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Vol 18, No 3 (2022)
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THE TOPICAL ISSUES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

3-9 466
Abstract

Introduction. This article analyzes the behavior of religious actors during the Russian Federation's special military operation in Ukraine. Ecclesiastical (church) diplomacy has gained a lot of attention from the media because of its attempts to resolve the situation. The Ukrainian crisis demonstrates that the relationship between religious actors and states is evolving from a secular model to a post-secular model, the general outline of which, however, has not yet been clearly formed. One way or another, the religious factor has become one of the key factors in the formula for analyzing and solving the Ukrainian crisis.

Materials and methods. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study, in addition to general scientific methods, were special political science research tools - actor and institutional approaches, comparative method, case study method.

Results of the research. The study revealed the key importance of Christian religious organizations, which more than others seek to participate in the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis and offer a variety of measures. At the same time, there is a commonality of positions between the official authorities of most states and the higher church hierarchs, based on their location. Such political interdependance of church and secular authorities has mixed consequences. Religious actors everywhere reduce the potential of their international political subjectivity. This is particularly noticeable in the case of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is substantially strengthening its position inside Russia but is becoming less influential outside it.

Discussions and conclusions. We argue that the world political system will continue to drift away from the ideals of the Modernity and its secular principle. At the same time it is hardly possible to talk about archaization in the form of desecularization. Rather the Ukrainian crisis promotes a post-secular model, a new balance between religion, state power and society. Meanwhile, the confrontational nature of interaction between Christian churches during the Russian special military operation in Ukraine further weakens the ecumenical movement and generates new schisms between Orthodox churches. This also affects the identitarian profile of the societies of the Euro-Atlantic and Eastern European states, which is becoming more flattened.

10-18 553
Abstract

Introduction. State mediation remains a requested activity in practical politics and an actual topic in the research field, as the number of conflicts has increased dramatically in the last decade, as well as long-standing frozen conflicts, which are poorly managed by intergovernmental organizations have escalated. At the same time, mediation and its principles are in the process of evolution, as more often large regional players become mediators, which themselves are active parties to conflicts. Under the change, in particular, was the principle of neutrality. This article focuses on the analysis of Turkey's mediation initiatives in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and how it uses mediation to achieve its foreign policy goals. The article analyzes the goals of Turkish mediation, its ability to advance the negotiation process between the parties and the limitations that affect Turkey's position as a mediator.

Materials and methods. Russian and foreign studies on the effectiveness factors of states' mediation as a form of resolving international military conflicts were used as materials for writing the article. The methodological base was made up of discourse analysis and case studies. Turkey’s mediation in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict after the start of the Russian special operation in February 2022 was taken as a case.

Research results. At this stage, Turkey managed to organize several rounds of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, which ended with the signing of important agreements on resolving some of the issues on the negotiation agenda, which are more related to the broad international consequences of the conflict than the main points of the negotiations demand of Russia and Ukraine. Nevertheless, the negotiations organized by Turkey in July 2022 allowed it to establish itself as a party that has a certain authority and weight among the negotiating parties. Turkey's resources of influence as a mediator include, in particular, extensive trade and economic ties and relations of interdependence and partnership with each of the parties to the conflict.

Discussion and conclusion. Since the negotiation process is in the dynamics of development, it is too early to conclude that Turkey has realized all the possibilities of mediation to resolve the conflict. However, its mediation has concrete results: its authority and geopolitical resources have made it possible to remove some of the problems that arose as a result of the Ukrainian conflict and have far-reaching consequences for international security. This allows us to conclude that Turkey has every opportunity to continue its mediation efforts to involve the parties in discussing the items on the negotiation agenda relating to the most pressing problems and which have become the direct cause of the clash. Therefore, the geopolitical consequences of Turkey's international activity in resolving the conflict in Ukraine will remain a hot topic for further study.

LAW IN THE PRESENT-DAY WORLD

19-25 339
Abstract

Introduction. The number of real estate transactions certified by notaries is growing every year. Сompared to 2020, the number of transactions with non-residential real estate certified by notaries increased by 24%, with residential premises - by 13% The Federal Notary Chamber notes. It happens due to the continued trend of legislative expansion of real estate transactions subject to mandatory notarization, as well as the desire of citizens and organizations to obtain maximum legal guarantees and protection of their property rights and interests. The powers of a notary in real estate transactions are very wide. So, the notary himself can request supporting documents, check wills, powers of attorney, pledge of property based on the data of registers, draw up an agreement correctly, send a package of documents to the Federal Service of State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography (Rosreestr) authorities for state registration of the transfer of ownership, hand over the registered agreement to the parties, etc. At the same time, annually facts of notaries participation in fraudulent schemes with real estate, recognition by courts of notarized transactions as invalid (due to nullity), bringing notaries to disciplinary and criminal liability are revealed. The article provides specific examples from judicial practice and statistical data confirming this thesis, substantiates proposals for further improvement of civil legislation in order to prevent fraudulent actions with real estate and violations of the legal rights of citizens and organizations committed with the participation of notaries.

Materials and methods. This study is based on a combination of such methods of scientific knowledge as: the dialectical method, which made it possible to connect the theory of civil and inheritance law and judicial practice; the formal legal method made it possible to analyze legislative norms; the systematic method allowed us to consider the institution of liability of notaries as a system with internal unity and interconnections with other institutions of law.

The results of the study. In the course of the study, the provisions of the Fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation on the notary, regulating the goals and objectives of the notary in ensuring the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens and legal entities, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on the recognition of transactions as invalid, were analyzed. The judicial practice on invalidating certain real estate transactions certified by notaries (including from the author’s personal practice), the statistics of the Ministry of Justice of Russia on bringing notaries to criminal and disciplinary liability, the number of complaints against the actions (inaction) of notaries, on the recognition invalid transactions, insurance compensation for losses incurred through the fault of notaries in 2019-2021. The conclusion is substantiated that the victims of fraudulent actions with real estate involving notaries are, as a rule, pensioners, the disabled, whose rights and legitimate interests need special legal protection. Such facts, to a certain extent, undermine the trust of the participants in the property turnover in the institution of the notary. A number of gaps in civil legislation and legislation on notaries in the area under study have been identified, and proposals have been formulated to fill them.

 Discussion and conclusion. The strengthening of the role of a notary in the process of real estate transactions, the improvement of technologies for notarial actions (remote transactions, transactions using an electronic digital signature, the introduction of the "electronic notarized power of attorney" service, etc.) certainly correspond to the dynamics of modern property turnover. However, at the same time, fraudulent schemes with real estate are also being improved, in which, as evidenced by judicial practice and statistics, notaries themselves are involved. For maximum legal protection of the interests of participants in property turnover, it is proposed to include in the legislation the norms on compensation by notaries of the full market value of property lost through their fault, lost profits, as well as moral damage, damage to business reputation and court costs incurred due to illegal actions of notaries of the parties to the transaction. It is also proposed to legislate the presumption of moral harm to the citizens participating in the transaction, which, according to the court decision that has entered into force, is declared invalid due to nullity.  

26-31 863
Abstract

Introduction. The gaps in the international private legal regulation of legal relations arising from an international construction contract are filled by other sources of law, primarily Lex constructionis, which is a set of acts and documents developed by non-governmental organizations that do not have the force of law, but are actively used in business circulation.

FIDIC contracts can be cited as standard contracts, which are a set of narrowly focused standard forms of contracts, each of which was developed for a specific situation and certain legal relations arising from an international construction contract.

Despite the international and narrowly focused nature of the FIDIC agreements, their application is also possible in the national projects of Russia with some reservations.

The purpose of this article is to analyze Lex constructionis on the example of standard FIDIC con- tracts and the possibility of using FIDIC contracts in national projects in Russia.

Materials and methods. The implementation of the research tasks was achieved on the basis of the study of theoretical and practical experience in the application of standard FIDIC construction contracts. The methodological basis of the study was the following methods: generalization, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, comparative legal analysis. The results of the study. The following tasks are solved in the work: an analysis of standard contracts and Russian legislation is carried out, their contradictions are revealed.

Discussion and conclusions. The use of FIDIC model contracts without their adaptation to Russian law is not possible due to the existence of contradictions between the provisions of FIDIC model contracts and the mandatory rules of Russian law, arising from different approaches to the regulation of a construction contract - FIDIC model contracts are based on the doctrine of common law, while Russian law belongs to the Romano-Germanic legal family.  

32-38 493
Abstract

Introduction. Article is devoted to protection and defense of rights and legitimate interests of participants of remote investment transactions. It is noted that the Federal Law №69-FZ «On Protection and Encouragement of Capital Investments in the Russian Federation» in fact does not regulate any protection of investments but only those based on a special agreement. As for the content of this agreement, proceeding from the provisions of Articles 9-10 of this Federal Law, it also regulates only some particular aspects of protection of investments. Consideration of protection in general by analogy with the institute of judicial protection allows us to conclude that we are talking about a special law-enforcement activity, as a rule, law enforcement and carried out on a procedural basis (exception - self-protection of civil rights) for the purpose of individualized restoration of violated rights and legitimate interests of participants of civil legal relations. It can be represented as a complex system consisting of three levels: general guarantees of protection, provided to all subjects of civil relations at the legislative level; special measures of legal protection, fixed for the participants of investment activity; methods of protection, typical for certain types of investment transactions depending on the type of investment, their scale (intranational or international), forms of commission, etc.

Materials and methods. The methodological basis of this study was the methods of scientific cognition, among which the main place is occupied by the methods of consistency, analysis and comparative law.

The results of the study. As a result of the analysis, it was revealed that the consideration of protection in general, by analogy with the institute of judicial protection, allows us to conclude that we are talking about a special law enforcement activity, as a rule, law enforcement and carried out on a procedural basis (exception – self-defense of civil rights) for the purpose of individualized restoration of violated rights and legitimate interests of participants in civil legal relations, and as for the protection of rights, unlike protection, it admits a generalized nature and combines all regulatory measures aimed at ensuring the relevant rights and interests.

Discussion and conclusion. The prerequisites of the peculiarities of protecting the rights and interests of participants in remote investment transactions are revealed, which are primarily due to the form of their commission, which affects the content and generates some relatively new legal effects; their main advantages and disadvantages are analyzed. It is concluded that the main problem of protecting the rights and interests of participants in remote investment transactions is the ratio of traditional and innovative legal instruments of such protection, as well as a combination of general legal guarantees and special ones characteristic of investment relations of this type.

39-47 840
Abstract

Introduction. The paper examines the structure of due performance of obligations, as well as analyses the principal amendments to the civil law regulation of the relevant relations.

Materials and methods. The research material consisted of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, jurisprudence, and scientific studies in the field of civil law. The methodological basis was composed of general scientific (analysis, synthesis, and analogy) and special legal methods (comparative-legal, formallogical, systemic, structural-functional methods, and method of interpretation).

Research results. The author notes that the amendments to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and their construction by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, despite their focus on ensuring the due performance of obligations and increasing the protection level of rights and legitimate interests of parties, have both advantages and disadvantages that require further study and revision. These amendments are considered in the context of the specific performance of an obligation in relation to the due subject, persons, method, date, venue.

Сonclusion. The provisions on legal interest, differentiation between debt and payment currencies, alternative and optional obligations, additional requirements for performing an obligation to a due person, conditional performance of an obligation, possibility to set a date for performing an obligation which is linked to certain actions being performed by a party to a contract or concrete circumstances, date and venue of the performance of an obligation, which were included in the legislation, are well formulated. At the same time, it seems that the legal rules on the transfer of a creditor’s rights to a third party who performed the obligation instead of a debtor, performance of an obligation by a third party, partial performance of an obligation, early performance of an obligation require adjustments.

ADMINISTRATION: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS

48-60 715
Abstract

Introduction. Many developed countries have recognized the social sphere, including healthcare, as a full-fledged manufacturing sector of the economy, creating a significant share of value added in the sectoral structure of GDP. As part of the study, a comparison was made of the share of gross value added in the GDP of the United States, EU countries and Russia created by healthcare in 2018, as an example of the analysis of the impact of healthcare in different countries on gross value added, which is a significant indicator for assessing the correctness of the organization of healthcare financing.

Material and methods. Used a comprehensive, statistical, comparative and retrospective analysis of available data.

Research results. The data obtained indicate that the share of Russia's GDP created by healthcare is many times less than that of the United States and EU countries, which limits the growth of the Russian economy, causes poverty for a significant part of medical workers and hinders investment in the healthcare system and its demand for innovation.

Discussion and conclusion. The authors see the root cause of the problems in the mistake of choosing the mandatory health insurance income system, the linkage of which to formal employment in a largescale shadow economy leads to the “free rider problem” (Free-Rider Problem) and a pronounced payment imbalance between providers and consumers of public health care due to its payment at deliberately unprofitable (below actual cost) tariffs. The most optimal solution is considered to be the replacement of salary-linked compulsory medical insurance contributions with a universal targeted tax for automated payment transactions.

61-72 517
Abstract

Introduction. This article compares the provisions of the Community-Minded Activity Federal Project with other policy documents in similar areas of government regulation. The comparative study shows that it is safe to assume that attaining the goals of the project and its implementation are successful, since the achieved results are substantially higher than the targets. Certain issues were, however, found to pose potential risks to the effectiveness of the project.

 Study materials and methods. The study materials include the Community-Minded Activity project worksheet; Russia’s 2025 Volunteering Promotion Concept, the target-oriented departmental program to promote supplementary education for children and identify and support people with outstanding abilities, and some other regulatory documents and information. The methodological basis of the study is general scientific methods: analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, comparative law research, system analysis.

Findings of the study. The study found that despite restrictions on social activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Community-Minded Activity project was successfully carried out in 2018–2021, delivering substantially better results than planned. It was, however, found that certain issues might make the project less effective.

Discussion and conclusion. The grant competition approach used as the main method to select recipients of financial support for regional best practices in volunteering and provide support for young talent is not fully consistent with the project’s goals of covering the widest possible range of people.

The main measures taken under the project are not fully instrumental in achieving the project’s goals because they are limited in number and insufficiently systematic. In this respect, the project is inferior to some other policy documents with the same issues and goals. Using the approaches contained in these documents to expand the tool kit of the adjusted project should help enhancethe effectiveness of the project.



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ISSN 2073-8420 (Print)
ISSN 2587-5736 (Online)