Changes to the Civil Code of Russia as seen through the prism of Russian and foreign law application practice

30.05.2013

The round table “Survey of changes to the Civil Code of Russia in connection with the adoption of the second set of amendments” was successfully held under the auspices of the Club of Comparative Legal Studies of the MGIMO University. Format of the event and the composition of the participants enabled the young scholars to exchange their views of the latest trends of law making activity with the practicians. Associate Mikhail Chugunov represented the Law Firm "YUST".

Professor Andrey Malinovsky delivered the welcoming speech and pointed out that, in order to explain the meaning of a term, lawyers traditionally analyze the Roman-German legal system, for example, when studying the concept of “bona fide purchaser”. The changes to the Civil Code will cause an even greater need for comparative analysis. The famous scientist was ironic that, in particular, this research method will involve the application of a new term – “evasion of law”, which represents the “favorite Russian game”. Which actions will be included in the term’s content, which ones will be recognized as related, whether the term will be applied “intersectorally” and if it will be employed in the cases of non-application of resolutions by the Plenum of the SC of Russia – these are only a few of the questions that the experts will consider.

According to A.Malinovsky, analysis of other legal systems than the Roman-German one will be useful in the search for the answers.

In the light of the latest law-making initiatives, the round table participants discussed in detail the trends of development of the institution of representation and invalidity of transactions, introduction of irrevocable power of attorney and peculiarities of ruling illegal the transactions involving legal entities, respectively.

In his turn, Mikhail Chugunov told how the courts today apply the civil law provisions and spoke on the reasonableness of the much talked-about changes to the civil law. For example, the practitioner sees the revocation of the prohibition to issue powers of attorney for a period over three years as positive. He gave a similar evaluation of the renewal of the provisions on the possibilities to contest the decisions of general meetings of legal entities, which eliminates the legal gap concerning non-commercial organizations.

At the conclusion of the event, its participants thanked the organizers for the unique opportunity to discuss topical matters with practicing lawyers.