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Fast Lane Civil Code Amendment. Ministry for Economic Development and Presidential Legal Directorate proceed before general Civil Code reform is agreed upon.

03.08.2011 / Kommersant / №141 (4682)

As a result of hearings at the Ministry for Economic Development on August 2, which were devoted to draft amendments to the Civil Code, the Ministry informed that the State Duma may consider its own draft amendment to the CC in Autumn 2011, and does not support the initiatives of The Russian President’s Codification Council. According to Kommersant, all the parties, except the Council, are considering the general version of the CC amendments by the Presidential Legal Directorate (PLD).

Yesterday the Ministry for Economic Development and the Corporate Lawyers Association non-commercial partnership held public hearings of the three alternative draft amendments to the Civil Code at the Ministry. The aim of the hearings was to set up productive debate between the Codification Council, which has been preparing the CC reform since 2009 by order of Dmitry Medvedev, and its opponents, primarily the MIFC Taskforce headed by Alexander Voloshin and the corporate lawyers who think that some of the Council initiatives are potentially dangerous for the investment climate. The Council, headed by ex-Chairman of the Supreme Arbitration Court Veniamin Yakovlev, de facto refused to reconcile their stand on the Civil Code reform with Alexander Voloshin’s MIFC Taskforce and insists on their exclusive privilege to define the reformed content, accept or decline the amendments suggested by all other interested parties.

By the time of the hearings on August 2, the situation with the CC amendments was already complicated. By this time two more documents saw light. The first, CC amendments by the Ministry of Economic Development, is part of the set of bills aimed at developing special legal entities ("economic partnerships") for venture and innovation business, already passed by the State Duma in the first reading at the end of July, in spite of negative feedback from the Codification Council. The second document is the CC amendments, formulated by the PLD (headed by Larisa Brycheva), based on amendments by the Ministry for Economic Development.

The Codification Council lawyers rejected the PLD version the day before, on August 1: The Deputy Head of the SAC Andrey Egorov told Gazeta.ru that the Council "did not recommend" to bring the bill of Larisa Brycheva’s team to the State Duma, as it does not consider it "as a compromise". Yesterday the Council lawyers did not take part in the hearings, only some of the SAC judges were present as experts on civil legislation.

Meanwhile, all the other parties except the Council, consider the PLD bill common ground. According to Kommersant, Larisa Brycheva informed Head of the Ministry for Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina in a letter that the PLD version of amendments is not comprehensive, as it is not possible to come to an agreement on all CC amendments, therefore the PLD prioritized amendments with consent from most of the interested parties. Particularly, the bill reflects the Ministry for Economic Development opinion and Voloshin`s Taskforce amendments, which do not contradict the PLD concept. As a result of hearings on August 2, the Ministry for Economic Development Press Service explained with reference to the Corporate Management Department Deputy Director Dmitry Skripichnikov: the amendments to the first part of the CC are likely to be considered by the State Duma in Autumn 2011. The Ministry for Economic Development "is planning to proceed with developing" the CC amendments. Besides, "the earlier amendments to CC by the Codification Council were not supported by the Ministry of Economic Development", states the message. Therefore, after the hearings the CC amendments issue will most likely simplify: the PLD bill can already be considered the common approach by the Ministry of Economic Development, the Presidential Executive Office, the MIFC Taskforce and the Corporate Lawyers Association, while the Codification Council bill is the opinion of the judges and the academic community.

The Codification Council formally has an advantage over its competitors, as it works by appointment of Dmitry Medvedev and has direct orders to reform the CC, whereas the "competitors" are either executive power (the Ministry for Economic Development), or the President’s structure, which has not been charged with amending the CC. Larisa Brycheva`s team comes into the game and this levels the chances: the PLD, in fact, is an integral part of "the President of Russia" state institution, which founded the Codification Council in 2009, and its function is legal assessment of all outside proposals, particularly from the Codification Council. There is no one else to resolve the dispute between the Presidential Council and the Presidential Executive Office except President Dmitry Medvedev: both of the alternative bills, by the PLD and the Council, are written by the people who are equally entitled to call themselves the President’s lawyers.

The President does not directly interfere in the debate, although he takes part in it unofficially. So, obviously, the CC amendments were discussed at Mr. Medvedev’s meeting with judges on July 26, and immediately after Head of the SAC Anton Ivanov said that "in the near future" the coordinated version of the CC amendments will be brought to the State Duma. Still, Anton Ivanov did not specify who needs to coordinate which version and who in the end will choose it as the basis.

 

Dmitry Butrin

Corporate and contract lawAnton IvanovDmitriy SkripichnikovAlexander Voloshin