Current environmental problems in member states of the Eurasian Economic Union

Member states of the Eurasian Economic Union face many common problems in the field of environmental protection inherited from the Soviet Union. These problems gained momentum in early XXI century. This article is devoted to the analysis of modern environmental problems in member states of the Eurasian Economic Union as well as to search for ways to resolve them. Effective environmental management in the Eurasian Economic Union requires cooperation with the European Union using its experience in the field of environmental activities and implementing its international policies. EurAsEC needs to develop its own programs aimed at saving the environment, modernization of environmental legislation, promotion of activities aimed at environmental preservation in addition to relevant prohibitions and sanctions. Special attention should be given to utilization of industrial and consumption waste, since it jeopardizes the environment. The authors of this study summarized the information regarding environmental issues in member states of the Eurasian Economic Union, the EU experience in addressing environmental issues and the international legislation related to the environmental activities. In addition, the study provides practical recommendations, which in the case of their practical application will promote environmental restoration in the Eurasian Economic Union. However, this activity will have positive effect beyond the Union.     

The New Laws on the Judicial System,the Criminal Code,and the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation

New laws — the Law on the Judicial System of the RSFSR, the Criminal Code, and the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR — were passed on October 27, 1960, at the Third Session of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet (Fifth Convocation). These laws are in accord with the Principles of Criminal Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics, the Principles of Legislation on the Judicial System of the USSR, the Union and Autonomous Republics, and the Principles of Criminal Procedure of the USSR and the Union Republics. The enactment of these laws by the Russian Federation constitutes an important landmark in the development of Soviet legislation.     

The Subject and System of Water Use Legislation

The Principles of Water Use Legislation of the USSR and Union Republics — ratified by the Second Session, Eighth Convocation of the USSR Supreme Soviet — is a document of great significance to the government and the economy. Its adoption marks a new step on the road to further improving Soviet legislation, strengthening legality and the legal order in the use and conservation of water, that is, in an area of relations that broadly affects virtually all areas of the national economy, the development of cities, and improvement in the people's living conditions. In keeping with the Principles, in the near future, work will commence on the regularization of all-union water use legislation concerning the legal regulation of these relations, and water use codes will also be promulgated by union republics.     

An Important Stage in the Development of Soviet Civil Law

In December of 1961 the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, in its Seventh Session, approved the Principles of Civil Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics. New civil codes had to be enacted in the union republics in accordance with the Principles. The latter will also serve as the basis for developing and bringing up to date civil legislation within the jurisdiction of the USSR.     

新中国婚姻法的成长与苏联模式的影响

新中国婚姻法受苏联影响成为独立于民法的一个法律部门 ,同时 ,婚姻法的原则、理论也深受苏联影响。直至 2 0世纪 80年代后期 ,这种状况开始有所改变 ,我国婚姻法在立法实践和理论上才有了挣脱苏联模式的努力。     

物的基本区分与物权法的结构

物的基本区分对物权法律制度有着结构性影响。受前苏联法影响,把物区分为生产资料和生活资料曾经决定了中国民事立法的基本构造。在《物权法》中,物的划分不再以政治经济学为根据,转而以潘德克顿法学为学理根据,把物区分为不动产与动产并设置不同的法律规则。     

苏联宪法学说对中国宪法学说的影响

苏联宪法学说对中国宪法学说的影响集中体现在20世纪50年代,但其影响过程前可追溯至20世纪20年代以降,后可延续至20世纪80、90年代。其影响的方式体现为翻译出版苏联宪法的教材、著作和论文,苏联法学专家直接开设"苏维埃国家法"课程介绍苏联宪法理论;影响的内容主要表现在宪法概念、宪法作用、宪法本质、宪法与法制和法治的关系、人民权利与公民权利、宪法学体系等方面;影响的结果可归结为宪法学研究"阶级斗争范式"的形成、以国家学说为核心的宪法学体系建构以及轻视宪法基础理论的研究。     

俄罗斯民法典中私法自治原则的理性回归

前苏联时期，私法自治这一重要的民法基本原则遭到了根本否定。而前苏联解体后，在新颁布实施的《俄罗斯联邦民法典》中，则对这一原则又给予了重新肯定，使其得以实现回归。本文拟对其私法自治原则回归的理论准备、精神内核以及回归后的司法尝试活动进行探讨，以期拓展对俄罗斯民事立法的理论认识。     

Review of Decisions Through Judicial Supervision

Soviet legislation has established numerous guarantees designed to assure that courts will take only such decisions, and that only such decisions will take legal effect, as reflect the truth about the case tried. The necessary preconditions for establishing the truth in a case are already created at the stage of preparing a case for trial, which stage, under Article 33 of the Principles of Civil Procedure of the USSR and Union Republics, Article 141 of the RSFSR Code of Civil Procedure, and the corresponding articles of the codes of civil procedures of other republics, is obligatory in each case.     

The New Codification of Civil Law and Protection of the Honor and Dignity of the Citizen

With the issuance of the Principles of Civil Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics, the first, but very important, stage in the new codification of Soviet civil legislation to correspond with the needs of the period of the comprehensive building of communism has been realized. What must now follow is the adoption of civil codes by the union republics, in which the general, fundamental and primary propositions of the Principles will be appropriately concretized and detailed, developed and augmented.     

苏式民法调整对象定义的沉浮

本文在27个苏-俄密切联系国的范围内考察了苏式民法调整对象理论的流变。首先考察了在苏-俄产生的3个民法调整对象定义:不对称平行线说、商品经济说和新平行线说;然后考察了它们在东欧剧变后在苏联密切联系国的流变情况,分为继受、改造、更新、放弃规定4种情形。最后提出了中国应采用新平行线说的建议,并介绍了作者对《俄罗斯联邦民法典》第2条第1款的理解与俄国学者的理解的分歧。     

再论人身关系——兼评民法典总则编条文建议稿第3条

本文在研究了人身关系在我国民法史上的存在形态及比较了前苏联、中国和西方主要国家有关人身关系的学说的基础上,认为我国绝大部分民法学者对人身关系的理解不同于西方主要国家学界对此种关系的理解,我国在人身关系的理解上遗漏了主体资格问题,将“人”仅仅理解为人格权,并进而导致了这种关系的重要性的降低,造成了其在立法相关条文中被后置于财产关系。作者最后指出,人身关系应包括人格关系、人格权关系和身份关系三类关系,并进而建议对民法典总则编建议稿第3条做出人身关系前置的立法调整。     

The unfulfilled promise of an envisioned jewel: An attempt to transfer technology out of the splintering Soviet Union

This case study is based upon extensive interviews with a Fortune 500 company's new-products manager for Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. It focuses upon the American manager's attempt to establish an agreement to transfer a revolutionary technology out of the Soviet Union. This effort takes place as the Soviet Union is dissolving, adding complexity and uncertainty to an already extraordinarily challenging task. While ultimately unsuccessful, the case provides insight into the importance of risk-taking and the learning that results from failed experiments.He has received numerous teaching awards and has published articles in several academic and professional journals.     

Editor's Introduction

The future of socialism and of the former Soviet Union is the unifying theme of this issue of Russian Politics and Law. Swedish sociologist Per Månson asks whether the historic events of 1989-91 toll the death knell of the entire era of socialism or whether they signify the end merely of the Soviet variant of an otherwise viable ideology. Any answer to this question largely depends on whether the observer regards the former Soviet Union as having been a deformation of "genuine" socialism rather than its very embodiment. Månson believes the USSR was a caricature of real socialism, which, he argues, requires democratic control of the economy, not state control. Although Månson provides an excellent summary of the contradictions of social democracy, he does not explore in depth the posited distinction between "democratic" and "state" control of the economy in a democratic state.     

External shocks,economic reforms,and the foreign trade behavior of the Soviet Union,China, and Hungary, 1970–1987

This article examines the external shocks and subsequent adjustment processes in the Soviet Union, China, and Hungary during 1974–76, 1979–81, and 1984–87. It compares the experiences of the three socialist countries with regard to external shocks to those of inward-and outward-oriented groups of newly industrializing countries (NICs). In contrast to the NICs, terms of trade effects were of secondary magnitude to export demand effects of external shocks in the three socialist countries during the first two periods. The oil-exporting Soviet Union had beneficial terms of trade effects during the first two periods, with unfavorable effects coming only in the third period. The adjustment responses to the external shocks varied greatly in the Soviet Union from the other two reform-oriented socialist countries and from both groups of NICs. It is interesting to note that the types of responses in the Soviet Union were quite opposite to that one observes for market economies. However, reform-oriented China and Hungary seemed to have response patterns similar to those of market economies, though China's response was similar to the outward-oriented NICs, while Hungary's was similar to the inward-oriented NICs.     

What Does It Mean to Control Migration? Soviet Mobility Policies in Comparative Perspective

The migration policies of the former Soviet Union (or USSR) included a virtual abolition of emigration and immigration, an effective ban on private travel abroad, and pervasive bureaucratic controls on internal migration. This article outlines this Soviet package of migration controls and assesses its historical and international distinctiveness through comparison with a liberal state, the United States, and an authoritarian capitalist state, Apartheid South Africa. Soviet limitations on external migration were more restrictive than those of contemporary capitalist states, and Soviet regulation of internal migration was unusual in its direct bureaucratic supervision of the individual. However, Soviet policy did not aim at the suppression of internal migration, but at its complete regularization. The ultimate goal was “regime adherence”: the full integration of the citizen into the Soviet political order. In contrast to the USSR, migration in the contemporary world is marked by “irregularization”: policies that lead to the proliferation of insecure and unauthorized migration.     

东北人民大学法律系早期历史述略(1950-1953)

1950年代初期,由东北行政学院司法系演化而来的东北人民大学法律系正经历着从干部培训班向综合型大学法律系转型的过程。无论教员个人的教育背景如何,都毫无例外地被纳入到学习苏联和保证教学内容政治正确的轨道中。"苏化"的具体做法包括模仿苏联,建立教研组、教研室制度,翻译苏联的法学教材,模仿其教学内容和教学方法。这就使苏联法学在中国渗入到各个环节。政治化表现为无论是教员还是学生都要参加大量的政治学习。     

Church,State, and Society in the East

The articles in this issue of Russian Politics and Law review the role of religion in state-society relations in the former Soviet Union. They examine the role of the Church in several former Soviet republics and show that the Orthodox Churches in former Soviet states share many commonalities.     

The Collision of Islam and Terrorism in Central Asia

The five Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan gained independence in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The rapid disintegration of the Soviet Union and the subsequent unexpected independence of Central Asian states in 1991 resulted in a renewal of nationalistic feelings and, in some quarters, a desire to re-establish a Caliphate. Some terrorist groups in Central Asia see the future of the region as being a Caliphate. The question arises whether adherence to Islam and its ideology in Central Asia is significant enough to be a foundation for the formation of a Caliphate. This paper proposes an answer to this question by analyzing the potential connection between terrorism and the revival of Islam in Central Asia.     

Direct transfers between the former Soviet Union central budget and the republics: Past evidence and current implications

This paper examines the magnitude of direct transfers between the former Soviet Union central buget and individual republics. It shows that Kazakhstan and Central Asian republics were primary recipients of large net transfers of funds from the Soviet central budget amounting in some cases to about ten percent of their GNP. On the contrary, Russia was the single largest net donor of funds to the Soviet central budget through more transfers paid to the union budget than received from it, both in rouble terms and as a share of the GNP. With the dissolution of the central budget in November 1991, these transfers were discontinued. This has caused a dent in fiscal budgets and a large negative income shock in recipient republics. To some extent, external saving is suggested as the way to ease up the burden of the loss of income induced by the collapse of the fiscal system and the system of direct transfers within the former Soviet Union.