The chapters in this volume are from two Leiden conferences. There, distinguished scholars and practitioners from Russia and the Far Abroad measured the winds of change in the field of private law in post-Soviet Russia: enormous differences from the Soviet period, crucial in supporting post-Soviet changes toward freedom of choice in the marketplaces of goods, services, ideas and political institutions. This volume will enable the reader to further chart the progress made in Russia (and the region) in the revitalization of private and civil law and its impact upon practice and comparative legal studies and to appreciate the role which the distinction between the public and private sectors is seen as playing in the process.

"An overview of the Russian legal system and its historical and theoretical sources"--

Russia is often portrayed as a regressive, even lawless country, and yet the Russian state has played a major role in shaping and experimenting with law as an instrument of power. In Law and the Russian State, William E. Pomeranz examines Russia's legal evolution from Peter the Great to Vladimir Putin, addressing the continuities and disruptions of Russian law during the imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet. The book covers key themes, including: * Law and empire * Law and modernization * The politicization of law * The role of intellectuals and dissidents in mobilizing the law * The evolution of Russian legal institutions * The struggle for human rights * The rule-of-law * The quest to establish the law-based state It also analyzes legal culture and how Russians understand and use the law. With a detailed bibliography, this is an important text for anyone seeking a sophisticated understanding of how Russian society and the Russian state have developed in the last 350 years.

This book is a detailed treatment of the Russian legal system written especially for English-speaking law students and lawyers. While it is designed primarily as a casebook, extended discussions of the law, numerous citations to original Russian sources, and detailed suggestions for finding these sources on the Internet also make it useful as a reference for scholars specializing in Russian studies and for lawyers who know Russian but not Russian law. The authors have decades of experience following the Russian legal system, with one concentrating on human rights, court procedure, and criminal law and procedure, the other on civil, commercial, and tax law. Chapters cover key aspects of the Russian legal system, including sources of law, the judicial system, the legal profession, constitutional law, individual rights, civil and commercial law, civil procedure, private international law, foreign investment law, criminal procedure, administrative law, and tax law. The book covers major changes in Russian law since the previous edition was published, including more reliance on judicial precedent, increasing the independence of criminal investigators from prosecutors, dealing with abuse of the legal system by corrupt officials to steal businesses from their rightful owners, and closing loopholes in the tax system. The new edition also chronicles the continuing struggle of the European Court of Human Rights and activist Russian lawyers to push Russian law toward international standards.

This addition to the Elements of International Law series explores the role of international law as an integral part of the Russian legal system, with particular reference to the role of international treaties and of generally-recognized principles and norms of international law. Following a discussion of the historical place of treaties in Russian legal history and the sources of the Russian law of treaties, the book strikes new ground in exploring contemporary treaty-making in the Russian Federation by drawing upon sources not believed to have been previously used in Russian or western doctrinal writings. Special attention is devoted to investment protection treaties. The importance of publishing treaties as a condition of their application by Russian courts is explored. For the first time a detailed account is given of the constitutional history of treaty ratification in Russia, the outcome being that present constitutional practice is inconsistent with the drafting history of the relevant constitutional provisions. The volume gives attention to the role of the Russian Supreme Court in developing treaty practice through the issuance of "guiding documents" binding on lower courts, the reaction of the Russian Constitutional Court to judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, and the place of treaties as an integral part of the Russian legal system. Butler further explores the hierarchy of sources of law, together with other facets of Russian arbitral and judicial practice with respect to treaties and other sources of international law. He concludes with a consideration of the 'generally-recognized principles and norms of international law' and their role as part of the Russian system.

Provides a detailed analysis of how Russia's understanding of international law has developed Draws on historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives to offer the reader the 'big picture' of Russia's engagement with international law Extensively uses sources and resources in the Russian language, including many which are not easily available to scholars outside of Russia

This book discusses key aspects of Russian business law. In addition to providing an overview of theoretical legal issues, the authors concentrate on practical areas of the law and supplement their analysis with recent findings from court cases.

This book, authored by an international group of scholars, focuses on a vibrant central current within the history of Russian legal thought: how Christianity, and theistic belief generally, has inspired the aspiration to the rule of law in Russia, informed Russian philosophies of law, and shaped legal practices. Following a substantial introduction to the phenomenon of Russian legal consciousness, the volume presents twelve concise, non-technical portraits of modern Russian jurists and philosophers of law whose thought was shaped significantly by Orthodox Christian faith or theistic belief. Also included are chapters on the role the Orthodox Church has played in the legal culture of Russia and on the contribution of modern Russian scholars to the critical investigation of Orthodox canon law. The collection embraces the most creative period of Russian legal thought—the century and a half from the later Enlightenment to the Russian emigration following the Bolshevik Revolution. This book will merit the attention of anyone interested in the connections between law and religion in modern times.

The beginnings of Russian law are documented by the Russo-Byzantine treaties of the 10th century and the oldest Russian law, the Russkaia Pravda. The tempestuous developments of the following centuries (the incessant wars among the princes, the Mongol invasion, the rise of the Novgorod republic) all left their marks on the legal system until the princes of Muscovy succeeded in reuniting the country. This resulted in the creation of major legislative monuments, such as the Codes of Ivan the Great of 1497 and of Ivan the Terrible of 1550. After the Time of Troubles the Council Code of the second Romanov Tsar, Aleksei, of 1649 became the starting point for the comprehensive Russian codification of the 19th century. The next period of Russian legal history is the subject of vol. 70 of Law in Eastern Europe: “A History of Russian Law. From the Council Code (Ulozhenie) of Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich of 1649 to the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917”, Brill | Nijhoff, 2023 .

The book explains Russian contract law in a form understandable to lawyers qualified in other countries, especially common law countries. The introduction gives a concise overview of the Russian legal system in general and contract law in particular as well as a brief insight into the history of contract law in Russia. Then the main concepts of Russian contract law are explained, using the conceptual framework of English contract law to make them accessible to someone not familiar with the codified Russian system.The book not only considers the legislation regulating Russian contractual relations but also includes appropriate case law to show how the legislation is interpreted. The focus is on contract law in Russia as it actually operates, rather than merely the legislative texts, so that it will be directly relevant to legal practitioners and others who wish to acquire knowledge of the practical application of an important element of the Russian legal system, as well as those seeking an insight into the realities of codified law in action. The target readership therefore includes legal practitioners who have to deal with Russian law, academics and students with an interest in Russian law, the law of contract and comparative civil law, as well as scholars of comparative legal systems and Russian area studies.