On 21-22 May 2009 the third session of the Euro-Asian Law Congress was held in Yekaterinburg. The third session of the Congress was devoted to discussing problems and prospects of legal cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Eurasian Economic Community and partnership relations with the European Union.

The third session of the Congress was attended by around 400 participants and experts from Russia and foreign countries, in particular France, Finland, the United States of America and the People's Republic of China. Among them were academics, legal practitioners, representatives of public authorities and the business community.

The third session was organised over two days of plenary sessions, roundtables and expert group meetings.

On the first day, a plenary session was held, which was addressed by Pavel Krasheninnikov, Chairman of the Association of Lawyers of Russia, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Civil, Criminal, Arbitration and Procedural Legislation; Eduard Rossel, Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region; Veniamin Yakovlev, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Law, Professor; Perevalov, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Civil, Criminal, Arbitration and Procedural Legislation.

Following the plenary session, participants and experts of the third session of the Euro-Asian Law Congress continued their work in round-table discussions on topical issues of comparative law, legal instruments for overcoming the consequences of the global economic crisis, and improving civil legislation in the Russian Federation.
Reports of the Executive Committee prepared for the third session of the Congress were discussed, as well as legal projects currently being prioritised to ensure integration processes in the Eurasian space and the concept of developing Russian civil legislation.
On the second day of the Congress, expert group meetings were held to discuss international standards of environmental safety at regional and national levels, legal regulation of the stock market in the context of globalisation, legal support for interstate partnership and integration in the fields of economic cooperation, finance, taxation and customs relations, harmonisation of labour and social security legislation of EurAsEC member states.

As a result of the work of the expert groups, the following recommendations were made:
Publish the proceedings of the expert group in the format of a training manual, recommending its use in curricula for training in the prevention of environmental crime.
To grant the expert group the status of a permanent centre under the Department of Criminal Law at Ural State Law Academy to proactively develop issues to be discussed at the regular sessions of the Congress.

The constituent entities of the Russian Federation need to establish a (possibly comprehensive) specialised body to monitor the environmental situation in the region and to combat environmental crime on the basis of international standards.

The punitive potential of the current Criminal Code for the criminal misappropriation of natural resources must be increased.
By way of legislative amendment, if possible, to exclude from the corpus delicti of crimes included in Chapter 26 of the Criminal Code the evaluation categories whose legal content cannot be established by the norms of the regulatory branches of law.

In order to ensure harmonisation of the VAT legislation of EurAsEC Member States and eliminate unreasonable fiscal obstacles to the free movement of goods, works, services and capital, it is necessary to eliminate discrepancies in the legislative enshrining in EurAsEC Member States of the legal constructs of individual VAT taxation elements.
Legislative provisions that are inherently discriminatory and incompatible with obligations arising from international treaties concluded within the EurAsEC framework should be eliminated.

In the context of increasing state regulation of the economy, a law "On the fundamentals of economic management of the Russian Federation" should be drafted and adopted. Alternatively, a law on property management should be adopted.

The Russian Federation needs to develop and adopt a Law on Nationalisation and Deprivatisation and a Law on State Monitoring of Property in Sectors of the Economy of Strategic Importance.

The Russian economy, like other economies, needs the following legislation: on control and mergers (acquisitions).
Among the special laws, a consolidated law on stock exchanges and exchange activities and a law on securities should be adopted. Basic provisions on securities should be included in the general part of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and special provisions in the Securities Law. Moreover, it is necessary to extend the Exchange Law not only to the organised stock market, but also to the over-the-counter market (floors). Both the Civil Code and the Law should provide an exhaustive list of principal and derivative securities, fixing a system of regulation and control over them.

It is recommended to study the question of holding states responsible for financial and economic crises internationally liable in tort.
During the crisis, it will be necessary to test new methods of stock market regulation that reduce investors' risks from subjective influences on the stock market.
Also on the second day of the third session of the Congress, round tables were held on the problems and prospects of legal education, current problems of constitutional, municipal law and constitutional justice.

An unusual event within the Euro-Asian Law Congress was the Russian-French legal meetings under the auspices of the Association of the Friends of the French legal culture named after Henri Capitaine. They were attended by a high-ranking French delegation including Jean De Gliniasty, Ambassador of France to the Russian Federation; Michel Grimaldi, Professor of Private Law at Pantheon-Assas University (Paris II) (France, Paris), President of the Association of Friends of the French Legal Culture. Michel Grimaldi, Professor of private law at the University Pantheon-Assas (Paris II), President of the Friends of the French legal culture, recipient of the Legion of Honour, expert at the French Court of Cassation; Anne Gazier, Universite Paris Ouest Nanterre La Defense Maitre de conferences (Associate Professor); Claude Croix, Consul General of France in Yekaterinburg; Marie Gore, Professor at the University Pantheon-Assas (Paris II); Philippe Dupichot, professor at the University of Paris 12 Creteil; Raymond Leger, professor emeritus at the University of Poitiers; Denis Mazo, professor at the University of Paris 2 Pantheon-Assas; Robert Panard, honorary president of the Paris Chamber of Notaries; Serge Pasquot, notary at the Paris Chamber of Notaries and others.

As a result of the work of the participants and experts in the third session of the Euro- Asian Legal Congress, current areas of legal cooperation and approaches to solving legal problems of Eurasian economic integration were identified, and a permanent team of experts was formed who will be involved in the elaboration of relevant issues during the year.