Publications

The legislative initiative on the possibility of appointing corporate managers for certain categories of debtors has not yet received unanimous support from the professional community. The authors discuss the advantages and effectiveness of this measure in the construction sector.

The paper examines factors influencing the effectiveness of criminal punishment for corruption crimes. The research methodology includes the main method of scientific cognition (dialectical), a systematic approach, general scientific methods: analysis and synthesis (in understanding corruption acts), comparison (law enforcement practices, types of criminal punishment); private scientific methods: mathematical and criminal statistical (in calculating indicators and identifying correlations), sociological (survey of respondents-officers responsible for preliminary investigation, judges, convicts, citizens), analysis of documents, etc. The empirical basis consists of the results of a criminological study conducted by the author in 2018–2020. as part of an interregional research team (Vladimir, Volgograd, Kazan, N. Novgorod, Syktyvkar), as well as criminal statistics data, materials of judicial practice. The paper analyzes the state of the problem of determining the effectiveness of criminal punishment. The results obtained are projected onto the sphere of corruption crimes. The law enforcement practice of sentencing for corruption crimes for the period 2016–2020 is presented on the basis of judicial statistics. The author substantiates the necessity of determining the criteria for evaluating effectiveness of criminal punishment in the area under examination. These include the achievement through punishment of the goals stated by the law-maker. It is proposed to focus on the results of criminological research when assessing the effectiveness of the execution of punishment. Additional criteria for effectiveness can be: the proportion of convicts who consider the punishment imposed on them fair/unfair; the proportion of convicts who have fully/ partially compensated for the damage caused, etc. The conclusion is made about insufficient effectiveness of the most commonly used types of punishment, as well as the low deterrent effect of the fine. It is demonstrated that the humanism inherent in modern anti-corruption legislation is not recognized by convicts, thereby the trust provided by the state is not justified against the background of the corruption acts committed. The author argues the expediency of returning confiscation as a full-fledged type of criminal punishment for corruption crimes. The disclosure of the potential of criminal punishment in the form of imprisonment and the restoration of property confiscation can increase the effectiveness of the criminal law response to the threat of corruption.

The book represents comprehensive systemic research of intellectual property in business based on laws, scientific research and cases of IP use in Russia. Such an approach will allow a complete understanding of the peculiarities of IP as a special phenomenon in business relations. The book will be useful to scientists, practicing lawyers, students and anyone interested in business intellectual property. 

Currently, there are some difficulties in implementing the mechanism for resolving trade disputes established by the WTO rules. These are: the open question of the the Appellate Body functioning and the search for its alternative forms, failure to comply with the stipulated procedural deadlines; the need to prove a significant trade interest in the absence of a mechanism for evaluating it, which may lead to unjustified refusals to participate in the consideration of a trade dispute as a third party, etc. These problems determine the need not only to acquire practical skills in applying the rules and regulations of the WTO, but also for the theoretical understanding of the mechanism for implementing its trade interests protection. For Russia, it is important to participate not only as a plaintiff and defendant but as a third party of a trade dispute to gain experience and to form a staff capable to represent the state in the negotiation process and at the stage of consideration of cases in DSB. Using comparative legal and formal-legal methods, there is attempt to analyze the experience of possible effektive use of the dispute resolution mechanism, guided by the rules and regulations established by the WTO. Attention is drawn to the fact that Russia pays the most attention to disputes concerning the European Union, China and the United States of America. The autors categorize disputes in which Russia participates as a third party. There is speculation about the need to reform the mechanism for resolving trade disputes in the WTO due to the expansion of third-party rights (e.g., to allow a third party to obtain upon request information and documents, to secure entitlement to a presence at major meetings treteiskii group (not just the first), perhaps without the right to comment on the interim report of the arbitration panel) making appropriate amendments to article 10 of the Agreement. It can also be recommended to include a third party in the trade dispute and at the stage of appeal procedures for understanding whether there is a significant trade interest in the country.

The trade volume of the EAEU has the tendency to increase; therefore, this study is relevant. In the study author analyzes the elements of the legal status by the customs representatives, customs carriers, owners of duty-free shops, warehousemen and authorized economic operators in the countries of the EAEU. The actual statistic information about number of subjects’ customs relations in the countries of the EAEU is illuminated. Based on coincidences and differences in the legal status of subjects’ customs relations recommended common approach to formulations of their rights and obligations.  Analysis of legal cases illustrates practical problems in construction of joint liability between declarants and customs representatives. In the research stated the problem of formal approach on the side of customs officers in disputes between declarants and customs representatives in proving subjective element of offence. Recommended to analyze all circumstances for taking appropriate decision in cases between declarants and customs representatives. In the research summed those requirements for customs carriers aimed at supporting their stability. The article emphasized territorial limitations of entrepreneurial activity by duty free owners. Summarized the differences in requirements to owners of duty-free shops. Highlighted limits of types’ certificates by authorized economic operators. Stated that separate elements of legal status of number of subjects’ customs relations can be base for design the legal status of Internet-trade operator.

The paper explores the Greek-English relations in the 15th century determined by the Turkish conquests and the fall of the Byzantine Empire. Developing allies against Turks was the top priority of Byzantine diplomacy in the first half of the century. The idea of a crusade against the Ottomans for the sake of saving the Christian state was at the core of negotiations with those sovereigns who had no grounds to fear Turkish military clout. At the beginning of the 15th century, Emperor Manuel II visited England in the hope of receiving military assistance. His visit coincided with the war in Scotland, the largest national revolt in Wales, and serious problems in Ireland, which became the reason for the denial of military support, but not a financial one. It would not be entirely correct to reproach the English Crown for ignoring the appeals of the Holy See. In the 15th century, England responded to the aspirations of the Byzantine Empire and Eastern Christians, but the issue of providing real military assistance was not on the political agenda. Fundraising campaigns for the crusade against the Ottomans were carried out regularly in England in that period. Thus, England supported the crusading idea, but solely through financial assistance.

The legal analysis of the consequences of the new coronavirus infection COVID-2019 affecting contractual relations has been carried out. The circumstances that prevent the fulfillment of contractual obligations are investigated. The issues of terminological and lexical uniformity and compliance of civil law norms regulating force majeure circumstances, a significant change in circumstances, circumstances leading to the impossibility of fulfilling an obligation, modern realities are raised. The features of the fulfillment of contractual obligations in the conditions of an epidemiological situation, restrictive measures and a self-isolation regime are revealed. The author comes to the conclusion that the consequences caused by the new coronavirus infection COVID-2019 can be recognized as the basis for the release of subjects from responsibility for non-fulfillment of contractual obligations. At the same time, force majeure circumstances do not automatically entail the termination of obligations, and the subjects of contractual relations should strive to minimize risks by acting in good faith. When making a court decision on specific cases on the debtor's liability, a special role is assigned to the causal relationship between force majeure circumstances and non-fulfillment of obligations.

The article is devoted to the study of the legal aspects of practical medicine in the early Middle Ages, prior to the development of universities and the emergence of professional medicine, opposed to other types of practices. The texts analysis of continental barbarous law codes, ancient Russian monuments of law, early Anglo-Saxon and early Celtic legislation enables to make a number of judgments about medieval medical practices and the human body, as well as the role and legal status of people responsible for healing. A comparative analysis of legal codes recorded in the VI – XIII centuries allows us to establish a number of common features of secular legislative tradition in medieval Europe regarding the ideas of the human body and healing practice, and also to highlight some significant differences. Medieval law codes have a lot in common in terms of severity of injuries and their consequences. Secular regulation of curative practice was rather limited, most of the laws provided compulsory treatment and the participation of healers in the procedures to assess the wounds and other damages, but the legal status of a physician and his liability are specifically established only in Visigothic Code (which might be justified by the Roman influence), Welsh Law of Hywel Dda and Brehon law.

The article is devoted to the administrative discretion of the governors for choosing the type of administrative act used to introduce and specify the content of the high-alert regime in the conditions of COVID-19. The judgment is expressed about the variability and lack of clarity in the justification of such a choice, which may be due to the vagueness of the regulatory regulation of the system of administrative acts in the constitutional entities of the Russian Federation.

Excommunication as a punishment for violating church rules on marriage and family relations was repeatedly imposed on members of Welsh dynasties during the 12th century. The aim of the research is to define the true reasons for such strict measures by means of analyzing historical sources: Welsh and English chronicles, including the Chronicle of the Princes, Annales Monastici, the corpus of Welsh native law texts known as the Law of Hywel Dda, the Historical Works of Gerald of Wales, some legal acts and official correspondence concerning Wales, including Thomas Becket’s letters. The Welsh native law was considered as a “barbarian” one by the Church. Undoubtedly, Welsh native customs contradicted canon law to some extent, allowing marriages between relatives, permitting divorces without reference to ecclesiastical procedures, and tolerating extramarital relationships. Incest marriages between members of major Welsh dynasties were a widespread phenomenon in Wales till the 13th century. Such marriages seemed to be an inevitable part of creating native political alliances in the face of danger from the Norman invaders. Welsh dynasties were often closely interrelated through marriages, but far not always this fact drew attention of the church. Owain Gwynedd and Lord Rhys, who are believed to be the most powerful Welsh leaders of the 12th century, were both married to their first cousins. Owain Gwynedd was excommunicated for refusal to have his marriage annulled on the grounds of consanguinity. Meanwhile, the same circumstances of  Lord Rhys’ marriage went unnoticed. It must be taken into account that Owain Gwynedd’s canonically unacceptable marriage became a subject of the Pope’s attention only when the question of the Bishop of Bangor’s election and subsequent conflict with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, erupted.  Lord Rhys suffered the penalty of anathema just before his death not because of his scandalous marriage or immoral relationship but on account of disrespectful treatment of the Bishop of St. David’s, Peter de Leia. Obviously, conflicts between the Welsh rulers and the Anglo-Norman senior clergy as an essential part of Anglo-Welsh confrontation were the underlying reasons for such measures as excommunication. It is noteworthy that both of the aforementioned great Welsh princes were buried with due honor in the consecrated land despite the fact of excommunication, which demonstrated that the Welsh native clergy were loyal to their Welsh patrons rather than to the supreme ecclesiastical authorities.