The Need for Systematization of Investment Legislation in Russia

Author: Dr. Prof. Valeriy N. Lisitsa (Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia)

Over the years, the Russian Federation has been adopting numerous legislative acts in the field of investment activity, starting from the Law of RSFSR of 26 June 1991 No. 1488-1 "On Investment Activity in RSFSR" and ending with the new Federal Law of 1 April 2020 No. 69-FZ "On the Protection and Promotion of Capital Investments in the Russian Federation". A lot of federal laws were also enacted in the area of public-private partnership and other contractual forms of cooperation between an investor and the state, special economic zones and other territories with a preferential legal regime for investment activity.

As a result, the present investment legislation of the Russian Federation as a significant set of special acts is deemed to be extremely unsystematic and internally unstructured, especially after their subject and contents have been compared. It seems that the Russian legislator has arranged a "race" for the number of newly adopted laws, completely forgetting about their quality.

Meanwhile, the improvement of the present investment legislation and the mechanism for its implementation can be achieved by not the adoption of new loosely examined laws, but their reasonable systematization, which implies drafting a single (common) new federal law on investment activity with the consolidation of general and special rules having confirmed their effectiveness in law enforcement. Such systematization should be based on modern norms of international investment law, enshrined in many multilateral and bilateral international treaties, as well as judicial and arbitration practice, including the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes. The special attention is to be paid to making legal conditions (details) for the further implementation of various investors' guarantees stipulated in the international treaties and investment legislation of the Russian Federation.

More information about the opinion can be found in the following scientific works of the author:

• Lisitsa V., Investment Law (Novosibirsk, 2015);
• Lisitsa V., Responsibility of a Host State in Transnational Investment Disputes, 1 (31) Journal of Advanced Research in Law and Economics (2018), p. 139-146;
• Lisitsa V., Moroz S., Legal Regulation of Public-Private Partnership in Russia and Other Countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, 7 (3) Russian Law Journal (2019), p. 53-81;
• Lisitsa V., Investitionsvereinbarungen unter Beteiligung des Staates in der Russischen Föderation, 2 Wissenschaftliche Beiträge des Ostinstituts Wismar (2017); 2 Wirtschaft und Recht in Osteuropa – WIRO (2018), p. 42-46.