The Precedent-Setting Component in Judicial Practices in the Russian Federation: Issues of Uniformity of Civil Law Enforcement

Abstract

Introduction. At the current stage of development of social relationships, distinguishing the place and significance of judicial practices in the system of civil law sources in Russia is a pressing scientific problem. Although, Russian legal system formally refers to the Romano-Germanic legal family, which denies the precedent, the actual influence of the supreme judicial authorities’ judgements on law enforcement is beyond doubt. This happens due to the objective inability of the legislative power to promptly regulate the full diversity of emerging legal issues, which entails the growing role of judicial practices as a mechanism for dispute resolution and development of uniform approaches to the interpretation of legal norms. The aim of the article is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the nature, features, and functions of judicial practices in the Russian Federation, as well as to assess the influence thereof on law enforcement. Particular attention has been paid to the issue of setting precedent elements in judicial practices and prospects for enhancing the enforcement mechanisms of civil law norms. Materials and Methods. The research was based on the following sources: the acting civil law of the Russian Federation, judicial acts of the Constitutional and the Supreme Courts of the Russian Federation, reviews of court cases, and works of native Russian experts in the field of theory of state and law. The research was conducted using dialectical, dogmatic legal, systemic-structural, comparative legal methods, as well as the methods of analysis and synthesis. Results. It has been ascertained that the value of judicial practices is not limited to simple aggregation of court judgments. Application of judicial practices ensures formation of the stable reference points for resolving similar legal cases, contributes to the uniformity of understanding the implications of legal norms and reduces the possibility of their contradictory interpretation. In fact, judgements of the supreme judicial authorities serve as a mechanism for specification of law enabling application of the abstract legal norms with respect to the specific circumstances of certain life situations. This fosters the stability of civil circulation, enhances legal certainty, and ensures more efficient protection of the subjective rights of the parties to the civil law relationships. Judicial practices are particularly valuable due to the opportunity to reveal the substance of assessment categories, which allows the laws to be adapted to the constantly changing social relationships without issuing numerous amendments. Discussion and Conclusion. The results of the study confirm that systematic application of judicial practices is an important condition for efficient enforcement of civil law, which doesn’t only eliminate the ambiguities in the interpretation of legal norms but also ensures uniformity in resolving cases of similar category. It seems expedient to continue research in determining the place of the supreme courts’ judgements in the system of civil law sources, because further refinement of this mechanism could enhance the efficiency of judicial protection and ensure greater stability of civil law relationships in Russia.