ISSN 2313-5395
KUTAFIN UNIVERSITY
LAW REVIEW
Volume 2
May 2015
Issue 1(3)
CORRUPTION: LEGAL LABYRINTHS
IN HEAVENLY HELL
RIGHT TO PRIVATE PROPERTY:
CONSTITUTIONAL EVOLUTION
LEGAL RELATIONS ON THE INTERNET
SOCIALIST PRIVATE LAW:
OXYMORON OR SPECIAL MODEL?
THE INTERPRETIVE APPROACH
TO INTERNATIONAL LAW: A POSITIVIST VIEW
THE BEST OF THE
FIFTH INTERNATIONAL
LEGAL FORUM IN SAINT
PETERSBURG
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BRIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS
Welcome Note ...............................................................................................................2
LAW EVOLUTION
Development of Private (Civil) Law in Central
and Eastern Europe after World War II
Article by Gábor Hamza (Hungary) .............................................................................3
Right to Private Property: Constitutional Evolution
Article by Veniamin Chirkin (Russia) .......................................................................32
CORRUPTION: LEGAL LABYRINTHS IN HEAVENLY HELL
No Safe Haven: DOJ Can and Will Seize Proceeds
of Wholly Foreign Corruption
Article by Kathleen Hamann & David R. Courchaine (USA) ....................................44
Russian Specifi cs of Combating Corruption
Article by Anna Shashkova (Russia) ..........................................................................51
MODERN LAW AND MODERN TECHNOLOGIES
Legal Relations on the Internet
Article by Abdudzhabar Abdujalilov (Tajikistan) ......................................................68
International Atomic Energy Agency Action Plan on Nuclear Safety:
On the Way to Improving International Safety Standards
Note by Kirill Kozhevnikov (Russia) .........................................................................82
STATE AND RELIGION
Game of Thrones: The Ongoing Discourse on Religion
and State in Israel (the Second Part)
Essay by Liana Voloch (Israel) .................................................................................103
FORUM
The Interpretive Approach to International Law: a Positivist View
Article by Larissa Zakharova (Russia) ......................................................................136
A Step for Cooperation or Disintegration?
The Independence Referendum as a Page in Anglo-Scottish Story
Article review by Baatr Borkaev (Russia) ...............................................................156
ROLE-PLAY REVIEW
The First Kutafi n’s Model United Nations
Review by Dmitry Molchanov and Viacheslav Kokurkin (Russia) .........................162
CONFERENCE REVIEW
Traditions and Innovations in the Modern Russian Legal System
Review by Elena Cherepakhina (Russia)..................................................................166
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DETAILED TABLE OF CONTENTS
III
Welcome Note ..............................................................................................................2
LAW EVOLUTION
Development of Private (Civil) Law in Central
and Eastern Europe after World War II
Article by Gábor Hamza (Hungary) .............................................................................3
I. Introduction .................................................................................................5
II. Socialist Law as a Separate Legal Family ...................................................6
A.
B. States with a Strong Romano-Byzantine Legal Tradition ...................9
C. States with the Roman (Civil) Law Tradition ....................................10
III. Codifi cation of Private/Civil Law in Western Europe
and Its Infl uence on Central and Eastern Europe ...................................10
IV. The Process of Codifi cation in Soviet Russia
and the Soviet Union .................................................................................13
V. Characteristics of Private/Civil Law .........................................................17
VI. Various Types of Private/Civil Law Codifi cations
in Former Socialist Countries ...................................................................19
VII. Property Rights ..........................................................................................22
VIII. Codifi cation of Economic Law...............................................................................23
IX. The Main Characteristics of the Hungarian Civil Code of 1959 ..............24
X. Economic Contracts ...................................................................................25
XI. Conclusion ..................................................................................................26
Bibliography .......................................................................................................17
Right to Private Property: Constitutional Evolution
Article by Veniamin Chirkin (Russia) ........................................................................32
I. Introduction ...............................................................................................33
II. Features of Civil Law and Constitutional Legal Approach
to the Right to Private Property ................................................................35
III. Private Property Domination and Restrictions ........................................36
IV. Constitutional Law Idea of Private Property
in the Major Legal Systems of the World .................................................38
A. The Evolution of the Private Property Regulations
in the Western World .........................................................................38
B. The Property in the Socialist and Islamic Legal Systems .................42
V. Conclusion ..................................................................................................43
Bibliography .......................................................................................................43
CORRUPTION: LEGAL LABYRINTHS IN HEAVENLY HELL
No Safe Haven: DOJ Can and Will Seize Proceeds
of Wholly Foreign Corruption
Article by Kathleen Hamann & David R. Courchaine (USA) ....................................44
I. Introduction ...............................................................................................45
II. Civil Forfeiture Complaint .........................................................................46
III. Asset Forfeiture Actions in the United States ..........................................47
IV. Potential Criminal Action ..........................................................................49
V. Conclusion ..................................................................................................50
Bibliography .......................................................................................................50
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Introduction ..........................................................................................6
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IV
DETAILED TABLE OF CONTENTS
Russian Specifi cs of Combating Corruption
Article by Anna Shashkova (Russia) ..........................................................................51
I. Developed Countries’ Experience in Fighting Corruption .......................53
II. Comparison of the Russian Federation with the Independent State
of Papua New Guinea in Terms of Corruption Indexes ...........................55
III. Historical Roots of Corruption in the Russian Federation ......................57
IV. Development of Anti-Corruption Legislation
and the Current Situation in the Russian Federation ..............................60
V. Concluding Remarks..................................................................................65
Bibliography .......................................................................................................66
MODERN LAW AND MODERN TECHNOLOGIES
Legal Relations on the Internet
Article by Abdudzhabar Abdujalilov (Tajikistan) ......................................................68
I. Introduction ...............................................................................................69
II. The Classical Defi nition of a Legal Person Under Civil Law ...................70
III. The Legal Status of a Party to Legal Relations on the Internet ..............72
A.
B.
Introduction ........................................................................................72
Presumptions .....................................................................................74
С. Conventional Basis .............................................................................77
IV. Legal Persons are Parties to Legal Relations on the Internet .................78
Bibliography .......................................................................................................80
International Atomic Energy Agency Action Plan on Nuclear Safety:
On the Way to Improving International Safety Standards
Note by Kirill Kozhevnikov (Russia) .........................................................................82
I. Introduction ...............................................................................................83
II. Fukushima Daiichi as ‘Wake Up Call’ for Nuclear Industry ....................84
III. The IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear Safety:
What We Should Do After .........................................................................86
IV. Nuclear Safety as General Term of International Legal Instruments .....89
V. Post-Fukushima Reports: Lessons Learnt ................................................93
VI. International Safety Standards: On the Way to Improving
International Legal Framework in Nuclear Law ......................................97
VII. Concluding Remarks................................................................................100
Bibliography .....................................................................................................101
STATE AND RELIGION
Game of Thrones: The Ongoing Discourse on Religion
and State in Israel (the Second Part)
Essay by Liana Voloch (Israel) .................................................................................103
III. The Unique Model of the Status Quo .....................................................104
A. The Exemption of ‘Yeshiva’ Students
from Mandatory Military Service .....................................................107
B. Marital Law in Israel ........................................................................110
С. The Shabbat ......................................................................................115
D.
The Kashrut.......................................................................................117
E. The Religious Education System ......................................................118
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DETAILED TABLE OF CONTENTS
V
IV. As Israel Develops: Additional Status Quo Disputes .............................121
A. Status Quo and the Feminist Angle .................................................121
B. Euthanasia in Israel ..........................................................................127
V. Euthanasia, Religion and State: Israel and Italy ....................................127
VI. Conclusion ................................................................................................131
Bibliography .....................................................................................................132
FORUM
The Interpretive Approach to International Law: a Positivist View
Article by Larissa Zakharova (Russia) ......................................................................136
I. Dworkin’s Interpretive Theory of Law and Its Positivist Critique ........137
II. General Rules of Interpretation ..............................................................143
III. Evolutionary Interpretation in International Law:
Two Applications of the Theory ..............................................................145
IV. Conclusion ................................................................................................153
Bibliography .....................................................................................................154
A Step for Cooperation or Disintegration?
The Independence Referendum as a Page in Anglo-Scottish Story
Article review by Baatr Borkaev (Russia) ...............................................................156
ROLE-PLAY REVIEW
The First Kutafi n’s Model United Nations
Review by Dmitry Molchanov and Viacheslav Kokurkin (Russia) .........................162
CONFERENCE REVIEW
Traditions and Innovations in the Modern Russian Legal System
Review by Elena Cherepakhina (Russia) ................................................................166
I. Introduction .............................................................................................167
II. Improving Legal English .........................................................................169
III. Research Matters .....................................................................................170
IV. Administrative Support Measures ..........................................................172
V. Panel Session ...........................................................................................172
VI. Report Assessment .................................................................................173
VII. Panel Results ............................................................................................178
VIII. Acknowledgements ......................................................................................179
Bibliography .....................................................................................................180
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KUTAFIN UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW
Dear readers,
You are holding in your hands the third volume of the Kutafin
University Law Review (KULawR). The main objective of this periodical
is to spread legal knowledge generated by leading Russian scholars all
over the world, especially among English-speaking auditoria. We are
making all possible efforts to present it for you in actual, modern and
innovative form.
Previous two volumes of the KULawR were published in September
and December 2014. They were dedicated to different issues in the fields
of constitutional, international and contractual law, international private
law as well as theory and history of law. We tried to present them to a
wide range of lawyers in Russia and abroad.
The content of this new volume consists of several sections. They
cover issues in areas of constitutional law, private law, international law,
theory and history of law as well as problems of law and technology. A
separate section “Forum” is dedicated to scientific discussions. What’s
more, in the third volume we have introduced some new sections
concerning role-play and conference review. The new volume has
traditionally united authors from different countries.
We hope you will enjoy this new volume of the Kutafin University
Law Review. We are looking forward to welcoming you as authors of
our periodical. The KULawR is equally open for submissions from
well-known scholars as well as talented newcomers. It’s always a good
opportunity to make a step together to contribute and share our common
ideas.
The best ideas are always welcomed!
All additional information you may find on the web page of the
journal at .
Kindest regards,
Co-editors-in-Chief
Irina Alebastrova, PhD, Associate Professor
Paul Kalinichenko, Doctor of legal science, Professor
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ARTICLE
DEVELOPMENT OF PRIVATE (CIVIL) LAW
IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE AFTER
WORLD WAR II
By Gábor Hamza (Hungary)
Author
LLD, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1983
Chair Professor of Law, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
Ordinary member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
E-mail: gabor.hamza@ajk.elte.hu
Abstract
The article analyses peculiarities of civil law in socialist countries.
The author also considers problems of adaptation of Central and
Eastern European law systems in the conditions of modern market
economic reality after socialism upset. The author believes that a
Roman-law tradition in the mentioned countries used to be and
still is presented at both legislative and theoretical level. Romanist
(Pandectist) infl uence can be observed in civil codes of all socialistic
states. There were three different types of civil law codifi cation in
those countries. The fi rst of them (USSR, Czechoslovakia, Poland
and Hungary) is characterised by adoption of socialist civil codes.
The second type (Bulgaria and Albania) is characterised by
adoption of several laws relating to the law of property, law of
obligations, law of succession, etc. The third type (e.g. Romania)
is characterised by conserving its former “bourgeois” Civil Code.
Nowadays a major contribution to the development of private/civil
law is the ongoing process of European harmonisation of law in those
countries of Central and Eastern Europe which became member
states of the European Union. Private Lаw of the Community is
increasingly coming to the fore. Today the most “Europeanized”
area of private law is a corporate law. But a signifi cant modern
trend in the mentioned countries is also so-called re-implementation
of the pre-socialistic legislation. In the author’s opinion, the main
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KUTAFIN UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW
reason for this phenomenon is the intention to maintain a relative
autonomy.
Keywords
Central and Eastern Europe, private law, civil law, socialist law,
legal families, legal traditions, codifi cation of law
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Introduction ............................................................................ 5
II. Socialist Law as a Separate Legal Family ............................... 6
A. Introduction ...................................................................... 6
B. States with a Strong
Romano-Byzantine Legal Tradition .................................. 9
C. States with the Roman (Civil) Law Tradition ................. 10
III. Codifi cation of Private/Civil Law in Western Europe
and Its Influence on Central and Eastern Europe................
.10
IV. The Process of Codifi cation in Soviet Russia
and the Soviet Union ............................................................ 13
V. Characteristics of Private/Civil Law ..................................... 17
VI. Various Types of Private/Civil Law Codifi cations
in Former Socialist Countries ............................................... 19
VII. Property Rights ..................................................................... 22
VIII. Codifi cation of Economic Law .............................................. 23
IX. The Main Characteristics
of the Hungarian Civil Code of 1959 .................................... 24
X. Economic Contracts .............................................................. 25
XI.
Conclusion ........................................................................... 26
Bibliography .................................................................................. 27
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Gábor Hamza
Development of Private (Civil) Law in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II
I. INTRODUCTION
In the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, legal traditions that
are based in substance either on Roman law or Pandectist school have
to be taken into consideration. It should be emphasised that in legal
literature this aspect has been largely neglected until recently. Koschaker
in his work Europa und das römische Recht (Europe and the Roman
Law) and Franz Wieacker in his Privatrechtsgeschichte der Neuzeit
(History of Private Law in Europe) completely omitted the development
of private/civil law in Central and Eastern Europe. They did not relate
this part to Europe.
This approach is even more troubling since a Roman-law tradition
of the mentioned countries used to be and is still presented at both
legislative and theoretical level. This observation is particularly true in
relation to the period after political and economic changes, which took
place in 1989/1990. One could consider, for instance, Russian Civil Code
of 1922 similar – in various respects − to the draft of Russian Civil Code
promulgated prior to an outbreak of World War I based on both German
Civil Code (BGB) of 1896 and Swiss Code of Obligations of 1881.
Romanist (Pandectist) infl uence is also observed in civil codes of
other countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The countries of this
region can be basically divided into three main groups according to their
legal traditions. Group “A” comprises countries of former Soviet Union
(USSR), former Czechoslovakia (currently Czech Republic and Slovakia),
Poland and Hungary, which are characterised by adoption of socialist
civil codes. Group “B” is characterised – like Bulgaria and Albania (until
a promulgation of the Civil Code in 1981) – by having adopted special
laws relating for instance to the law of property, law of obligations, law of
succession, etc. Group “C” (e.g. Romania) is characterised by conserving
its former “bourgeois” (i.e. non-socialist) Civil Code.
A major contribution to the continuity of private/civil law is an
ongoing process of harmonisation of law in the countries of Central
and Eastern Europe that became member states of the European Union
on May 1, 2004. The harmonisation process started in the early 1990s.
Special attention must be paid to the Maastricht Treaty on European
Union which was signed on February 7, 1992 and entered into force
on November 1, 1993. It signifi cantly extended the competences of the
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KUTAFIN UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW
European Union in the fi eld of legal harmonisation. Like environmental,
labour and tax law, so-called Community Private Law is increasingly
coming to the fore in the harmonisation of law in the countries of Central
and Eastern Europe. Today the most ‘europeanised’ area of private law is
company law. Even in this fi eld, however, several elements of continuity
may be observed. In Hungary, for instance, the Commercial Code of 1875
– which became largely ineffi cient in the aftermath of World War II – still
governs some legal institutions. Another important example is the reimplementation
of the Company Law Act of 1934 in Poland after 1990.
As to the other aspects of private/civil law, a wide range of European
Communities directives cover, for instance, product liability, law of agency
(commercial law) and software copyright law. In the fi eld of labour law
the relevant directives concern employer insolvency, equal employment
opportunities and transfer of undertakings. All these regulations and
directives have a binding effect on legal systems of Central and Eastern
European countries.
According to articles 67 and 68 of the Europe Agreement (Association
Agreement) signed by the European Communities and eight new member
states from Central Europe, those states have to bring their legal systems
into compliance with the European Communities/European Union law
(acquis communautaire).
In most countries of Central and Eastern Europe, after the demise of
the communist system, new civil codes were promulgated or are currently
being drafted. The draft civil codes for Czech Republic, Hungary and
Poland had both in their structure and legal regulations a return to Roman
Law Tradition. In this process, a return to Pandectist legal traditions is of
particular signifi cance. The same applies to all four parts of the new Civil
Code of the Russian Federation promulgated between 1995 and 2006.
II. SOCIALIST LAW AS A SEPARATE LEGAL FAMILY
A. INTRODUCTION
a) The well-known assertion of Petr Ivanovič Stuchka (1865-1932),
the leading fi gure of Soviet legal philosophy in the early 1920s, infl uential
President of the Supreme Court of the Russian Soviet Republic between
1923 and 1932 and also a co-founder and Director of the Institute of
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