Differentiation of Labor and Civil Legal Relations

The authors analyze the points of view of scientists and practitioners on the differentiation of labor and civil legal relations. The conclusion is made: labour and civil legal relations, both in the XIX and in the XXI centuries, must be distinguished by objective criteria. In cases of fake transactions, for example, civil contracts or paid services, it is theoretically more reasonable to apply to the court with claims about the application of the consequences of the invalidity of fake transactions (paragraph 3 of Article 166 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation) and the conclusion of an employment contract from the moment of the actual occurrence of labor relations (paragraph 5 of part 2 of Article 16 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation), indicating the mandatory terms of the employment contract (part 2 of Article 57 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation)

Evolution of the Roman Republican Senate: Composition, Election, and Judicial Functions (Part 2)

The paper deals with the Roman senatus in the period from 5th to 3rd century BC, from the point of view of its composition, completion and selected competences. As to its composition, in the most arcaic times of the Roman state, the senate was an assembly of the heads of clans (patres gentium), who represented the ideas of patricians. The autor presents gradual transformation of the composition of the senate and switch towards the inclusion of the plebeians. It describes also the process of the cooptation of the members, rules of which incurred fundamental changes from the hereditary principles to the regulation given by statutes. A significant part of the article is devoted to the judicial functions of the Senate and the relationship between the iudicium senatus and the iudicium populi, the transformation of the Senate court from a regional body to the highest, global court of the entire Mediterranean. It’s noted that if the original Roman Senate de iure was the judicial authority only one of the Latin Confederation, later after 338 BC, it becomes the Supreme court of the Latin Union, and by the end of the Republic is transformed into the «Supreme Council of the world».

Implementation of the Research and Practice Project «Settlement Arrangements in Civil and Administrative Proceedings»

The Russian State University of Justice in 2020 has started the implementation of the Research and Practice Project «Conciliation procedures in civil and administrative proceedings». In 2020–2021 the Project is housed in Podolsk town court of the Moscow Region. The present article provides information on the progress and first results of Project implementation. The article makes an emphasis on practical aspects of the issue. The author analyses and overcomes challenges which occurred during the implementation of the practical part of the Project and mediation procedures on litigation cases.

Dynamics of Criminal Law Sanctions

This article presents the results of a study on the dynamics of criminal sanctions in the current criminal law of the Russian Federation. The author studied the ways of transferring the sanction of the main corpus delicti to the sanction of the qualified corpus delicti. In the course of the study, the author identified some defects in the construction of certain criminal legal sanctions and proposed ways to eliminate these defects.

The Nature of the Institution of Confiscation of Property and its Application

Legislative reform in respect of forfeiture, having returned it in 2006 in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but in an altered status – other measures of a criminal-legal nature – after its exclusion in 2003 as a form of punishment, made a confiscation as one of the most difficult problem and controversial in the doctrine of criminal law. This is due not only to the attribution of confiscation of property to the category of other measures of a criminal-legal nature as in itself still insufficiently defined and highly controversial, but also by the inter-sectoral nature of the problem of confiscation, regulated not only by the norms of criminal, but also by criminal procedural legislation, as well as interconnected with measures of civil law – the return of property to the rightful owner, and compensation for any damage. Understanding the complexity of the legal nature of the confiscation of property lead to quite frequent changes in the Chapter 151 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (19 of federal laws on amendments), as well as cause a lot of questions of their use in practical lawyers. This is evidenced by the resolution adopted by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of June 14, 2018 No. 17 «On some issues related to the use of confiscation of property in criminal proceedings». The target of this article is to study the confiscation of property as another measure of a criminal-legal nature by resolving theoretical and applied issues of the application of Chapter 151 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. An important role in the research process was played by work on the problems of other measures of a criminal-legal nature, confiscation of property, as well as published court practice. The methodological basis of the study were the principles of the dialectical method of cognition, as well as general scientific and private scientific methods (sociological, system-structural and formal-logical) methods. In the proposed publication, based on the analysis of special scientific literature and legal positions of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, such complex issues as the legal nature of confiscation in terms of its generic and specific characteristics, correlation with criminal punishment and criminal liability are considered, and specific recommendations are given on topical issues of application of the Chapter 151 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Abandonment in Danger, Resulting in the Death of the Victim: Problems of Theory and Judicial Practice

Problem Statement. The inconsistency of judicial practice in criminal cases of abandonment in danger remains an urgent theoretical, legal and practical problem that needs doctrinal coverage. The second premise of the study is the inconsistency of the established judicial practice in cases of this category with the principles of the criminal law-legality, justice, guilt. Goals and Objectives of the Study, Research Methods. The goal is to provide a theoretical explanation and practical suggestions for optimizing judicial practice in cases of this category. The study is carried out in the tradition of a dialectical approach to the content and essence of any social phenomenon, in the coordinates of which the state of the phenomenon under consideration is determined by the content and the ratio of the factors forming this phenomenon. From this point of view, the current practice of reviewing criminal cases on the most dangerous type of abandonment of an unauthorized person in danger, which resulted in his death, is subjected to research. The research methods are systematic, historical, logical, comparative, and proper – legal. Results and Summary Conclusions. The article presents a picture of the contradictory judicial practice in criminal cases of abandonment in danger, and provides a cross-section of theoretical views on the problem under consideration. The main focus is on the consideration of leaving the victim in danger, resulting in his death. It is argued that the reason for the different qualifications of abandonment in danger, associated with the onset of serious consequences (causing harm to the health or death of the victim), is due to the disregard by law enforcement officers of the understanding of this act as a single mechanism of criminal behavior, including the uniqueness of the objective signs of the act with their reflection in the consciousness of the perpetrator. The conclusion is made about the need for a systematic approach to the legal assessment of the phenomenon of abandonment in danger with the subsequent causing of death. In addition to the stability of judicial practice, the author believes that this would lead to a more precise adherence to the principles of criminal law: legality, justice, and guilt. The same principles would be more consistent with the qualification activities of law enforcement entities as a component of the State’s criminal law policy.

Court as a Platform: New Approaches to Building a Judicial System

Formulation of the Problem. The concept of the court as a platform marks a new direction in the study of the problems of the organization and functioning of judicial systems. The idea of «court as a platform» needs scientific argumentation, which will allow building the theory of legal regulation of digital platforms in the activities of courts. Purpose of the Work: to identify the theoretical and methodological foundations of the platform model of the organization of the judicial system and its main characteristics, as well as to formulate the prospects for the development of judicial platforms in the digital era. Results, Brief Conclusions. The principle «state as a platform» reveals one of the principles of interaction of the digital state with the population and business and serves as a worldview basis for understanding the essence of the platform model of the judicial system. The article argues that the judicial platform is a form of manifestation of the judiciary in the digital environment. The projects of its legal regulation are analyzed. A new stage in the evolution of the judicial system is associated with the introduction of judicial platforms, since the basic judicial institutions are being transformed. An overview of the prospects for the development of the platform model of the organization of the judicial system is given.

On some Issues of the Practice of Dispute Resolution in the Field of Insurance Bank Deposits

The article analyzes the practice of applying the federal law «On Deposit Insurance in Banks of the Russian Federation», defines the categories of cases in the field of deposit insurance, highlights the circumstances and facts that the court pays special attention to when considering certain categories of cases. As a result, it is concluded that the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation should issue an act summarizing the practice of considering disputes in the field of mandatory deposit insurance.

Application by Court of the Closest Connection Principle as General Gapfilling Conflict of Laws Rule

Problem Statement. Addition of new conflict of laws rules to the section VI of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and exclusion of corresponding relations from the closest connection principle domain in 2013 raise the issue of this principle regulative potential in the modern context. Goals and Tasks of the Research. The main goal of the research is to substantiate relevance for application by court of the closest connection principle as general gap-filling conflict of laws rule. The indicated goal presupposes two tasks: firstly, on the basis of legal doctrine and judicial acts analysis to reveal legal relations for which there is no conflict of laws rule at the moment; and, secondly, to make analysis of specific case where multinational foreign elements do not permit to solve conflict of laws. Methods. Methods of the research embrace general scientific and particular scientific. The first are the general tools of logic, including analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction and analogy, as well as systemic approach according to which the native conflict of laws is considered as integrated system. The key role among the second plays the comparative legal method which allows to compare positions of legal doctrine and various judicial acts regarding application of the closest connection principle. Results, Brief Conclusion. Thesis is substantiated that the closest connection principle as general gap-filling conflict of laws rule will be relevant as far as social relations are evolving and its new forms require legal, including conflict of laws, regulation. The author makes conclusion that the closest connection principle under para. 2 art. 1186 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation should be applied by court, firstly, when conflict of laws (on the level of international treaty, national legislation and custom) has no rule for private legal relation of international character; and, secondly, when coexistence of several multinational elements, all relevant from the point of view of the applicable conflict of laws rule, does not permit to solve the conflict of laws.