Arbitration Hearing with Remote Participation: Necessary Innovations that Irreversibly Change Traditions

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic forced most arbitration centers in countries with a wide variety of legal traditions to switch to mass arbitration hearings in video conferencing mode in the spring of 2020. It turned out that hearings with remote participation of representatives of the parties, and sometimes arbitrators, have a number of advantages compared to regular hearings. A number of new possibilities arises and thus compensates the loss of certain possibilities adherent in physical presence of arbitration participants at hearings. The authors argue that most of the obstacles and shortcomings of the new format as a whole can be overcome with modern regulatory development, law enforcement, software, and hardware tools. The paper examines, among other things, the experience of the Arbitration Center at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, whose software and hardware complex and previously modernized arbitration rules made it possible to safely switch to a new mode of operation. New documents of international origin in this area are also being considered, indicating the need to ensure a balance between the effectiveness of arbitration proceedings on the one hand and the right of the parties to due process and fair treatment on the other.The authors conclude that there will not be a complete return to the previous practice with the end of the pandemic. However, a certain part of the meetings, taking into account the circumstances of the disputes, will return offline, the popularity of various mixed (hybrid) options will increase, which will not be difficult to put into practice due to the flexibility of the arbitration procedure. The flexibility of arbitration and the delegation to arbitrators of a number of issues related to the organization and conduct of arbitration proceedings, which require that opinions of the parties should be requested and considered in order to solve the dispute, makes it possible to ensure the optimal “format” of the arbitration procedure given the specific circumstances of the dispute. This procedure provides its participants, among other things, a reasonable and sufficient opportunity to present their positions, ensuring equal treatment of the parties and adversarial while ensuring the real effectiveness of the arbitration procedure, which allows in modern conditions to properly implement the principles on which arbitration is based.

On the Question of the Legality of Concluding an Arbitration Agreement with the Participation of Consumers

The paper is devoted to the analysis of the issue of arbitrability of disputes involving consumers, which does not find an unambiguous solution either in law or in judicial practice. The author examines the positions of the highest judicial instances, as well as courts of general jurisdiction and arbitration courts on this issue, which are contradictory in nature. Having conducted a systematic analysis of legislation, legal science and judicial practice, given the special legal situation of the consumer, the author concludes that it is possible to have an arbitration agreement between the consumer and a person engaged in entrepreneurial activity, subject to certain conditions, in particular, the presence of the free will of the consumer to consider the dispute in the arbitration court and the absence of infringement of his rights in arbitration proceedings in comparison with the consideration of the dispute in the state court. The question is raised about the need for the administration of this category of disputes by permanent arbitration institutions. According to the results of the scientific research, changes in the norms of the legislation of the Russian Federation regulating the relations under consideration are proposed. Thus, it is proposed to word paragraph 1 of Article 17 of the Law of the Russian Federation “On Consumer Rights Protection” as follows: “Consumer rights protection is carried out by a court or an arbitration court”. It is also proposed to supplement Article 17 of this Law with paragraph 4: “Disputes involving consumers can be submitted to an arbitration court if all guarantees provided by law for the arbitration party are met for the consumer, provided that the following conditions are met: 1) the dispute must be considered during the administration of a permanent arbitration institution; 2) the consumer must be exempt from paying the costs associated with resolving the dispute in arbitration; 3) the place of arbitration must be determined within the subject of the Russian Federation in which the consumer resides.”

An Analysis of the Activities of the Radical Ideological Movement “Columbine” Followers

The paper examines the cases of attacks on schools in Russia, assesses the events that have occurred, and analyzes the activities of school shooters. The symbolism and attributes of Columbine’s followers are given. As part of the study, a content analysis of the Internet information space was carried out, which allowed us to draw certain conclusions on the spread of the radical ideological movement Columbine. Thus, a typical representative of a “Columbine community” is from 14 to 20 years old. Teenagers often pretend to be older in the virtual space and maintain several accounts in the same social network. The formation of a teenager’s personality occurs through the prism of relationships in the reference group. If this self-identification does not occur in the family or school for various reasons, then the minor plunges into the information and network space, where he finds comfort, his interests and views are shared, and he gets support. A teenager gets an impression that he is best understood in death groups, Columbine communities and other destructive associations, and not in the family. The information that these users leave on their personal social network accounts allows us to identify a number of features indicating depression, the presence of pre-suicidal syndrome, aggressive behavior and excessive cruelty. Thus, the following conclusion can be drawn: a typical participant in a Columbine community is an emotionally unstable, driven, complex, secretive, insecure individual. As a rule, there are few or no real photos on the account of a typical Columbine community participant. Sometimes a pseudonym is used instead of the real name: in most cases it is associated with the Columbine cult. In addition, the account of such a teenager contains photo and video content that can be attributed to suicidal themes, excessive cruelty and aggression, and a passion for weapons.

International Environmental Protection in Armed Conflicts: Traditional Legal Regulation and Interpretation Novelties

The paper is devoted to international legal protection of the environment during armed conflicts. The author emphasizes that armed conflicts, both international and non-international, continue to be one of the most serious threats to a healthy environment. An armed conflict taking place in the environment invariably poses a threat to ecosystems.The author summarizes that in international law there are special norms for the protection of natural environment during armed conflicts. At the same time, increasing the level of protection requires a clearer definition of the scope of application of customary law and the further development of treaty rules. While the objectives of protecting the natural environment are linked to the survival and protection of civilians, recognition of environmental protection during armed conflict as such constitutes an important trend. International law calls on States to enter into agreements that provide for additional protection of the natural environment during armed conflicts. The concept of “protecting the natural environment” in international humanitarian law refers to a wide range of obligations that can help protect the natural environment or its parts from damage. A high threshold for potential harm continues to pose the risk that such protection is not fully applicable in practice. There is an obvious tendency to use the potential of the principles of international environmental law when applying the norms of international humanitarian law. Thus, even in cases where the assessment of new means and methods of warfare does not provide scientific certainty with regard to their impact on the natural environment, this does not absolve the parties to the conflict from taking appropriate precautions. It is not enough that there are important rules of international humanitarian law protecting the natural environment during armed conflict; they need to be better disseminated, implemented and enforced, as well as validated and clarified.

Tax Compliance: Approaches to Understanding

The paper is aimed at researching tax compliance from various theoretical points of view. It was determined that at present tax compliance is considered most often in the context of a narrow and wide interpretation of this term. In the first case, we are talking about tax risk management, and in the second— complying with tax laws. In this regard, we can draw a conclusion about an economic and legal understanding of the institution under consideration. However, it should be borne in mind that tax compliance is aimed at implementing an effective tax policy both at the micro level and at the national level. The study of foreign experience led to the conclusion that in domestic practice of tax relations more attention should be paid to the psychological comfort of taxpayers, which will contribute to their more legitimate behavior, as well as successful interaction with tax authorities.The author summarizes that the importance of tax revenues to the budget of any state determines the development of an effective tax policy of the state in order to comply with tax legislation. Understanding of tax compliance is diverse. It is based on either a broad or narrow interpretation of this term, on the emphasis made on either its legal or economic aspect. It can be interpreted as an internal policy of a taxpayer related to the payment of taxes and fees, as well as an assessment of tax risks or compliance with tax legislation by all participants in the relevant relationship. The effectiveness of tax compliance largely depends upon interaction between taxpayers and tax authorities. Achieving a similar effect is possible by studying and using the experience of other countries that provide tax authorities with more functions to advice taxpayers.

Law Abidance / Delinquency through the Lens of Neurobiology

The paper is interdisciplinary in nature: it is written at the intersection of legal theory and neuroscience. In legal science, the study of the causes of illegal behavior is carried out at different levels (psychological, sociological and philosophical). The novelty that this paper introduces is that it is proposed to conduct research on the causes of illegal behavior at the neurobiological level, which is almost more powerful than those mentioned above. The paper is aimed at solving the problem of using a neurobiological portrait of a person or a social group to prevent offenses. According to neurobiological features, people are divided into 4 categories: visual, auditory, kinesthetic and digital, which implies a different characteristic of them in terms of law abidance/delinquency. Knowledge of the neurobiological features of the subjects of law will allow the state to act “ahead of the curve”, and not wait for the commission of illegal actions to begin the fight against them. The question of the gender brain (or the features of the female and male brains) and its influence on the nature of delinquency is being investigated. The features of the adolescent brain are considered, which are able to activate not only prosocial behavior, but also antisocial. The use of neuroscience to explain the antisocial behavior of adolescents allows a deeper understanding of juvenile delinquency. The understanding of the peculiarities of the adolescent brain, it seems possible to develop many different measures in advance to direct their energy in the right way. Finally, neurobiological knowledge is also used to study the legal behavior of older people. The gerontological brain has both advantages and disadvantages. Despite the fact that older people are law-abiding, and the level of delinquency among them is law, it is extremely shortsighted to abandon the behavior of older people in the field of law, especially in the light of demographic problems existing in Russia.

Reasons Why Inflicting Harm is not a Sufficient Indicator of Abuse of the Right

One of the most difficult issues of civil law is the determination of the criteria for abuse of rights prohibited by Article 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Among numerous points of view on this issue, the following has become very widespread in judicial practice: an abuse of the right can be established based on the negative consequences that have occurred for third parties as a result of the exercise of the right. Since these consequences are evident, then the exercise of the right constituted an abuse. Substantial support for this approach is provided by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation opining that the rule of Art. 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation is aimed at implementing the principle enshrined in Part 3 of Art. 17 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Having studied the origins of this point of view and its legal foundations, the author noted a number of inherent shortcomings. In particular, this point of view does not distinguish between inflicting unacceptable harm and admissible actions causing harm to another person; it does not take into account the competition of legal norms; it does not take into account that causing harm prohibited by law is an offense and, therefore, it is not an act of exercising subjective rights. These and other shortcomings of the concept of causing harm, noted by the author of the paper, lead to the conclusion that the feature of “causing harm” in itself is insufficient to qualify the act as an act of abuse of the right and the application of Art. 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. In addition to the indicated feature, which is a prerequisite for the application of Art. 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the court must establish another (key) factor, namely: the fact that, in its opinion, allows to distinguish between legal abuse and other lawful and unlawful phenomena.

The Concept of “Judicial Doctrine” in Russian Jurisprudence (General Notes)

The paper aims to address the totality of individual terms based on the generic concept of “doctrine”: “legal doctrine”, “scientific doctrine”, “judicial doctrine” the way they are interpreted in modern Russian legal science. Substantially and conceptually, the work anticipates an approach to another subject that is an integral part of the Russian judicial doctrine and the process of its formation, namely the application of the principles and norms of international law in the administration of justice. The paper focuses on some ambiguous interpretations of the understanding of the phenomena that are combined with each other due to the interweaving of the above concepts found in modern domestic and foreign literature, sometimes mixing their external and internal sides, proposed corresponding original solutions or paradoxical qualifications. Two extremes are emphasized in the course of revealing the essence of the analyzed concepts: either an almost arbitrary — mechanical — connection of all the elements present in one case or another into a kind of artificial “complex”, or a declination in favor of only one component as a central (or supporting) component while ignoring the others. Analyzing the legal doctrine as a concept the author differentiates between a category of science and judicial doctrine, and assumes that it is worth avoiding hyperbolization of differentiation between them. On the other hand, it would be fruitless to draw direct lines of their influence on each other. At the same time, when using the term “judicial doctrine”, it is impossible to abstract from the concept of “doctrine” in the general scientific sense. Their mutual intersection with each other, “penetration” into each other are objective. Formulating the conclusions on the problems of the concepts of legal, scientific and judicial doctrine, the author advocates greater caution in making proposals and, at the same time, greater criticism in assessing the already existing conclusions of legal theorists and practitioners.

Political Principles of the Cuban Socialism Doctrine: Towards the History of Emergence and Development

Socialism as a political trend and a system of certain ideological positions has been experiencing a kind of renaissance in recent years. Cuban socialism is a special phenomenon of recent history, which has continuously existed and developed for six decades in the most difficult conditions of the North American foreign economic blockade and in the presence of other threats of a socio-political nature. Solving numerous issues of practical and transformative activity, the Cuban socialist doctrine generalized and formulated many new theoretical propositions, a number of which will be able to significantly influence the formation of an updated socialist doctrine claiming the ideological and semantic possibility of a world alternative.The paper analyzes the basic principles characterizing the doctrine of Cuban socialism in matters of ethics, relations with the church, the foundations of education, assessing the prospects of the institution of statehood in the 21st century, and evaluating other political projects that had points of joint intersection with Cuban socialist theory and practice.Cuban socialism is a specific phenomenon that arose as a result of a number of objective and subjective factors. By the end of the 1950s the century-and-a-half struggle of Cubans against colonial and then neocolonial exploitation were intensified by the Soviet vector and its influence in the international arena as the second great power with the aggravation of the Cold War. These factors together with the “island life” on a par with the Catholic, peasant community of the majority of the population, the sacrifice and service of several generations of the young Cuban elite, the combination of the cult of courage and guerrilla traditions with the special cruelty and repressiveness of the Spanish colonial apparatus of the 21st century, and then relying on American support of the Cuban dictatorships of the first half of the 20th century is a set of factors that gave rise to the “spring effect” in the social consciousness of the island society. In addition to objectively determined reasons, a huge role in the long-term maturation of the conditions for the emergence of the Cuban socialist project was played by the traditional personality for the Ibero-American culture. All of the above would have been impossible outside of the long-term activities of a whole galaxy of brilliant Cuban political leaders.

The Right to Choose Non-Law: How to Open Pandora’s Box with Lex Voluntatis

The autonomy of the will of the parties (lex voluntatis) is one of the central institutions of private international law that, in the context of proliferation of non-legal subject matter, multiplying sources of non-state regulation, and also due to the conceptualization of the institution of “rules of law” in the practice of world arbitrations, acquires a new methodological meaning and requires its rethinking. The paper examines the institution of the autonomy of the will of the parties from different angles: as a principle of conflict of laws, as a substantive law institution, and as a mechanism for legitimizing the norms of non-state regulation. The autonomy of the will of the parties today acquires a visible potential of a legal basis for the construction of a special, possibly “hybrid,” regulatory regime for cross-border private law, for mainly contractual relations, it becomes a form of expression of the right to choose non-law. Interpreting the autonomy of the will through the prism of the substantive law theory and in the context of admitting the choice of non-state regulation as the applicable law can pose a serious risk both for the parties to cross-border agreements and for the law-enforcer in terms of conflicting law and non-law. The author concludes that acknowledgement that the institution of autonomy of the will authorizes the right to choose non-law, in fact, means that a fragmented legal space, which itself differs significantly from state to state, can collide with a rapidly scalable, even more heterogeneous non-state array of norms emanating from non-state actors. This state of the normative superstructure can be characterized as a conflict of law and non-law and requires the development and adjustment of an appropriate methodology of private international law.