Shuvalov proposed a new law on "rapid response acts" in a crisis

The HEAD of VEB.RF, Igor Shuvalov, in his doctoral dissertation, put forward the idea of ​​a separate law to overcome the crises that the Russian economy may face.Such a law would imply "acts of rapid response"Igor Shuvalov during the defense of his doctoral dissertationIgor Shuvalov during the defense of his doctoral dissertationIgor Shuvalov during the defense of his doctoral dissertationIgor Shuvalov during the defense of his doctoral dissertationIgor Shuvalov during the defense of his doctoral dissertationIgor Shuvalov during the defense of his doctoral dissertationIgor Shuvalov during the defense of his doctoral dissertationIgor Shuvalov during the defense of his doctoral dissertationIgor Shuvalov during the defense of his doctoral dissertation

The Russian system of law needs a separate framework law that would determine the actions of the state during crises in the socio-economic sphere. Such a proposal is contained in the doctoral dissertation of VEB.RF Chairman Igor Shuvalov entitled "Legal regulation of entrepreneurial activity during the socio-economic crisis (theory and practice)", which he defended on Monday, September 19. An RBC correspondent watched the defense of the dissertation.

“What happened in 2014 in the Russian Federation, then the subsequent individual crisis phenomena and the conditions in which our economy is now, leads me to the conclusion that it is necessary to develop and adopt a special federal law on the interaction of government and business in critical moments, when entrepreneurship does not have the same opportunities for development as it does in typical relationships. This law has a separate subject of regulation. This is a complex law. It is clear that the crisis does not repeat one another, they are all unique. But is it possible to isolate what is common in the regulation of relations between business and the state? Answer: yes, it must be done, and done in advance,” Shuvalov said during the defense of his dissertation.

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"Acts of Rapid Response"

According to Shuvalov's idea, such a law would allow the authorities to quickly and in a simplified manner adopt a policy document with a set of anti-crisis measures, including their deadlines, responsible executors and related "quick response acts."

These acts, on the one hand, may contain temporary measures that restrict the rights of economic entities (for example, the right of creditors to file new applications for bankruptcy of debtors - within the framework of an appropriate moratorium), or targeted measures to support the most affected categories of individuals and entrepreneurs.

“Such acts are characterized by a temporary nature of action and priority over sectoral legislation, which reflects their extraordinary nature,” the dissertation notes.

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According to Shuvalov, ensuring a balance of private and public interests in crisis situations requires a comprehensive application of the law to mobilize resources from both the state and entrepreneurs. Shuvalov calls it "the new public order".

The head of VEB.RF explained that “quick response acts” are situational legislation that ceases to operate when a crisis situation is overcome and negative changes in the economy are overcome. “This is a separate legislative act that does not claim to form a separate branch of law. The fundamentals should be adopted at the federal level, but the regions have an arsenal of how to diversify this legislation, including measures to support business,” he says.

The framework law would make it possible not to adopt new separate laws (which must be passed through the State Duma every time) for the implementation of anti-crisis measures. A similar model, when powers are delegated to the government, is already used by the state in some cases: for example, in March a law was passed that gave the government the right to make decisions on additional indexation of social benefits through potential acts. Similarly, the government, represented by the Ministry of Finance, was empowered to quickly redistribute budget allocations without the need to amend the budget law.

In June, the government submitted to the State Duma a law on special economic measures during military operations abroad (the president signed it two weeks later). The law, in particular, allows the government to temporarily reactivate mobilization capacities and facilities, unbook the material assets of the state reserve, and involve employees of enterprises to work at night, on weekends and holidays. If the cabinet resorts to one of the solutions, legal entities will not be able to refuse public procurement contracts, in particular defense orders.

Questions for the initiative

“The concept of a framework law is not entirely typical for the Russian legal system - it is more inherent in the French legal order and the countries of the Anglo-American legal system,” Vladimir Kuznetsov, vice president of the Association of Lawyers for Registration, Liquidation, Bankruptcy and Legal Representation, tells RBC. He notes that, adapting the structure of the framework law for anti-crisis regulation, the dissertation cites as an example the Spanish law of 1981, which regulates relations during a crisis. According to it, acts and resolutions adopted during the period of special provisions may be challenged in court. If, as a result of the application of such acts, someone has suffered personally or his property rights have been damaged, he has suffered losses, he has the right to compensation.

Maria Spiridonova, a member of the Russian Bar Association, notes that the creation of a new legal mechanism that would allow the state to quickly and easily take measures of economic impact could help stabilize and improve the economic situation. Such a mechanism, in her opinion, would allow business support, both material and procedural (simplification of various legislative procedures, exemption from compliance with part of the obligations).

At the same time, she points out a number of questions that the proposed regulation raises: in particular, who will be given the authority to determine the start and end of a crisis situation; whether business will have the opportunity to contact the state and notify it of signs of the onset of crisis phenomena, etc. “Such an idea can definitely be considered by both lawyers and business as the introduction of elements of a command economy,” she notes.

One of the main issues that should be resolved when such a law is introduced is the definition of a force majeure situation, its criteria, says Oleg Buklemishev, DIRECTOR of the Center for Economic Policy Research at Moscow State University. Drawing the line between extraordinary circumstances that should allow companies to refuse to fulfill obligations, and temporary hardships that do not give companies such rights, “is a big debate,” the economist emphasizes.

Buklemishev does not believe that "comprehensive crisis management" is required under the current conditions. “The state machine in RUSSIA already treats the institution of law as a faculty of unnecessary things, and there is a risk that the implementation of such an initiative will give it the opportunity to trample on it at every opportunity, calling it a crisis,” he warns. In addition, for the fair functioning of the temporary anti-crisis system, it would be good to have a high-quality court, and there are questions about this in Russia, Buklemishev is pessimistic.

Shuvalov's dissertation, more than 400 pages in size, was defended at the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation.

In his work, Shuvalov repeatedly mentions the crises of 2008, 2014-2015 (the fall in oil prices superimposed on the introduction of the first Western sanctions against Russia), the CORONAVIRUS crisis of 2020. During the last period, the main legal model for managing anti-crisis measures was presidential decrees, in pursuance of which the relevant resolutions and orders of the government were adopted. The current “sanctions” crisis is not analyzed in detail in the work.

Director of the Institute, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Taliya Khabrieva acted as a scientific consultant to the head of VEB.RF. Shuvalov's scientific work is devoted to the regulation of several sectors - in addition to the banking system, it examines the regulation of business relations, the role of the institution of bankruptcy in a crisis, the regulation of public-private partnerships, investment activities, energy resources, mechanisms to support entrepreneurs, etc.