ABOUT
03.06.2021 – 04.06.2021 the XIV session of the Euro-Asian Law Congress "Law as a Value" will be held. The unique format of the event combines the benefits of in-person attendance with the modern digital service possibilities: the plenary session live streaming, simultaneous interpreting of foreign experts speeches, remote informing of participants, videoconferencing of expert group meetings and round tables.
The Euro-Asian Law Congress (hereinafter the Congress) is one of the largest international platforms in Russia for discussion the current problems facing the legal community. It is no coincidence that the legal forum of such a scale takes place in Yekaterinburg, which, being the capital of the Middle Urals, is located on the border between Europe and Asia and represents a hub that carries out the implementation of the policies of Russia in the fields of industry, economics, education, science and culture. No less significantly that the XIV session of the Congress is one of the key events of the Preparation Plan for the celebration the 300th anniversary of the founding of the city of Yekaterinburg.
The business program of the Congress represents a high level of speakers and the quality of discussions. The main aim of the Congress is to provide an open exchange of views on topical issues for the legal community, representatives of public authorities and business.

The main themes of the XIV session of the Congress:
· Law and security: axiological aspects of correlation;
· International standards of procedural rights in the field of taxation and investment in the BRICS states: legal values and efficiency;
· Digital law and economics;
· New realities of justice in the XXI century: pandemic and digitalization;
· Constitutional values: theory and practice problems;
· Labor law as a social value: development prospects;
· Private law as a cultural value;
· Criminal legal protection of human genetic and informational dignity;
· Modernization of legislation on monitoring and oversight activities and legislation on administrative offenses: new values;
· Effectiveness of international law: from positivism to ... positivism;
· Problems of legal support for the safe use of genetic and genomic information;
· Domestic philosophy of law: axiological discourse;
· Best interests of the rights of the child: bioethical and legal values of the new strategic national policy;
· Interdisciplinary approach to the development of comfortable urban environment;
· Social value of criminal justice: program, strategy and development prospects.

Along with meetings of expert groups and round tables discussions the program of the XIV session of the Congress includes the VI Alekseev’s Readings to commemorate Sergey Alekseev who was an outstanding eminent legal scholar, founder of the Ural school of legal theory, one of the drafters of the Constitution and Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Moreover, in the framework of the Congress the Yakovlev’s Readings on the theme “Service of Law” will take place for the first time to commemorate Veniamin Yakovlev, Chairman of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, Corresponding member of the Russian academy of Sciences, Presidential Adviser, a famous scholar and politician, who has made a great contribution to legal science and practice development.

In addition to a business program of the Congress, there will be a serie of museum and exhibition expositions (the History Museum of SLI-USLA-USLU and Alekseev Museum expositions, an exhibition of Sergey Alekseev works, an exhibition of West European literature of XVII-XIX centuries presented in the USLU collection of rare books).
On 3-4 June 2021, the European-Asian Legal Congress (EALC) was held for the fourteenth time in Yekaterinburg. The theme of the fourteenth session was "Law as a Value".
A total of 948 delegates from 23 countries took part in the international Forum in offline and online modes: representatives of federal and regional state authorities, legal scholars, legal practitioners, and leading experts from foreign countries.

The Congress was organised and coordinated by the Ural State Law University (USLU) and the Association of Lawyers of Russia. A special feature of the XIV EALC session was a combination of face-to-face attendance at the event venues and the possibility of remote participation through modern digital services.
The plenary session of the Congress was held in Yekaterinburg city administration building. The Forum was opened by V.D. Perevalov, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the EALC and Head of the Department of Theory of State and Law at Ural State Law University, Doctor of Law, Professor, Honoured Lawyer of the Russian Federation.
The Congress participants were welcomed by Pavel Krasheninnikov, Chairman of the Russian Lawyers' Association, Chairman of the State Duma Committee for State Construction and Legislation, Doctor of Law, Honorary Professor of the Ural State Law University, Honoured Lawyer of the Russian Federation; Andrey Orlov, Head of Yekaterinburg; Vladimir Bublik, Rector of the Ural State Law University, Chairman of the Sverdlovsk Regional Branch of the Russian Lawyers' Association, Doctor of Law, Professor, Honoured Lawyer of the Russian Federation.

In the welcome address from the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, V.N. Falkov, voiced by the Director of the Legal Department, M.A. Merzlyakov, who attended the Congress, it was noted: "It is particularly valuable that young professionals - students and recent law graduates - are present among the participants of the event".

First Deputy Head of the Sverdlovsk Region Governor's Office and the Sverdlovsk Region Government V.R. Dubichev, addressing the Congress participants on behalf of the Sverdlovsk Region Governor, stressed: "The theme of the Congress 'Law as a Value' is really topical".
In the welcome address from the Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of Sverdlovsk region, L.V. Babushkina, it was noted: "The fourteenth session of the Congress is taking place in the context of overcoming the consequences of the spread of coronavirus infection, at a time when the opportunity for open and constructive dialogue is most valuable. The peculiarities of the current situation in the world and the impact of the pandemic on the most important spheres of human life have also determined the choice of theme for the session. The Congress will address issues of concern to the international community regarding the relationship between law and security, digital law and the economy, the social value of labour law, and the protection of human genetic and information dignity.

The EALC Plenary heard presentations from leading representatives of the legal and expert community.
The importance of the role of the Russian notariat in shaping the values of law was the subject of a report by K.A. Korsik, President of the Federal Chamber of Notaries.
Pasquale Pistone, Director of Academic Affairs at the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation, Professor at the Vienna University of Economics and the University of Salerno (Kingdom of the Netherlands), speaking online, provided a personal perspective on how legal values fit in with international standards of procedural rights in taxation in OECD states.

O.N. Zdrok, Vice-Rector for Educational Work and Educational Innovations of the Belarusian State University, Doctor of Law, Associate Professor, outlined in her speech the problems associated with the modernization of court proceedings in civil cases, caused by the use of modern information and communication technologies.
V.S. Belykh, Head of the Department of Business Law at the Ural State Law University, Doctor of Law, Professor, Honoured Scientist of the Russian Federation, presented a report on the topical subject: "Economic Analysis of Law in the Digital Economy".
No one was left indifferent to the online speech of I. Aslanov, Head of the Regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross for the Russian Federation, Belarus and Moldova, in which he stressed the importance of international humanitarian law aimed at protecting human life and dignity in war situations.
The report of Professor L.A. Novoselova, President of the Court for Intellectual Property Rights, Doctor of Law, outlined novelties in the intersection of bioethics and intellectual property law.

G.A. Vasilevich, Head of the Constitutional Law Chair of the Law Faculty of the Belarusian State University, Professor, retired Prosecutor General of the Republic of Belarus, Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus, shared his thoughts on the principles of informational openness (transparency) in real time, considering them as a means of improving the quality of rule-making and law-enforcement activities.
Richard Giesen, Professor at the Department of Social Security, Labour and Private Law at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, touched upon the hot topic of labour law enforcement during the pandemic. Despite the online format, his presentation resonated.
Alexander Trunk, Director of the Institute of Eastern European Law at Christian Albrecht University and Professor Emeritus at the Ural State Law University, also looked online, through the prism of experience gained in Germany, at the category of the value of law during a pandemic.
Professor M.S. Salikov, Head of the Constitutional Law Department of the Ural State Law University, Doctor of Law, Honoured Lawyer of the Russian Federation, emphasised the role of the Constitution as a legal value and outlined the existing problems of legal regulation and judicial practice in his presentation.
Within the framework of the EALC, the Yekaterinburg City Duma hosted an off-site TASS press conference on the 14th session of the Euro-Asian Law Congress "Law as a Value", which was attended by: P. Krasheninnikov, K. Korsik, V. Bublik and V. Perevalov.

Responding to journalists' questions, V.D. Perevalov very accurately defined the practical significance of the EALC in the development of the global rule of law: "The Euro-Asian Law Congress has become the permanent platform on an international scale, where not just speeches, statements and ideas are voiced. It is about the accumulation of a body of knowledge, which then gradually finds its way into laws and various normative acts. And there are a lot of problems here... The second point is that the problems of globalisation in general, and in particular the pandemic as one of the global cataclysms, have confirmed that the theme of the Congress "Law as a value" is becoming increasingly relevant. We need to work together to save the world from war, from pandemics and everything else".
During the second half of the first day of the Congress, Russian and foreign participants already discussed the impact of the value of law on problems arising in Russia and other countries in a variety of areas of social relations in the format of expert group sessions, roundtable discussions and discussions united by the theme of the Congress. These problems have a planetary scale, since they are caused by pandemics, globalisation and other social cataclysms.

The expert work also took place in a roundtable format:
· "Modernisation of legislation on control and oversight activities and legislation on administrative offences: new value orientations" (Roundtable Leader - Associate Professor S.D. Khazanov);
· "Cross-border Inheritance" (organised by the Notarial Chamber of the Sverdlovsk Region) (coordinator - Irina Viktorovna Perevalova, PhD, Vice-President of the Notarial Chamber of the Sverdlovsk Region, notary);
· "The Best Interests of the Rights of the Child: Bioethical and Legal Values of the New National Policy Strategy" (led by I.Yu. Krylatova, Associate Professor);
· "The social value of criminal proceedings: programme, strategy and development prospects". (led by Professor Bozrov V.M.);
· "Sustainable development and ESG indices" (organised by RegionService Bar Association and the Yekaterinburg City Administration).

In the course of the expert groups and roundtables, the theme of the 14th session of the Euro- Asian Legal Congress "The Right as a Value" was detailed in relation to the sectoral issues. The results of the expert work were reflected in the resolutions of the expert groups and round tables and will be used in the research and project activities during the intersessional period.
For the first time the EALC held discussions on cutting-edge topics: "Interdisciplinary Approach to Creating Comfortable Urban Environment" (coordinators - Professor A.V. Vinnitsky, Vice¬Rector for Scientific and Project Work of Ural State Agrarian University Y.M. Berdyugina) and "Genetics. Law. Responsibility" (coordinated by Professor L.N. Berg of Ural State Law University).

A Student Model of International Commercial Arbitration was held on the Congress platform with the participation of German and Russian students studying at the Ural State Law University in the Master's programme "International Economic Law and Procedure".

Matthias Kruse, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Yekaterinburg, was the guest of honour at the event. Mr. Kruse was especially impressed by the rare books exhibition "Habent sua fata libelli: a legal book from the 18th-20th centuries in the collection of the Ural State Law University scientific library. The exhibition presented unique monuments of legal culture in Latin and German, characterizing not only the achievements of the legal science of its time, but also the printing and binding art.
Welcoming remarks to the participants of the model were addressed by A.V. Sobolev, Trade Representative of the Russian Federation in the Federal Republic of Germany, Christian Titier, Rector of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, A.V. Vinnitsky, Vice-Rector for Research of the Ural State Law University, L.N. Berg, Deputy Minister for International and Foreign Economic Relations of the Sverdlovsk Region, Christian Albrecht, Director of the East European Law Institute, Honorary Professor at the Ural State University.
The arbitrators were I.V. Rachkov, Partner at Nektorov, Saveliev & Partners, Ph, Associate Professor of International Law at MGIMO, member of the UK Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), Tim Christian Breger, Financial Director of Ural Locomotives LLC (a joint Russian- German venture between Siemens and Sinara Group) and E.O. Pazina, Associate Professor of International Law at Saratov State Law Academy, PhD, Associate Professor, arbitrator at the Arbitration Centre of the RCC.
It should be noted that this year's Congress had a notably full business programme.

In memory of outstanding national legal scholars and statesmen who for many years had devoted their work to their native Sverdlovsk Law Institute (now Ural State Law University), the Sixth Alekseev Readings "The Social Value of Law in Modern Society" and the First Yakovlev Readings "Service to Law" were held on the margins of the Congress. During these events, the Sergei Alekseev Prize "For Merits in Law" and the Veniamin Yakovlev Prize "For Merits in Strengthening the Unity of Legal Science and Practice" were awarded.
The winner of this year's S.S. Alekseev Prize was Professor Alexey Semitko, Doctor of Law. The Yakovlev Prize was awarded to Doctor of Law, Professor Aleksei Pavlovich Semitko. The award was given to Irina Valentinovna Reshetnikova, Doctor of Law, Professor Emeritus of the Ural State Law University, Chairman of the Arbitration Court of the Ural Federal District.

Taking into account the personality of V. F. Yakovlev and his contribution in the development and promotion of Sverdlovsk Law Institute - Ural State Academy of Law - Ural State Law University, the leadership of the Ural State Law University with the support of the workforce, graduates of the Ural State Academy of Law - Ural State Law University and colleagues of Veniamin Fedorovich decided to open a memorial plaque to the outstanding scholar, statesman and teacher on the facade of the main building of the Ural State Law University.

At the end of the Forum events, the results of the two days' work were summarised and solutions were developed that can be seen as a basis for legislative initiatives, which allows the value of the EALC sessions to be appreciated.
The business programme of the Congress was complemented by the travelling exhibition of the S.S. Alekseev Museum "Ascent to Law", the travelling exhibition of the Ural Law School history museum "Ural Law School: Episodes of History", and book exhibitions "Scientific heritage of S.S. Alekseev", "Veniamin Fedorovich Yakovlev: "Law is Art, and it must be served".

It should also be noted that the 14th session of the EALC is one of the key events in the Yekaterinburg 300th Anniversary Celebration Plan.
The organisers of the Euro-Asian Law Congress are grateful to all participants for the fruitful cooperation and interesting discussions leading to further development of theoretical jurisprudence and improvement of legal practice.
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