in state and private property ratios in health infrastructure, the state priority is ensuring cooperation within the national health care system which capable quickly and well-coordinated work in the extremely dangerous epidemics conditions and other emergency situations. The purpose of this article is discussing a problem of public and private models of medical care organization in Russian health care system.Materials and methods. Content analysis methods, economical and statistical analysis, information and analytical materials of the Russian and foreign news agencies, a summary across Russia of Rosstat form No. 62 of the state statistical observation «Data on resource providing and on delivery of health care to the population» (legal entities - the medical organizations which are carrying out activity in the sphere of compulsory health insurance), analytical materials and statistical data of World Health Organization (The European portal of information of health care of WHO: https://gateway.euro.who.int/en/hfa-explorer/), statistical data and metadata on the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, https://stats.oecd.org/), the materials of monographic researches and periodicals including placed on the Internet were used in this article.Results: the system of compulsory health insurance is an ancestor of the program of the state guarantees of free medical care of in Russian citizens. The length of the text of this Program so far was increased in 130 times in comparison with initial edition of 1998. At the same time, there is still no clear delineation for the bases, volumes and conditions differentiation of free and paid medical care rendering. As a result, the major human right to free medical care remains not completely realized. The numbers of the non-state medical organizations to provide free of charge medical care to the population according to the policy of obligatory medical insurance (i.e. financed from the state sources) in the period of 2011 to 2019 – from 648 to 2423 organizations respectively were increased in Russia four times. This demonstrates the creation of the new, «integrated» model of health care in Russia in the mode of public and private partnership for deciding of social tasks. Although, free medical care for citizens in the private medical organizations is not mentioned in the Constitution of Russian Federation (Main Law). In emergency situations such integration allows private medical structures to involve capacities and also be coordinated with one of the tasks of the Ministry of health target program «Development of the Fundamental, Transmitting and Personalized Medicine».Conclusions. There is a formation of the integrated, public and private (hybrid) model of health care in modern Russia that needs developing of a new partnership and principles of management in the sphere of medical care organization. State policy in the health care financing sphere should be directed not only to the state guarantees of medical care specification, but also to a gap in social and economic inequality reduction. The social protection systems should be focused, first of all, on people who are most in great need of medical care. For the protecting population from catastrophic payments for medical care, it is necessary to bring the concept of the social standards - a number of the general rules, norms and standards which must guarantee the state ensuring constitutional rights of citizens to free medical care in the health care legislation.

Totalitaryzm i wolność w świetle paradygmatów kultury. Współczesna Rosja

The presented paper is of a theoretical character. It includes a reflection on the mechanisms behind the rebirth of totalitarianism, using contemporary Russia as a case study. The research period taken as exemplification for the theoretical part comprises years 2000–2020 and was chosen for three reasons, mutually interconnected. The first among them is the election of Vladimir Putin, regarded as a strong symbolical representation of centralized state power, as the president of Russian Federation. Secondly, the consolidation of power in the hands of one man who had the tools to control and affect the political system. Thirdly, the modification of the Russian Federation Constitution to favor the durability of Putin’s government. The presented results point to the mechanisms behind the activation of totalitarian tendencies in Russian culture in the light of long-lasting cultural paradigms: collectivism and con-centrism.

Improvement of the external municipal financial control system in the context of public authority reform

The subject. The implementation of external municipal financial control cannot be called fully competent in Russia. Many practical problems are currently being addressed mainly through the transfer of powers to implement external financial control to a higher level. Amendment to Art. 131–133 of the Russian Federation's Constitution in terms of clarifying the powers of local self-government and incorporating it into public authority, predetermines subsequent amendments to the legislation on local self-government, which can be aimed, among other things, at improving the system of external municipal financial control. The aim of the article is to confirm or disprove the following hypothesis. The reform of public authority will lead to a change in the system of external municipal financial control. Therefore it is possible to propose ways to improve the activities of municipal auditing and accounting authorities on the basis of constitutional novels and the analysis of the existing problems of implementing external municipal financial control. The methodology. The authors apply general scientific methods of comparative, logical and statistical research. The study is based on the analysis of academic literature, statistical data about the practice of the auditing and accounting bodies of municipalities. Russian judicial practice is also analyzed. The main results, scope of application. The organization of a modern system of external municipal financial control shows that it actually works only at the level of urban districts and municipal regions, and that is not always effective. Municipal control and accounting bodies are not created in settlements and the authority to exercise external financial control is transferred either to the level of the municipal district or to the level of the region of the Russian Federation. Conclusion. The municipal auditing and accounting body should retain the authority to exercise control without transferring it to the level of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation. However, at the same time, its role should be strengthened by increasing its status (for example, fixing at the federal level the criteria for the number of employees of the control and accounting body, financial support guarantees).

To the question of remuneration for creative workers

The salary received by an employee under an employment contract is, as a rule, his only source of livelihood. Within the framework of this article, some problems of remuneration of creative workers are considered during the period when they do not participate in the creation and (or) performance (exhibit) of works or do not act. The article concludes that abuse by employers of the freedom granted to them by Part 5 of Article 157 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation leads to a significant deterioration in the position of creative workers in comparison with workers in other professions. At the same time, the norms of differentiation should not be interpreted arbitrarily in violation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the fundamental norms of labor law, be discriminatory. It is concluded that the freedom of the employer as a party to the employment contract, even within the framework of the institution of remuneration, should be limited within certain limits. The ways of improving the current labor legislation are proposed.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE IDEA OF A SOCIAL STATE AND INNOVATIONS OF ARTICLE 75.1 OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION CONSTITUTION

A new socially oriented article appeared in the Russian Federation Constitution — Art. 75.1. This article is designed to strengthen mutual trust between the state and society, ensure a balance of rights and obligations of a citizen, the implementation of the social partnership principles, and create the necessary conditions for economic, political and social solidarity. This work is devoted to the formulation of these questions. It shows how conditions are created in Russia for the implementation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution principles to create new models of labor and employment, digitalize all aspects of Russian society life, which have a significant impact on economic growth and improving the well-being of citizens. Russia has enormous potential for achieving the goals set in the country’s socio-economic development and solving problems in achieving sustainable economic growth, which must be successfully implemented. This should inevitably lead to an increase in the standard of living of the majority of citizens, to raise the prestige of a working person by creating conditions for decent work, and the implementation of constitutional guarantees in the sphere of social and labor relations. The latest constitutional innovations are just beginning to undergo scientific comprehension. Their doctrinal interpretation and identification of axiological potential can make a significant contribution to the definition of modern legal principles of constitutional, administrative, labor and many other branches of Russian law. This is the main goal of the proposed research based on an interdisciplinary approach and traditional methods of legal phenomena cognition. The author in the proposed work consistently substantiates the conclusions about the consistency of the new norms introduced into the Constitution with a number of principles previously enshrined in it, as well as their timeliness from the point of view of modern changes in the content of social relations in the world of work.

Преобразующие Конституцию Российской Федерации неформальные способы её изменения: между действительностью и конституционностью

The Constitution of the Russian Federation has been changed according to formalities and the rules established by it, although there are numerous examples of constitutional changes having been made outside of formal procedures. In the theory and practice of constitutional law, an approach has been developed according to which the constitution can be changed without formally changing its text — by changing its meaning. Such changes are called constitutional transformation and are carried out by informal methods of changing the constitution. They differ significantly from the formal methods of constitutional reform, since they are carried out not by the sovereign source of power but by the constituted power — by the legislative, executive, and judicial authorities. The article examines the main informal methods of changing the constitution: law, interpretation, convention. Constitutional transformation by informal methods of constitutional change is not provided for by the constitution, therefore it is unconstitutional. However, it becomes valid thanks to implementation by institutions established by the constitution, within the framework of constitutionally provided procedures and recognized as methods of constitutional change by other subjects of constitutional relations. If the subjects of constitutional relations are not in agreement with a constitutional transformation, they can overcome it through constitutional reform or (depending on the method) through an appeal to the constitutional court by which, if successful, an informal constitutional change becomes unconstitutional and invalid. Turning to informal methods, the government incurs costs in terms of the legality and legitimacy of the constitutional change, but at the same time it gains in terms of efficiency, time saving and the result obtained. The emergence of a “living”, “parallel” constitution, the lag of the formal constitution behind real life, the inadequacy of the constitutional text are the price paid for resorting to informal methods of constitutional change. It is important that resort to informal means does not become the norm. Constitutional transformation should be supplementary in nature, and appeal to it should be the last resort.

Spoilers as a form of abuse of power

In the article the author specifies some general theoretical approaches to the concept of abuse of power, which were outlined by him earlier in his article «Abuse of Rights and Abuse of Power: To the Formation of a Unified Doctrine» published in one of the issues of this journal. In the introduction, the author proposes the concept of spoilers as a form of abuse and defines it in a following way: a participation of representatives of public authorities in the distribution of limited resources, which has the sole purpose of hindering (blocking) the exercise by citizens of their right to free expression of opinion (Article 29) and the right to participate in the life of the state (Part 1 of Article 32) and which is therefore unacceptable within the meaning of Article 18 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The main part of the article discusses possible illustrations of spoilers in the following areas of legal relations: the organization of public assemblies (including in single specially designated places), participation in public hearings (in particular, on the adoption and amendment of land use rules), initiation of a federal referendum (namely, challenging the decision of the election commission to register a regional subgroup of the initiative group). Finally, in the last part of the work, the author briefly examines possible models of legal regulation of countering abuse of power, and also warns against uncritical (politicized) use of this category, since this, in turn, may be fraught with violations of citizens' rights. According to the author, among such models are ex ante mechanisms (amending the current legislation and construing the norm in a constitutionally biding manner) and ex post mechanisms (application of the principle of inadmissibility of abuse of power by a court of general jurisdiction when considering a specific dispute), each of which has its advantages and disadvantages.

УРАЛЬСКИЙ РЕГИОН: ПЕРСПЕКТИВА ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОГО ОБЪЕДИНЕНИЯ В НАЧАЛЕ 90-Х ГОДОВ XX ВЕКА

The paper examines the actions taking place in the Ural region in the early 1990s, aimed at increasing independence of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and the creation of a large political and economic association of several regions of the Urals. In a difficult political situation, new solutions of administrative and territorial structure, regional governance and power decentralization issues were needed. The idea of enlarging Russian regions was seen by various political forces as one of the options for reforming the administrative-territorial structure of the country. The idea was discussed at the Politburo meetings, reflected in the proposals of the democratic opposition representatives, such as Andrey Sakharov, Gavriil Popov and even Boris Yeltsin, and was also discussed in the drafting of the Russian Federation Constitution in 1990–1993. The creation of joint management structures and the formation of public opinion on the issue had begun in the Ural region since 1989, when the regional authorities started to strengthen inter-regional connection of the Urals and launched the process of merging the region into one political entity to solve the economic and social problems. The idea of creating large regions have passed from a discussion format to real political practice and, as a result, was banned. Despite the Ural Republic creation and the political unification of the Ural region into one political entity were prohibited, the processes of inter-regional consolidation to solve common problems and implement joint development programs continued after 1993.

CONSTITUTIONAL INNOVATIONS AND SOCIAL VALUES OF THE STATE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PRECARIOUS EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT

The most important political event in 2020 was the nationwide vote on the approval of amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Some of the adopted amendments directly concern the social sphere; they are designed to ensure an increase in the well-being of Russian citizens and the level of their social protection. This has actualized scientific research on social justice in all social sciences and humanities. In this regard, legal science is most interested in questions related to at least two aspects. First, to what extent are the amendments to the Russian Federation Constitution relevant from the point of view of the social sphere current state? To what extent are they conditioned by the current agenda and modern social relations content? On the other hand, to what extent does the current legislation designed to serve the implementation of the constitutional foundations meet the requirements of the Basic Law? Do not the provisions of the Constitution become an unattainable bright ideal in the modern system of legal regulation of specific legal relations? This work is devoted to the formulation of precisely these questions. It provides examples from the sphere of regulation of social and labor relations, which make it possible to talk about the difficulties that the law is already facing today, not having sufficient funds in its traditional arsenal to ensure the implementation of fair social standards established in the Constitution. The development of employment non-standart forms, the precarization of the labor market, an objective decrease in the number of hired workers in the total number of employed, creates a significant circle of subjects who today do not have access to the rights and guarantees established by the Constitution, since they are traditionally ensured by the norms of labor law, which does not apply to these citizens. Based on the experience of individual foreign countries, it is concluded that in order to fully implement the constitutional foundations and principles in the world of work, it is necessary to extend certain traditional labor rights and guarantees to the self-employed and workers employed on online platforms.

Доктринальный подход к соотношению национального и международного права в свете конституционных поправок

The article analyzes the Law of the Russian Federation on the amendment to the Constitution of the Russian Federation of March 14, 2020 No. 1-Federal Constitutional Laws «On Improving the Regulation of Certain Issues of the Public Power Organization and Functioning». The author carries out the theoretical and legal analysis of the Russian Federation Constitutional Court practice and the legislation adopted in view of this practice. It is noted that the amendments added to the Constitution of the Russian Federation reflect the official doctrine based on the recognition of the priority and supremacy of the Russian Federation Constitution in the legal system of the country. The author agrees that representatives of economically and militarily strong states have a significant influence on the development of international law, expressing the foreign policy doctrines of their states, while building a dual model of behavior: in relation to themselves – the priority of national law, in relation to other countries – the priority of international law. Under these conditions, the doctrine becomes a universal tool that connects the national and international legal spheres. It is necessary to recognize the ability of the doctrine to ensure the individualization, self-identification of the domestic legal system, the convergence of the Russian legal system and the systems of international public and private international law.

Конституционная реформа в России: актуальность, реализация, перспективы. Часть 2. Поправки к Конституции: нерешенные и новые проблемы и вектор дальнейшего реформирования

The seriousness of the flaws in the 1993 Constitution of Russian Federation is a weighty argument in favor of its reform. However, it is important to answer the question whether the constitutional reform eliminated the main defects of the existing Constitution. The article shows that the Law on the amendment to the Constitution of the Russian Federation of March 14, 2020 No. 1-FKZ does not provide solutions to the most pressing problems, including those that justified its adoption, and, in addition, creates new problems and risks. Accordingly, the relevance of further constitutional reforms remains. A number of proposals have been formulated concerning their directions and forms.

Amendments of Russian Constitution Concerning International Law and the EAEU Prospective

The work alleges that the constitutional amendment restricting the applicability of international case law in Russia is both the transient response to the instant political tension around Russia and a formalization of the positivistic trend well established in the domestic judicial practice long ago. The positivistic trend is part of the process shaping Russia’s own approach to the international law. The amendment concerning the international case law in the Constitution of Russian Federation will not hinder the rules expressly stated in the treaties of the EAEU.

Проблемы взаимодействия муниципальных образований с органами государственной власти РФ в свете конституционной реформы 2020 г.

The article amendments introduced into the text of the chapter eighth of the Russian Federation Constitution by the federal constitutional law of March 14, 2020 "On improving the regulation of certain issues of the organization and functioning of public authorities" and approved during the All-Russian vote on July 1, 2020 are described and interpreted. It is noted that the fundamental twist in the theory of municipal law was the innovation in the text of Article 132 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation on a unified system of public authorities, which includes both local authorities and bodies of federal entities and federal authorities. Promising directions for the development of legislation in the field of interaction between municipalities and public authorities in the context of the changes to the text of chapter eight of the Russian Federation Constitution are proposed.