Russian business law: the essentials. Отсутствует
is that the number 1-FZ is assigned to each law adopted, as the first in a row in the current year. The next law that is adopted is assigned the number 2-FZ, and so on. With this method, since 1993, 21 federal laws were adopted with the number 99-FZ. Therefore, for the unambiguous identification of the law, in addition to the number, it is also necessary to know the date (or at least the year) of its adoption. In practice, for reference on a concrete act, it is recommended to use five requisites at a time: the type of the act, the adopted body, the name, the date of adoption, and the number.
vi) The date of the last amendments (edition)
The date of the last amendments is usually specified in brackets.
vii) The source of official publication
The sources of official publication of the federal laws, the acts of the President of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Russian Federation are:
“The Russian Newspaper”
“The Collection of the Legislation of the Russian Federation”
“The Parliamentary Newspaper”
The official internet portal of legal information, at the following website: pravo.gov.ru
The international treaties within the EEU and decisions of the Eurasian Economic Commission are published on the following website: eaeunion.org
The source of official publication is usually separated from the other requisites with a double backslash. In practice, it is usually not indicated.
The reference on a legal act with the use of all its requisites looks like the following:
The Federal Law dated February 8, 1998 No. 14-FZ (edited on 05.05.2014) "On Limited Liability Companies" // "The Collection of the Legislation of the RF", 16.02.1998, No. 7, page 785.
2. The Constitutional Basics of Entrepreneurship
The Constitution of the Russian Federation is at the top of the pyramid of the acts, and it regulates entrepreneurship. It was adopted by national vote on December 12, 1993.
2.1. The Legal Features of the Constitution
The main legal features of the Constitution are specified in part 1 of Article 15 of the Constitution of Russia:
2.1.1. The Highest Legal Force
The highest legal force of the Constitution means that its norms have a priority over the norms of any other legal acts acting in the territory of Russia. All other acts shall correspond to the Constitution. If a norm enshrined in a federal law contradicts with the provisions of the Constitution, the norm of the Constitution shall apply.
2.1.2. The Direct operation
The direct operation of the Constitution means that it is possible to directly refer to its norms for the purposes of legally justifying one’s position.
2.1.3. The Application in the Whole Territory of Russia
Despite the fact that republics, which are also called «states» in the Constitution, are part of the Russian Federation, the Constitution also acts in the territory of these subjects of the federation, without any exceptions.
2.2. The Main Provisions of the Constitution, Regulating the Entrepreneurial Activities
In the Russian Federation:
i. Freedom of economic activity is provided (Article 8),
ii. The unity of economic space, free movement of goods, services, and financial means are guaranteed (Article 8),
iii. The support for competition is guaranteed (Article 8), the activity aimed at monopolization and unfair competition is forbidden (Article 34),
iv. The equality of private, state, municipal, and other forms of ownership is established (Article 8),
v. The possibility of finding of land and other natural resources in a private property is guaranteed (Article 9),
vi. The equality of all people before the law and the court is guaranteed (Article 19),
vii. Everyone has the right to free use of his abilities and property for entrepreneurial and other economic activity, not prohibited by law (Article 34),
viii. No one may be deprived of one’s property, with the exception of a court decision. Forced confiscation of the property may be carried out only for state needs, on conditions of preliminary and complete compensation (Article 35),
ix. Everyone has the right to state compensation for the damage caused by unlawful actions (or inaction) of bodies of state authority and their officials (Article 53).
3. International Legal Acts
3.1. The Main International Treaties which the Russian Federation is a party to
According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the generally recognized principles and norms of international law, and the international treaties of the Russian Federation, are a component of its legal system. If an international treaty of the Russian Federation establishes other rules than those envisaged by law, the rules of the international treaty shall be applied (part 4 of Article 15).
The provisions of officially published international treaties of the Russian Federation, which do not require a publication of interstate acts for application thereof, operate directly in the Russian Federation (part 3 of Article 5 of FL on International Treaties). In the case of an absence of an appropriate norm of national legislation, it is permissible to directly refer to such an international treaty for the purposes of justifying one’s position. For the implementation of other provisions of international treaties of the Russian Federation, relevant legal acts are being adopted. Additionally, in some cases, the international treaties of the Russian Federation are subject to ratification (Article 15 of FL on International Treaties). Ratification is a procedure by which the international treaty acquires a legal force in Russia and becomes obligatory for all. Ratification is carried out by the federal law.
3.2. The Acts of the Customs Union
Russia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union.[18] Within the EEU, the Customs Union (hereinafter – CU) functions, which includes bodies that carry out the uniform customs regulation in all participating countries of the CU. The fundamental act of the CU is the Customs Code of the CU.
4. Laws
The two main types of laws in Russia are federal constitutional laws and federal laws.
4.1. Federal Constitutional Laws
In Russia, federal constitutional laws can be adopted only with respect to those matters which under the Constitution require an adoption of a federal constitutional law. In other cases, a federal law is adopted.
The main federal constitutional laws which entrepreneurs may encounter, while doing business in Russia are:
i) FCL on Constitutional Court of the RF;
ii) FCL on Judicial System of the RF;
iii) FCL on Supreme Court of the RF;
iv) FCL on Arbitration Courts in the RF.
4.2. Federal laws
In comparison with federal constitutional laws, the federal laws have a simpler adoption procedure and less legal force. Therefore, federal laws cannot contradict the federal constitutional laws. In case of a contradiction, the federal constitutional law shall be applied. This rule is not fixed in any normative legal act, but it is generally accepted.
4.2.1. The Laws of the Russian Federation
The modern system of sources of law started to form in Russia after the adoption of the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993. Such terms like "the federal constitutional law" and "the federal law" were first set in the Constitution. At the same time, in the history of Russia there was a period of two years (from the end of
Besides Russia, as of today it also includes Belarus, Kazakhsatan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.