Articles

The article examines the features of municipal strategic planning. On the example of the municipal formation (urban district) — resort city of Sochi, Krasnodar Territory, the issues of developing a strategy for the socio-economic development of the Sochi agglomeration, as well as prospects for interaction of municipalities with the federal territories are investigated. On the one hand, the strategy of socio-economic development, as a system of long-term priorities is a necessary condition for planning and development of the territory. The municipal strategy includes a package of projects (national, federal, regional), budget programs, business plans but often does not consider public opinion. On the other hand, the absence of a strategic document does not affect the development of the territory, since large investors (private and public stakeholders) implement business projects without informing the municipality. There is no legal provision for stakeholders to inform about the implementation of their plans. As a result, approved municipal strategies often suffer because of lack of large-scale investment projects or after significant changes in projects. Taking the example of Sochi, the “eternal” factor of competitiveness of the resort “sea, sun, climate” will work spontaneously and haphazardly, despite the significant multiplier effect of the tourism industry on the economy of the territory. To develop an effective tool for the development of the territory, which should be simultaneously a social contract, at the initial stage of developing a resort strategy, the main task will be to assess the competitiveness of the resort city in the domestic and foreign markets, develop a system of indicators of the competitiveness of the resort and regional tourism product.

The article deals with the criminalization of public apology (justification, glorification) for terrorism in French and Spanish legislation. The application of these provisions is analyzed in the light of the constitutional right to freedom of expression and the case law of the constitutional control bodies of these countries. The aim of such criminal prohibitions is to prevent the creation of an environment that nurtures terrorist ideology, and thereby creates risk (often very abstract) of committing terrorist crimes. On the one hand, this approach corresponds to States’ positive obligations to protect citizens from terrorist threats, but on the other, questions of the exceptional nature of criminal law (ultima ratio) and the disproportionality of restrictions on human rights are raised. As an early warning measure, the provision that establishes liability for public apology often does not require any consequences to take place (such as the commission of terrorist crimes or at least the creation of a real danger thereof). The same applies to intent to commit terrorist offences. These particularities, along with the excessive and indiscriminate application of those prohibitions in European States, make interpretation by constitutional authorities necessary. They are asked when and under what conditions the exercise of the constitutional right to freedom of expression becomes a crime.

The qualification of relations as labor relations is a reflection of the legal nature of the interaction of a certain kind in the performance of personal labor and is an important tool for protecting the rights and guarantees of employees. People employed in the gig economy often need such protection, given the similarity of their situation to that of traditional workers. In this regard, individuals who perform personal work within the framework of digital platforms make attempts to qualify (re-qualify) the relations that arise with them into labor relations. To some extent, the attempt to “fit” the relations under consideration into the framework of existing legal structures is a kind of compensation for the lack of an adequate legislative response to the ongoing socio-economic changes. The article distinguishes between the organization of labor management based on the civil nature of interaction on the performance of personal labor, which ensures the implementation of the interests of the subjects of such performance, and an illegal attempt to reduce labor costs and maximize profits by depriving employees of their rights and guarantees. The article considers various state measures aimed at eliminating fictitious self- employment, which reflects the negative aspect of new forms of labor management organization. The conclusion is formulated that in most legal systems, one of the main criteria for distinguishing between labor and civil law relations is the degree of control that the platform exercises over the gig employee, and the level of independence of the person performing personal work corresponding to this control. These features are closely intertwined with the study of the “entrepreneurial” nature of the activity of the performer of personal labor, including through the prism of the formation of economic dependence on the employer.

After 6 years from the start of the activity of the Court of the Eurasian Economic Union the practical necessity of making some changes and amendments to the Statute and Regulation of the Court seems to be obvious. It’s suggested that all changes and amendments could be divided into two big groups depending on how such amendments will be viewed by the member-states of the Eurasian Economic Union. A first group comprises measures aiming to expand subject matter and personal jurisdiction of the Court whose powers had been significantly and intentionally weakened by the members-states of the EAU from its very establishment. A probability of such amendments looks quite low as it depends on the readiness of the members states to re-evaluate the risks and concerns perceived by them which led to the limited jurisdiction of the Court. A second group consists of procedural and organization changes aiming to remedy omissions and weak places in the day-to day activity of the Court detected during first years such as lack of any time limits or improvement of appellate review. Such measures are not connected with expansion of the jurisdiction of the Court, so their probability seems more optimistic.

The publication, in the context of current international law and legal doctrine, provides a theoretical and legal analysis of the statements of the Vilnius Court on the status of Lithuania as an “occupied State” in 1940–1990, whether “the Republic of Lithuania and the Soviet Union were different States from the standpoint of international law” during the pointed period. In this regard, on the basis of the Soviet-Lithuanian bilateral agreements, reliable archival sources and foreign materials of international affairs departments, the problem of compliance or violation of the international legal norms in force at that time with the procedure for Lithuania’s entry into the USSR is considered. The article reveals the concept, content and consolidation of the term “occupation (military occupation)” in international law, as well as the features of the occupation regime in relation to the topic of the publication. The views of well-known representatives of the Western European and Baltic legal doctrines of the concept of the “Soviet occupation of the Baltic States” are considered. A theoretical analysis of the concept of “annexation” in international relations is given, the absence of its normative consolidation in international law is noted, a number of examples of annexation in European interstate practice on the eve and during the Second World War are given. Based on the analysis of the legal nature of the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, the recognition by almost the entire international community and the prevailing views in the international legal doctrine, the legality of Lithuania’s being a part of the USSR in the period 1940–1941 as a union republic is justified.

The review gives a brief description of the new monograph by V.D. Zorkin, its main provisions are considered. One of the main topics raised in the book is the relationship between the stability of the state and human rights. It is concluded that human rights should not be opposed to public and state security, since it is the state that ultimately guarantees the legal protection of the individual. The weakening of the State can lead to the undermining of the system of guarantees of human rights. Zorkin examines this dilemma on the example of Russia, points out the main, from his point of view, problems of the Russian legal statehood.

The institution of representation in different legal systems has a noticeable specificity. There are differences in the classification, terminology, contract structures used as the basis for the emergence of relations of representation, forms of authorization of the agent, the consequences of actions of an unauthorized agent, issues of entry of the principal and a third person into direct relations with each other, etc. Since the services of agents are in demand in cross-border trade, the international community (states, scientists, associations of entrepreneurs) attempts to overcome the uncertainties and conflicts that arise in the case of the cross-border nature of these relations in their regulation by national legal sources by unifying the substantive legal norms on the relations of the agent and the principal, as well as on the relations of these persons with a third party. In order to solve the problem of forming a common, uniform approach to the legal regulation of relations of representation in international commerce, the article formulates its universal concept, which includes the main features of the regulation of internal and external relations within its framework, inherent in various national legal systems, international conventions and non-national sources of law, the practice of cross-border commerce; identifies specific features that characterize representation in international commerce; shows the features of its unified legal regulation.

The article uses the example of a criminal case against the employees of the European Surrogacy Center for human trafficking to raise the problem of distinguishing between human trafficking and surrogacy. The article examines the practice of the ECHR and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. The article analyzes the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The article analyzes the concept of human trafficking in the Palermo Protocol and the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The author comes to the conclusion that the distinction between human trafficking and surrogacy is an urgent problem not only at the national, but also at the international level. Taking into account the recommendations made in the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in children, a list of circumstances indicating the existence of intent to traffic in persons is provided. The law enforcement officer should pay special attention to whether the payment of funds to the surrogate mother was due to the transfer of the child. This may be indicated by the refusal of the surrogate mother from parental rights and obligations in favor of the customers before the birth of the child, as well as the inclusion in the surrogacy agreement of conditions regarding the mandatory transfer of the child by the surrogate mother and the receipt of funds by the surrogate mother only after the transfer of the child. The article offers options for changing the current regulatory legal regulation in the field of surrogacy in the Russian Federation.