The Russian system of law is represented by a large number of industries, each of which regulates a particular sphere of economic or social relations. Among the most significant in terms of the quality of political governance of the state is financial law. What are the features of his Russian model?
What is financial law?
Before exploring the features of the financial law system operating in the Russian Federation, we will determine the main subject of the issue we are studying. What are the common points of view of experts regarding this issue? According to the generally accepted definition in the Russian expert community, financial law is the legal industry that regulates relations that arise as a result of activities of mainly power structures at the state or municipal levels. At the same time, the relations in question can have a variety of signs of attribution to one or another type.
Characteristics of the financial law system in the Russian Federation
The financial law system, in terms of its Russian model, is presented in the form of several main categories of legal relations.
First of all, these are activities reflecting the consolidation of monetary resources in the framework of various funds that are managed by the state or municipalities.
Secondly, this is an activity related to the distribution of financial resources that are at the disposal of the state.
Thirdly, this is a relationship within which the financial reserves in question are used in the context of solving social and economic problems in practice.
Fourth, these are procedures for controlling how cash flows are managed by state or municipal authorities. Also, some experts believe that the system of financial law in Russia includes activities that reflect the processes of monetary emission, which are carried out by the monetary authorities of the country - primarily the Central Bank.
What tasks are solved within the framework of the first group of activities? This is mainly a relationship that reflects the collection of various taxes and fees that are to be credited to the state treasury. Regarding the second category of activities, inter-budget relations (including subsidies, subventions, subsidies, etc.) are in priority here.
The third type of relationship includes mainly government or municipal spending. Within the framework of the fourth category of activities, tasks related to tax and budget control (in some cases, monitoring of financial activities of enterprises by banks) are carried out. Actually, an issue is the issue by the state of national banknotes. It can also be a monetary policy, consisting in increasing the key rate of the Central Bank or other methods aimed at achieving the target macroeconomic indicators.
Government Finance Facts
The main subject of this branch of law is economic relations reflecting the creation, distribution, and use of various monetary funds owned by the state. Before exploring what the system and sources of financial law are, we will study the aspect that reflects the structure of the relevant legal relations in more detail.
State cash flows are formed due to various economic activities.Businesses and citizens pay taxes on profits, create certain social benefits, and provide for various social needs. A significant part of the funds is subject to free disposal by the subjects of their acquisition. At the same time, they give a considerable part of the income as various taxes and fees. The latter, in turn, will be distributed on the basis of those priorities that form state power. The functions of political institutions are reduced to two main types of core activities - managerial and control. What are their features?
The administrative function is characterized by the presence of tasks related to ensuring balance in the state economy, in the development of industries that produce a sufficient amount of products and services from the point of view of comfortable development of the national economic system and society. The control function is expressed in solving problems associated with monitoring the implementation of approved financial plans, ensuring the correct use of budget funds by legal entities.
Functions of the state in the national financial system
What are the main functions through which the state participates in the management of national finances? They mainly boil down to the formation of certain monetary funds, to distribute them, and also to use them efficiently. The goal is to ensure strategic objectives related, as we said above, to the development of the national economic system and society, as well as to ensuring political sovereignty (including through improving the national defense system).
The financial functions of the state, therefore, play a crucial role in the aspect of social development. This can be expressed in a fair, reflecting the objective needs of certain industries distribution of budget funds, the correct prioritization of financing. The state can also be the subject of the provision of certain tax preferences, loans at lower rates than when applying to private banks, thereby contributing to the development of strategically significant sectors of the national economic system.
The unity of the public finance system
One of the distinguishing features that characterizes the Russian budget system: the branches of financial law operate in it regardless of the level - federal, regional or municipal - as a whole, according to unified schemes. Such a model is not characteristic of all states. For example, in the United States, another federal type country, state budgets are fairly independent of the center.
Thus, the Russian budget system, as well as related institutions in the form of state funds, operate on the same principles. Also, the mechanisms within which they interact with enterprises at the federal, regional or municipal level are organized in the framework of similar schemes.
In practice, the unity of the Russian public finance system can also be seen in the aspect of the pronounced dependence of the budgets of many regions and municipalities on the support measures provided by the federal center. We are talking about subsidies, subsidies, subventions or, for example, government loans. Also, the Budget Code of the Russian Federation provides for a fairly wide range of tax deductions in favor of local budgets according to the norms laid down in the legislation. That is, by charging taxes and fees that apply to regional and federal, the local government has the right to rely on the return of part of the funds paid into the treasury by taxpayers. In addition, there are taxes that, by virtue of being classified as local, remain completely at the disposal of the municipality.
Moreover, the processes expressed in a noticeable vertical financial integration of Russian administrative and political entities occur in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, although the municipal government in the Russian Federation is separated from the state. This system, as many experts believe, has developed mainly due to the uneven economic development of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation due to the regional specialization of many sectors of the economy. As a result, the political center must make efforts to ensure an equitable distribution of national financial reserves by region.
Subjects of legal relations
The subject of financial law, therefore, is a different relationship associated with the circulation of cash flows. What is the spectrum of actors that participate in them? The system of financial law of the Russian Federation involves their classification in the following main categories.
Firstly, these are activities whose subjects, on the one hand, are state and municipal authorities authorities competent in the implementation of control, monitoring and other procedures, on the other - enterprises and individuals. Secondly, the subjects of relations within the framework of financial law can be only authorities - state and municipal.
Classification of legal relations
The system of financial law in the Russian Federation also implies the division of legal relations into several basic categories. We list them.
Firstly, these are legal relations, the subject of which is budget issues, as well as those relating to the work of the PFR, FSS, MHIF as key state funds. Secondly, these are activities in the framework of which financial flows are managed at state and municipal enterprises. Thirdly, this is a legal relationship, the subject of which is the collection of taxes, fees, as well as various debts, to which the state or a particular municipality is involved. Fourth, these are activities associated with the implementation of state and municipal expenses. Also, some experts identify in a separate category of activity, reflecting the implementation of financial transactions - currency exchange, settlements, organization of money circulation, etc.
Legal relations, which form the elements of a financial law system, are usually attributed by lawyers to property law. This is understandable, since activity reflects everything related to the material component - the budget process, tax collection, etc. Personal non-property relations are also present in the system of Russian financial law, but their role is determined by many experts as secondary.
We investigated what the subject and system of financial law are. We study the aspect that reflects the significance of sources in the relevant legal field, as well as the criteria for their classification. As in any other field of law, they play a crucial role.
Sources of financial law
The financial law system thus functions on the basis of the provisions of various regulatory sources. Consider their specifics. The sources in question are legal acts adopted at the state or municipal level, which include provisions governing the activity of certain entities in the field of financial law. We study their main types, which are represented in the Russian legal system.
The most important source on which the system of financial law of the Russian Federation is based is the country's Constitution. What provisions of this normative act can be cited as an example? First of all, this is the norm set forth in Article 57 of the fundamental law of Russia, according to which every citizen must pay taxes and fees that are established by law. You can also cite as an example the rule contained in the 75th article of the Constitution. It gives a general description of the Russian tax system.These features of the financial sector of law are characteristic not only of the Russian Federation. Similar legal traditions are observed, for example, in Belarus. It can be noted that the system of financial law of the Republic of Belarus is also largely based on the provisions of the Constitution. Similarly, the main law of Belarus is supplemented by other legal sources that are similar in status to Russian legal acts.
There are other important sources due to which the system of financial law of the Russian Federation functions. For example, this is the Federal Law “On the Accounts Chamber”, in accordance with which one of the key state control bodies in the field of finance should act. Among the most important sources, thanks to which the system of Russian financial law works, are the Tax and Budget Codes of the Russian Federation. The role of the laws “On Value Added Tax” or, for example, “On Income Tax” and “On the Financial Basis of Local Self-Government” is also significant. By-laws are also important for the system of Russian financial law - Decrees of the President and Government Decree.
The above legal acts have been adopted at the federal level. However, the system of sources of financial law of the Russian Federation also includes laws that are approved in the regions. In particular, in each constituent entity of the Federation, a legal act is adopted annually, in accordance with which budget execution must be carried out.
Characterization of the financial law system of the Russian Federation implies a significant role of some departmental legal acts. Among the most important are letters from the Federal Tax Service and the Ministry of Finance. In this case, departmental legal acts must be approved in order to implement laws and by-laws. In some cases, it is possible to use local regulatory acts at the level of state institutions (for example, universities) as sources of financial law.
Another type of source is international treaties. So, for example, agreements were signed between Russia and many other countries aimed at preventing the double collection of taxes from the subjects of their payment. If you follow the logic of Article 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, international treaties are part of the Russian legal system.
Some experts believe that judicial precedents are becoming increasingly important in the system of Russian financial law. These sources cannot be considered legal acts, similar to how this happens, for example, in the USA. At the same time, de facto judicial precedents, as many lawyers have noted, play a significant role in the aspect of law enforcement practice. And therefore, many decisions in the field of financial processes, which, for example, were adopted by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, can be made as actual sources of law along with laws and by-laws.
Financial law method
Having examined what the subject and system of financial law are, having studied the specifics of the sources, we can investigate the aspect regarding the method specific to this legal field. What are the experts' points of view regarding this issue?
Many Russian lawyers agree that the key method in the system of financial law is various types of regulations that are issued by state or municipal authorities with the necessary powers. The content of these sources may relate, for example, to the amount of payments that must be transferred to the subjects of financial legal relations in the state budget or in state funds. The key method noted above is also complemented by other tools, such as, for example, recommendations or approvals.
The structure of the financial law of the Russian Federation
Having studied what the system and sources of financial law of the Russian Federation are, having examined the main methods of this legal industry, we will study the features of its structure. Like many other branches of law, financial, in particular, is divided into general and special parts. We study their specifics.
The general part of financial law is represented by norms fixing key principles, forms and various methods by which financial activities are carried out by the state or municipalities. The general part also includes state bodies proper, competent in the relevant field of activity.
Relevant legal acts reflect the differentiation of their powers, the specifics of their legal status, as well as the nuances of relationships with other subjects of financial law. The general part of the industry in question also includes provisions related to financial control.
Like other areas into which the Russian regulatory system is subdivided, the branches of financial law can be specified in the framework of a special part. Sources that are part of it regulate legal relations at the level of individual areas of activity of the subjects of the respective communications.
Financial Law Institutions
The concept and system of financial law of the Russian Federation suggest the existence of separate institutions in the relevant legal sphere. Let's consider their essence. One of the key institutions in question is the field of budget law. This thesis may be due to the fact that the largest volumes of the country's financial resources are concentrated in the budget, which, firstly, are necessary for the functioning of the entire political management system, and secondly, they are necessary from the point of view of maintaining the state economy. Specifically, in the Russian model of political structure, the role of the budget is crucial. As well as the role of state enterprises.
A budget is a financial plan that assumes that the state has income and expenses. Therefore, one of the most important institutions of financial law will be the sphere within which the collection of certain payments directed to budget revenues is carried out. We are talking about taxes, duties, contributions, voluntary contributions and other sources provided by law.
Within the framework of the institute of state revenues, the key legal norms are those that will be related to the activities of the competent authorities involved in the collection of taxes and the activities of legal entities that must make the appropriate payments. The Institute of State Revenues also includes legal rules that may relate to credit policies conducted with the participation of authorities.
Thus, in the framework of such an institution as the budget system, financial law implements the most significant functions in terms of the effectiveness of political governance in the state. However, apart from the sphere in whose competence is budget revenues, an important area reflecting the mechanisms of spending money is important. Thus, the institution of public spending is also important from the point of view of the functioning of the state law system. Experts consider its constituent parts primarily norms that are designed to optimize financial flows controlled by the political center or municipalities, resolving issues related to debt obligations, to which the government, loans and so on are related.
Another important group of institutions within the framework of financial law reflects the activities of entities involved in currency regulation issues. At the same time, one can note the fact that in the Russian model of cash flow management by the state, all the noted types of institutions are sufficiently closely interacting with each other.
