Terrorism and kidnapping

MOSCOW Donald J. Trump, the leading Republican presidential candidate, was

widely condemned when he called for the United States to take out the families of
terrorists.
His approach even after he clarified that he was not talking about killing the
relatives was dismissed by many as immoral and unlawful. Yet, it is the very
tactic that Russia has pursued for decades.
It is the signature, though officially unacknowledged, policy behind Moscows
counterinsurgency and counterterrorism strategies, and Russias actions in
smashing a Muslim separatist rebellion in the Caucasus provide a laboratory for
testing Mr. Trumps ideas.
The family ties that bind in terrorist groups came into focus last week after the
police in Brussels disclosed that two of the three suicide bombers in the attacks
there were brothers, Ibrahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui. All told, analysts estimate
that a third of the participants in terrorist acts are related to another attacker.
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In the conflict that began in Chechnya and has since metastasized into i a loosely
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organized Islamic rebellion throughout the Caucasus region, Russian security
u
services routinely arrest, torture and kill relatives, rights groups say. e
The Russian approach, enough to make supporters of waterboardingr wince, has by
some accounts been grimly effective. Abductions of family members eunwound the
a
rebel leadership in Chechnya, for example. d
i
And siblings have a bloody track record here, as elsewhere.
n
g
In 2004, Chechen sisters blew themselves up in an airplane and a subway station a
week apart. In 2011, the police say, a teenager and his older sister from
t Ingushetia,
h
another troubled region, helped build a bomb that their brother exploded in the
e
unguarded arrivals hall of Domodedovo Airport in Moscow, killing himself and 36
m
other people.
a
i unravel the
In the Russian view, the family is the thread that needs to be pulled to
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terrorist group.
s
t
o
r
y
He should understand his relatives will be treated as accomplices, Kirill V.
Kabanov, a member of President Vladimir V. Putins human rights council, said of a
potential suicide attacker.
When a person leaves to become a terrorist, he can kill hundreds of innocents, he
said. Those are the morals we are talking about. We should understand, the
relatives must fight this first. If the relative, before the fact, reported it, he is not
guilty. If he did not, he is guilty.
By law, Russian security services have no authority to specifically target relatives.
But the intelligence forces seldom let a detail like the lack of a legal basis interfere
with their activities.
In Chechnya and neighboring Dagestan, they routinely burn or demolish the
houses of people suspected of being insurgents or terrorists. Most strikingly, whole
extended families are rounded up in high-profile cases, and are often held until the
militant either gives up or is killed.
Maryam Akmedova, from Kabardino-Balkaria region in the North Caucasus, has
seen it firsthand. Distressing though it was, she says she understood when Russian
prosecutors accused her eldest son of participating in a terrorist attack, as he had
never denied his involvement.
But her woes hardly stopped there.
Soon enough, security agents were questioning her younger son, though there was
no evidence linking him to the attack his brother was accused of in the city of
Nalchik in 2005. Eventually, the younger brother was shot and killed in 2013 by
Russian security forces during an attempted arrest under murky circumstances.

He had no involvement with anything, Ms. Akmedova said in a telephone

interview. They killed him because his brother was in prison.
The most sweeping application of the tactic came during the pacification of
Chechnya, after Mr. Putin engineered the recapture of the separatist territory early
in his tenure.
Relatives were used as hooks to lure in militants. If the militant did not switch
sides, the family member disappeared. Chechnya had about 3,000 to 5,000
 unresolved disappearances from 2000 to 2005 or so. The policy, executed by the
Chechen leader, Ramzan A. Kadyrov, the scion of a prominent Chechen family that
itself switched sides, broke the organized resistance.
The Russian security services have also manipulated relatives for various ends,
such as to inadvertently pass poisoned food to suspected militants on the run.
The practice, not surprisingly, has spawned dozens of cases in the European Court
of Human Rights and widespread criticism of tactics that, while seemingly effective
in the short term, have deeply alienated extended families whose members bear
grudges to this day.
There is systematic abuse of the family members of insurgents, Ekaterina
Sokirianskaia, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, and an expert on the
Caucasus, said in a telephone interview.
There can be short-term results, but I wouldnt call it success, she said. You can
prevent some episodes of violence at the moment, but you are radicalizing whole
communities.
When innocent Muslims are targeted for the expediency of security services, this
legitimizes the jihadist cause, she said.
Ms. Akmedova explained how the sense of injustice and outrage develops. After her
younger son was killed in 2013, she said, the police came by and told her and her
sons widow that the grandchildren, despite being in kindergarten and elementary
school, would be put on watch lists.
The children go to kindergarten, Ms. Akmedova, 63, a retired drugstore clerk,
said. They are no different from any other children.
In perhaps the highest-profile operation, Russian security services detained in
2004 several dozen members of the extended family of the Chechen rebel defense
minister, Magomed Khambiyev, including the wives of his brothers. Aslanbek
Khambiyev, a 19-year-old cousin with no known ties, other than familial, was
abducted from a university, beaten semiconscious and shoved from a car in the
rebel leaders home village.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/world/europe/russia-chechnya-caucasus-terrorists-families.html?
_r=0

Property seizure

Russian Federation: New Law Allows Seizure of Foreign

Governments Property
(Dec. 2, 2015) On November 3, 2015, President Vladimir Putin signed the Law on Jurisdictional Immunity of a
Foreign State and a Foreign States Property in the Russian Federation (Federal Law No. 297-FZ (Nov. 3,
2015), PRAVO.GOV official government portal) (in Russian).) The law is scheduled to enter into force on
January 1, 2016. (Id. art. 18.)
The Law was drafted and introduced in the Duma (the parliament) by the Russian Ministry of Justice. The
explanatory note to the legislation stated that the measure is aimed at abolishing the previously applied
doctrine of absolute sovereign immunity, which contradicts the current practice of foreign economic
activities and puts Russia in a disadvantageous position because the number of claims against Russia in
foreign courts is growing, and no one is asking for Russias agreement to be sued. (Explanatory Note to the
Bill on Jurisdictional Immunity of a Foreign State and a Foreign States Property in the Russian Federation,
State Duma legislative database (last visited Nov. 30, 2015) (in Russian).)
The drafters proposed that a balance be established with other states based on principles of reciprocity,
stating that if Russian property has limited or no immunity in a particular country, Russia shall be
empowered to establish similar restrictions on that countrys property located in the Russian Federation. (Id.)
At the same time, neither the Law nor accompanying documents define how a balance will be determined.
Background
Russian commentators have suggested that the new Law was adopted in response to the seizure of Russian
property in France and Belgium last summer, following the verdicts of the Permanent Court of Arbitration and
the European Court of Human Rights under which Russia was required to pay $39.9 billion to former
stockholders of the YUKOS oil company. Reportedly, in July 2015, because of the Russian governments refusal
to provide payment to the plaintiffs, Belgian officials informed 47 Russian and international companies that
the property of these companies located in Belgium would be seized in order to secure the execution of the
courts rulings and that Belgium was starting to inventory Russian property subject to seizure. The accounts
of a Russian state bank VTB subsidiary in France were also seized. Russian officials promised to take
measures to counteract the foreign court judgments. (Kremlin Promised to Dispute Property Seizures in
France and Belgium, NEWSRU.COM (June 18, 2015) (in Russian).)
Major Provisions of the Law
The Law regulates the application of jurisdictional immunity by foreign states over foreign-state property in
Russia and provides for the priority of international treaty provisions over this Law if such a treaty has been
concluded. (Federal Law No. 297-FZ, art. 1). Foreign states, their components, bodies, institutions,
organizations, and representatives are subject to the Laws jurisdiction. The Law applies to the components of
a foreign state if these components are qualified to act in order to perform sovereign powers of the state and
to institutions and organizations of a foreign state regardless of whether they are legal entities if they are
qualified to act and are actually taking action to perform sovereign powers. (Id. art. 2.)
The Law defines property of a foreign state as property that belongs to a foreign state, that is located on
the territory of the Russian Federation, and that is used by the same foreign state. (Id. art. 2(2).) Courts of
general jurisdiction, including arbitration courts, have jurisdiction over jurisdictional immunity cases and must
apply Russian procedural legislation. (Id. arts. 2(7) & 17.)
Implementation of the Law must not harm the privileges and immunities of foreign states diplomatic and
consular offices, special missions, representations at international organizations, heads of state and
governments, foreign ministers, aircraft, space equipment, naval ships, or other state vessels used for
noncommercial purposes. (Id. art. 3.)
The Law declares reciprocity to be the main principle under which Russian courts will consider the limits of
jurisdictional immunity of a foreign state, to be determined in relation to the degree of immunity the Russian
Federation enjoys in that foreign state. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is required to provide
assessments of the extent of jurisdictional immunity that the Russian Federation has in a given foreign state.

http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/russian-federation-new-law-allows-seizure-of-foreign-
governments-property/
 intelectual property

The laws on intellectual property protection in Russia are comprised in the Civil Code of the
Russian Federation that was enabled in 2008, after a series of modifications throughout the years. It
includes the Copyright Law that was separated until that moment. Russia has laws governing:
- copyright protection,

- trademark and service mark protection,

- companys intellectual assets protection,

- computer programs and database protection,

- protection of topologies of integrated circuits.

Copyright Law in Russia

Copyright protection in Russia is given for a period of 70 years to nationals that have created
literature, works of art or scientific work. In Russia, both public and unreleased work is
granted copyright protection and it includes oral creations, interviews and speeches among the
usual creative art.

Laws, folklore, administrative texts and any official document are not subject to copyright in Russia.
The Copyright Law in Russia has been renewed according to the Berne Convention.

Russian copyright law offers moral and economic rights to its owner. The moral rights or the
paternity rights provide the owner the following:

- recognition as author,

- the right to choose whether the work will be or wont be disclosed to the public,

- the right to withdraw work from public view,

- the right to integrity that protects the authors dignity.

The economic or patrimonial rights provide the author with the right of allowing third parties to
reproduce his work and the right to distribute, make public or broadcast the creation. There is no
general right that allows an author to receive money for his or her creation unless the work is
audiovisual. There is only a resale right of 5% of the resale price that includes works like paintings and
sculptures.

If you need more information about the Copyright Law in Russia, you may contact a Russian
lawyer.

Patent law in Russia

The legal frame for patent protection in Russia is governed by the Patent Law of the Russian
Federation that protects the use of utility models and industrial property. Russia is a signatory
member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty which enables foreign companies to adhere to patent
protection in Russia.

Trademark law in Russia

Russia is a signatory member of the Madrid Agreement on International Registration of Trade Marks
and it offers legal protection on trademarks and service marks for companies using them as long
as they have been registered with Rospatent which is the registration office for intellectual
property in Russia.

A foreign citizen who wants to protect his trademark in Russia may contact a law firm in Russia that
will handle the entire procedure.

Protection of a company's intellectual assets in Russia

Protection of computer programs and databases and topologies of integrated circuits are also
protected by law in Russia, even if they are part of a special intellectual protection category: the
protection of company's intellectual assets.

Companies are protected in Russia mainly by incorporation and through the Trademark Law. But a
company also benefits from software, database, industrial design and utility model protection.

A Russian company may choose to protect its know-how technology, its pattern of integrated
circuits, if considered necessary, its domain name and its website content as well.

If you want to open a company, you can contact our lawyers in Russia for detailed information
about intellectual property laws.

http://www.lawyersrussia.com/intellectual-property-in-russia

Antitrust regulations

1.1 Underlying issues of competition regulations

Part 1 of article 8 of the RF Constitution guarantees shared economic space, the free transfer of goods,
services and financial resources, competition support and freedom of economic activity. Part 2 of article 34 of
the RF Constitution prohibits economic activities aimed at monopolization and bad faith competition.
The main regulation governing and ensuring competition is Federal Law No. 135-FZ, dated July 26, 2006,
"On the Protection of Competition". In addition, a number of laws governing certain areas of commercial
activity contain provisions aimed at protecting competition:
Federal Law No.35-FZ, dated March 26, 2003, "On Introducing the Specifics of Antitrust
Regulation in the Power Industry", which introduces the concept of dominance and
exclusivity of competitors in the power market and establishes an indicative list of
activities that may prevent, restrict or eliminate competition or damage the interest of
third parties;
Federal Law No.36-FZ, dated March 26, 2003, "On the Peculiarities of Power Industry
Operations in the Transition Period", which prohibits a group from combining activities
related to the transfer of power and operational and dispatch management with
activities relating to power generation and sale/purchase;
Federal Law No.160-FZ, dated July 9, 1999, "On Foreign Investment in the Russian
Federation", which prohibits foreign investors from engaging in bad faith competition
and restrictive practices, including creating a shortage of goods within Russia by means
of liquidating their own entities/branches in Russia, entering into wrongful
arrangements concerning pricing, division of distribution markets or participation in
tenders;
Federal Law No.381-FZ, dated December 28, 2009, "On the Framework for State
Regulation of Trade Activities in the Russian Federation", which establishes the specifics
of antitrust regulation in trade.
The scope of the Federal Antimonopoly Service's is further detailed in Federal Law No. 57-FZ, dated April 29,
2008, "On the Procedure for Making Foreign Investment in Business Entities Having Strategic Importance for
State Defense and Security".
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1.2. Organizational Structure of the Russian antitrust
agency (the FAS).
The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS of Russia) and its local agencies serve as the antitrust authority in
Russia. The head of the FAS of Russia is its chief, who is appointed and dismissed by the Government of the
Russian Federation. The organizational structure of FAS includes a central office consisting of departments
that cover the main areas of the agency's operations. Local offices of the FAS of Russia operate in the
constituent entities of the RF. The heads of the local offices of the FAS are appointed by the chief of the FAS
of Russia.
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1.3. General areas of FAS concern:
The FAS of Russia is responsible for legally regulating and controlling
compliance with antitrust law;
compliance with the regulations applicable to the operations of natural monopolies;
compliance with advertising regulations;
procurement orders for the federal government, including sale of goods, provision of
labour or services, etc; and
foreign investment in companies having strategic importance for national defense and
security of the RF.
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1.4. Extraterritoriality
The provisions of Russian antitrust law apply to agreements made outside of the Russian Federation between
Russian and/or foreign entities or organizations, as well as to the actions they take, if such agreements are
made and the actions taken affect any tangible and/or intangible assets located in Russia or any shares (equity
interests) in any companies and any titles to for-profit companies operating in Russia or if they have any other
impact on competition in Russia.

http://www.rulg.com/documents/antitrust/country/Russia/index.html#top

sytem legal

Legal System and how it works:

Russian legal system follows statutory laws which are based on legislation unlike case laws
which is based on judicial precedent. The main legal body of comprises of Constitution, Federal
constitutional laws, federal laws, presidential decrees, governmental regulations, and laws of
regional constituents of the Russian Federation.

Peter Gerendasi 2009, Doing business and investing in Russian Federation [online],
Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Russia, p.7, Available

According to Legal system of Russia, the judiciary is divided into three branches; the regular
court system which has the Supreme Court on top, the arbitration court system which has High
Court of Arbitration on top, and the Constitutional Court as a single body without any courts
under it.

In case of disputes between any business entities, the case is usually taken to arbitration court
for trial.

Vladimir Davydov Legal system of Russia [online], Available from:

http://www.uoregon.edu/~jbonine/review.html [Accessed: 25.3.2010].

According to the Russian laws, a Russian court cannot nullify a statute holding it
unconstitutional. Vladimir Davydov further states that upon motion of an interested
governmental organization, it can hold a statute or an executive enactment unconstitutional,
or give its interpretation of the Constitution. When an issue of constitutionality of an act is
raised during proceedings before a court, there is a rule that such a case is automatically
referred to the Constitutional court.

Further, the Supreme Court of Russia has the right of legislative initiative and can submit its
conclusions conceding the interpretation of laws. Its views are considered highly authoritative
and always taken into account by lawmakers. The Supreme Court issues guiding instructions
for lower courts on specific matters of law which are a binding upon all the courts, state
agencies and officials who use such laws and hence it is treated as a source of law in Russia.
Vladimir Davydov Legal system of Russia [online], Available from:
http://www.uoregon.edu/~jbonine/review.html [Accessed: 25.3.2010].

Government rules and regulations establishing

business
The company needs to complete the following to be fully operable:

production and registration of a corporate seal;

register with the State Statistics Committee;

register as a taxpayer;

register with the Medical Insurance Fund, Social Insurance Fund and Pension Fund;

and

open bank accounts.

Approximately it takes six weeks to fulfil such actions.

All records of a company must be made, expressed and maintained in Russian, according to
Russian bookkeeping standards. No matter Russian or foreign each company which runs
business in the Russian Federation, has an obligation to register with tax authorities.

Taxpayers must file tax returns monthly regularly and submit balance sheet quarterly to tax
authority.

The founders when establishing a company enter into an agreement and take an obligation.
The charter and the foundation agreement are the documents that are required to be filed
with the registration authorities. The content and structure of these documents are
determined by the Russian law.

Establishing a company in Russia [online], Available from:

http://www.ruscham.com/en/rossinfo/db/13.html [Accessed: 25.3.2010].

Ownership of Business, Land and Office

Most land (unlike buildings and premises) is not privately owned, but held by federal, regional
and local authorities. Owners of property built on state land may purchase the land, but many
property owners prefer to lease land from the state instead.

Rights to real estate have to be registered with the State Register. In addition to registration
with the State Register, the main technical and legal information on land plots (their
measurements, boundaries, buildings standing thereon, etc.) must be recorded in the state
land cadastre. Although the Land Code provides that if a building and the underlying land are
owned by the same person, it is impossible to sell them separately, the land and the facilities
located on it are treated as separate legal interests and may be owned by different persons. In
general, Russian law neither imposes major restrictions on foreigners nor makes distinctions
between foreigners, Russian legal entities with foreign interest and Russian legal
entities/citizens in relation to ownership of land. Apart from land legislation requirements, a
prospective developer has to comply with planning regulations that are rather complex and
may differ depending on where the project is implemented.

Peter Gerendasi 2009, Doing business and investing in Russian Federation [online],
Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Russia, p.16, Available

Labour/Employment Law
The Russian Labor Code outlines the right of employees. If a conflict arises, an employee can
demand his right against the protective provisions of the Labor Code in court.The normal
working hours in Russia are 8 hours/day and 40 hours/ week.

Foreigners entering the Russian Federation must have an identification document recognized
by the Russian Federation. The enterprise which invites a foreign national must have obtained
a permission to hire foreign employees and thereafter the employer must apply for the
individual work permits with respect to each of the employees he is inviting.
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/international-studies/legal-system-of-russia.php