Russian Journal of Legal Studies

3-11

Authors: Alfiya Kayumova

The article is devoted to the activities of FRONTEX. The limitations of the former EU border agency, Frontex, hindered its ability to effectively address and remedy the situation created by the refugee crisis: it relied on the voluntary contributions by Member States as regards resources, it did not have its own operational staff, it was unable to carry out its own return or border management operations without the prior request of a Member State and it did not have an explicit mandate to conduct search and rescue operations. The enhanced Agency will be strengthened and reinforced to address all these issues. The article describes the main provisions of the reform FRONTEX.

20-25

Authors: Dmitriy V. Sarychev

The article deals the legal status of the Сonstitutional Сourt of the Republic of Croatia. Studied the legislation on the basis of which the Court is functions. Special attention is paid to the interaction of the Court with the Parliament. Analyzed the judicial practice on certain issues. Describes the process of formation of the Court. Studied the procedure of appointment of judges and their term of office. Raised the problem of the lack of the right of legislative initiative of the Court. Drawn attention to the way of interaction between international and national law of Croatia.

35-52

Authors: Vladimir V. Shumilov

The article reveals the evolution, the main features and characteristics of the most favored nation (MFN) principle, its scope, place in the system of principles of international law, the role in the international trade system and in ensuring the international economic order. In the law of treaties, the most favoring takes shape of clauses (treaty provisions); in the system of international law regulation appears as a method of equalization of regimes and as a regulatory mechanism; in the system of international law – as a principle, not only sectoral. The article deals with various situations of application and interpretation of the most-favored-nation clauses, and provides facts and circumstances from state practice, in particular with regard to the conditional provision of MFN. Traditionally, the MFN principle has been characterized as a treaty and dispositive principle, although many legitimate exceptions to MFN principle have developed in the customary legal way and have considerable imperative potential. In the international trade system the MFN principle has evolved from a local principle to an "almost universal" one, derives from the principles of Equality, Cooperation among States; closely linked to the principles of non-discrimination, national treatment, preferential treatment for developing countries and to the themes of international economic security. It can be assumed that – at least in the area of tariff benefits, or in the areas specified in the WTO agreements – the MFN principle accumulates imperative properties; stays on study of transforming or has been gradually transformed in imperative principle. This is evidenced by the international law consciousness: broad international cooperation in the field of trade is impossible without the mutual giving of MFN regime, which should be considered as a duty of States, not just a right.

58-68

Authors: Alla Tymofeyeva

The objective of this paper is to analyse to what extent the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights in the sphere of environment may be relevant for the purposes of corporate responsibility. For the elucidation of the main research question, the author will first elaborate on the environmental standards under the European Convention on Human Rights using the methods of both analysis and description. Second, the article will expose on the legal standing of businesses under this treaty. Third, the applicability of the ECHR standards on the protection of the environment to business enterprises will be discussed. As a result of the applied methods and treatments, the author comes to conclusions that the certain principles established by the practice of the ECtHR are relevant also for business entities and may serve as guidelines for their activities concerning the environment. Given that the provisions of the UNGP in this regard are not sufficiently detailed, the norms of the ECHR help to fill in the gap in the instructions given to businesses. Although the ECHR is only a regional human rights treaty, the study shows that the standards established therein may be applied universally.