COMPARATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LAND MARKET IN THE COUNTRIES OF EUROPE AND UKRAINE: PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF CONCLUDING BUYING AND SALE AGREEMENTS AGRICULTURAL LAND

The provisions of the scientific article provide a comparative description of the functioning of the “land market” in Europe and Ukraine, as well as analyze the practical aspects of concluding contracts of sale of agricultural land. The authors propose to understand the “land market” as public relations regulated by the current legislation of Ukraine arising from the exercise by landowners of subjective rights to such plots, including public authorities and local governments exercising the rights of the owner to land on behalf of the Ukrainian people. The study examines the experience of the “land market” and the conclusion of contracts of sale of the latter in Germany, Latvia and France and identifies common and distinctive features of such functioning with the practice of Ukraine. The study analyzes the positive provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the Circulation of Agricultural Land”, namely: lifting the moratorium on the purchase and sale of agricultural land; establishing requirements for citizens of the country regarding the availability of special education and experience in the field of agriculture; setting restrictions on the maximum area of agricultural land provided to one person; creation of a special body, the main function of which is to control the sale and purchase transactions; granting a preemptive right to a tenant, a local government body or a specially created body; establishment of control for the purpose of acquisition of agricultural land and the price of the contract. The authors identified shortcomings in the procedure for concluding contracts for the sale of agricultural land under Ukrainian law and proposed to use the experience of leading European countries that have already passed their own path of transformation of the “land market” and have accumulated extensive positive experience of the institute of purchase and sale of agricultural land. appointment. The authors came to the conclusion that the issue of the legal procedure for concluding contracts of sale of agricultural land still needs detailed scientific elaboration and improvement in practice.

On Panchayat: A Study of Decentralization in India and Policy Recommendation

This paper aims to study India’s decentralization process, which focuses on the Panchayat or the village government as a demonstration of success in India’s decentralization. This paper employs documentary research with a systemic review of relevant literature, articles, and documents on India's decentralization policy after independence up to the present (during 1947-2020). This paper found that India emphasizes people participation and decentralization, primarily through the Panchayat, which the constitution has authorized. The Indian government also established the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to facilitate the process of decentralization. The key success of India’s decentralization is related to its financial decentralization that allows the local government to collect tax and financial supports. This research also suggests five recommendations to increase the level of decentralization. First, decentralization must be written in a country’s constitution. Second, decentralization could effectively work with a unitary state with a federal feature. Third, the village is the foundation of decentralization. Fourth, the state should establish or form a ministry or another form of a government body to implement a policy of decentralization. Finally, decentralization must be political, administrative, and financial.

Decision-Making beyond the Competence of the Heads of Public Authorities (Acceptance of Work Performed by Contractors: a Case Study)

The purpose of the study is to identify contradictions between the competence of a public official of a government body based on the post he takes, on the one hand, and the need for this official to make managerial decisions beyond his competence. On the basis of this contradiction, the authors show the negative consequences of the implementation of management activities by a public official and suggest some measures to prevent and eliminate them.The paper analyzes the cases when the heads of public authorities were supposed to accept construction and repair work performed by counterparties under civil contracts, but due to their incompetence in this matter, they signed acts of acceptance of the work performed without indicating any shortcomings, for which they were brought to criminal and financial liability. The authors describe the reasons for these negative phenomena, analyze the possibility and legitimacy of the delegation by the heads of public authorities of powers to accept the work performed and determine the subject matter of the offense.By analyzing the judicial practice, the authors determine the subjects of crimes in the field of poor-quality reception of work performed by contractors; attention is focused on the fact that in order to qualify such acts as criminal, it is not necessary to establish the intent. Officials’ references to their incompetence in this matter, as a rule, are ignored by the courts. By comparing the activities of leaders in the commercial and public spheres, the authors point to the possibility of criminal prosecution of a public official without claiming damage caused to any person and before considering a legal dispute for compensation for damage between the public authority and the counterparty. In conclusion, the authors make proposals on the need to involve third-party organizations in the acceptance of the work performed on the basis of outsourcing, which will increase the quality of activities of public authorities and reduce the level of malfeasance.

Essence of Self-governance Illustrated with an Example of the Professional Self-government Body of Legal Counsels (in Poland)

The subject of the article covers the issues concerning the concept of self-government and the constitutionally differentiated types thereof, which realise the principle of decentralisation of public power. The systemic principles of the functioning of the democratic state are defined by the operation of self-governments, including the professional self-government bodies which associate the people who perform the public trust professions. Therefore, it plays a key role both in forming the political system of the state and, consequently, in performing public tasks. The aim of the article is to show the basic features of self-governance which form this concept. It in turn allows to define the essence of self-governance, however, not only abstractly but on a given example – the professional self-government of legal counsels in Poland. The basic thesis of the article is the statement that the self-governance is the best form of exercising power in the democratic systems, which enables the proper performance of the public tasks of major importance. It concerns both the territorial self-governments and professional self-governments, but also, first and foremost, the ones that associate the people who perform the professions of public trust, and the legal counsel is one of such professions.

The Financial Services Act

This chapter analyses the 1986 Financial Services Act (FSA), which complemented the Big Bang by instituting a light-touch and arm’s-length form of regulation of the City of London. In 1981, the government commissioned a legal academic—Gower—to investigate Britain’s financial regulations and make recommendations on future amendments. Gower proposed a system of self-regulation that would be directly supervised by a government body. This form of state oversight was met with disapproval by the government and Bank. However, the impending Big Bang changed policymakers’ opinions. This radical liberalization would invite global actors to operate in the City, which in turn necessitated the creation of an impartial and legally enforced system of rules. Nevertheless, the Thatcher government was concerned that Gower’s proposals would make them politically responsible for future financial crises, while the Bank worried that their informal relations with the City would be interrupted by government meddling. As such, the government and Bank worked to depoliticize Gower’s plans by inserting a private body between the government and the City, and thus insulate policymakers from legitimacy problems that would result from financial crises. FSA can thus be understood as an attempt to create a depoliticized framework of financial governance that would simultaneously provide a clear legal framework for Britain’s newly liberalized financial system and protect the state authorities from the political backlash derived from this financialized pattern of growth.

Out-of-Competition Granting of Subsidies to Budgetary Institutions as a Violation of Antimonopoly Legislation (Problems of Law Enforcement Practice)

The problem of allocation by state authorities (local self-government bodies) of subsidies to state (municipal) institutions as financial support for the performance of state (municipal) tasks for the performance of works (provision of services) that are the authority of a state authority (local self-government body) is considered. It is noted that the possibility of granting such subsidies in accordance with the rules of budget legislation does not in itself mean that the relevant actions cannot have a real or potential negative impact on the state of competition. It is established that subsidization of budgetary institutions for the performance of works (services) that are state (municipal) needs, without conducting competitive procedures, entails unjustifiably granting a preferential position to the relevant institutions over other economic entities.

Assessment of Regional Development Institutions and Executive Authorities of the Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation

Regional development management involves the use of development institutions, which are designed to enhance the functionality in solving the problems of the regions. For Russian regions, it is quite often proposed to borrow such institutions, for example, in the form of agencies and corporations for regional development, which looks very unreasonable. The task of distributing resources between regions, which cannot be considered solved in Russia, involves assessing the effectiveness of regional management, executive authorities, for which a system of indicators (of 20 parameters) and corresponding methods have been developed and approved, which are currently being improved and processed. The unresolved nature of these problems makes us once again turn to the validity of the decisions made and the argumentation of the position on the use of development agencies as institutions. This study provides a critical analysis of the borrowing of development institutions for the regions, demonstrating the importance of the project management method, which involves a comprehensive assessment of the feasibility of new functions, which is difficult to implement without a reliable assessment of the reasons for the negative work of existing functions and institutions at the regional level. Using a comparative survey method of analysis, measurement principles suitable for assessing the effectiveness of management, an alternative methodology for measuring the effectiveness of regional authorities in Russia is proposed. It allows you to assess the economic, social, administrative, budgetary and environmental aspects of the development of the region and the solution to breakdown in these areas by the executive bodies of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation. The advantage of the proposed alternative methodology is the smaller number of indicators, as well as the use of an already established accounting and measurement system, with minimal costs for the creation of new methods and their testing. Like any approach of this type, the assessment is conditional, but the convenience of the methodology, flexibility and simplicity, allow us to give a generalized assessment of both the development of the region and the management of its development. At the same time, the use of private indicators characterizing individual spheres of the region’s functioning can occur within the framework of each of the areas of work of a government body. Thus, the analysis performed casts doubt on the need for regional agencies and corporations as an institutional panacea for development. In addition, it allows us to propose a different institution for assessing the effectiveness of management, on which the procedures for allocating resources between regions will depend, which is especially important in connection with the goals of restructuring regional debts and the implementation of infrastructure loans declared by the Federal government.

Subjects of the Right to Appeal to the Court in Cases of Recognition of Inheritance as Escheat

The article explores certain problems of law enforcement practice in recognizing inheritance as escheat. The subject of scientific analysis is the subject composition of these procedural relations. Applicants in this category of cases can be conditionally divided into two groups: 1) persons obliged to submit an application to the court for recognition of the inheritance as escheat, and 2) persons who have the right to do so. The persons who are obliged to apply to the court for recognition of the inheritance as escheat are territorial communities. On the basis of an analysis of the legislation, it was established that in the case where a united territorial community was formed in a certain territory, it is authorized to apply to the court for recognition of the inheritance as escheat. On behalf of the local self-government body as a representative of the territorial community (united territorial community), a lawsuit may be initiated to recognize the inheritance as escheat: 1)by its headman or 2) another person authorized to do so according to the law, statute, regulation, employment contract. That is, there can be both self-representation and representation on the basis of a special assignment. It received additional justification for the ability of the prosecutor’s office to submit an application for recognition of the inheritance as escheat in the absence of a territorial community. In such a case, the public prosecutor's office shall represent the legitimate interests of the State in court, in accordance with article 56 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as a body or person entitled to defend the rights, freedoms and interests of others (human rights defender). The possibility of participating not only as an applicant but also as a human rights defender is justified. The possibility of self-representation of local self-governments in cases of recognition of inheritance as escheat by a headman is proposed. It is further argued that such a possibility should be provided for in the Headman’s Regulations, which are approved by the relevant local councils. The peculiarities of initiation of production by subjects for whom the application to the court for recognition of the inheritance as escheat is a right, not an obligation (creditors of the testator, owners and/or users of adjacent land plots) are analyzed. If an applicant in cases of recognition of the inheritance as escheat is a creditor, documents confirming the existing obligations in relation to the debtor-testator should be attached to the application. Recommendations are made on a list of documents that can confirm the status of an applicant-related land user to apply to the court for recognition of the inheritance as escheat. It is proposed to amend Art. 335 CPC of Ukraine on the necessity to provide the originals of written evidence together with a statement on the recognition of the inheritance as escheat. The role of a notary in cases of recognition of inheritance as escheat has been investigated. It is proposed to provide in the legislation the right of a notary to submit to the court an application for recognition of the inheritance as escheat. It is proposed to improve the way of informing the public about the discovery of an inheritance that has no heirs.

MUNICIPAL PROGRAM OF CARE FOR HOMELESS ANIMALS AND PREVENTION OF ANIMAL HOMELESSNESS AS A LOCAL LAW ACT AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF THE COURT DECISIONS

The paper presents the issue of the municipal program of care for and prevention of homeless animals set out in Article 11a of the Act of 21 August 1997 on animal protection in the context of the possibility of ascribing to it the features of a local law act. The issue of correct qualification of the municipal program of care for homeless animals and prevention of homelessness and the realization of statutory norms authorizing to issue this act by the local legislator is an extremely important issue due to possible legal consequences in the form of invalidation of a resolution of a local government body with ex tunc effect. The author of the article focused in the first part on the characteristics of such a form of local government action as the act of local law, considering its characteristics on the basis of the provisions of law, doctrine and judicature. In the second part the author assessed the municipal program of care for homeless animals and prevention of homelessness through the prism of features characterizing the act of local law. The aim of the paper was to review and discuss essential features of the local law acts and to qualify the communal programme of care for homeless animals and homelessness prevention as the local law act against the background of the court decisions.

Domestic market of Arctic Uluses of Sakha (Yakutia) in the Far Eastern Federal District macro area

This study reviews and compares the market potential of two macro-areas in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in the AZRF (Arctic zone of the Russian Federation) and the FEFD (Far Eastern Federal District. Moreover, this work shows that a significant part of supply and demand in municipalities' domestic markets is concentrated in the FEFD. Until recently, the AZRF and the FEFD were not considered by the State as a single government body. Transferred powers to the Ministry of the Russian Federation for the development of the Far East and the Arctic has allowed the territory of the Arctic uluses of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) to be included in the social and economic development of the FEFD.