Changes in the Theoretical Foundations of Administrative Law in the Russian Federation

Author: Liu Chunping
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-12-01
Features: In recent years, research on the theoretical foundations of administrative law in China's legal academia has entered a deeper level, forming various different doctrines and schools. However, the most influential doctrines are three: the management theory, the control theory, and the balance theory. Among them, the "management theory" is represented by the administrative law of the former Soviet Union and China before the 1980s; the "control theory" is exemplified by the administrative law of countries; and the "balance theory" is used to explain the current Chinese administrative law. For Chinese administrative law, with China entering the era of reform and opening-up and transitioning from a planned economy to a socialist market economy, the original theoretical foundations of administrative law based on the "management theory" have changed. The legal academia has paid great attention to this change and attempted to explain and justify it with theories such as the "balance theory," "serving the people theory," "Marxist government theory," "public power theory," "fairness, efficiency, and stability theory," "public interest-centered theory," "service theory," and "comprehensive control theory."
The administrative law of the Russian Federation has undergone significant changes in its legal system after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, political transformation, and economic restructuring, with the transformation of administrative legal systems being particularly evident. Traditionally, the theoretical foundations of the Russian Federation's administrative law have been categorized under the "management theory." However, the question remains: does contemporary Russian administrative law continue to adhere to the "management theory," or has it adopted the "control theory" as its theoretical foundation due to the influence of Westernization trends in economic reforms, or has it established some other concept? This issue has become a blind spot in the study of Chinese administrative law. As a result, when researching and introducing foreign administrative law, some scholars either treat the Soviet Union's administrative law as merely one type, or they exclude the Russian Federation's administrative law entirely. This neglect of research on the Russian Federation's administrative law has inevitably led to shortcomings in the study of foreign administrative law. It is in this context that the research topic of this book has been determined.
The author believes that the research on the evolution of the theoretical foundations of the Russian Federation's administrative law has significance in both theoretical and practical aspects. In terms of its theoretical significance, it mainly manifests in the following three aspects: First, expanding the research fields of foreign administrative law and comparative administrative law. Currently, domestic research works on foreign administrative law and comparative administrative law almost entirely exclude the contemporary Russian Federation after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, with some stopping their research at the Soviet period. In the field of foreign administrative law research, there are no specialized works dedicated to the Soviet Union's administrative law or the contemporary Russian Federation's administrative law. In the 1950s and 1980s, Chinese scholars translated and published textbooks and works on Soviet administrative law, but no thematic research was conducted. For the Russian Federation's administrative law after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, only translations of relevant codes have been published, and there are still no specialized academic works or other forms of academic research. This neglect or slight regard for the study of Soviet and contemporary Russian Federation administrative law issues, despite numerous objective and subjective reasons, cannot be denied as an abnormal and undeserved phenomenon in the overall research status of foreign administrative law and comparative administrative law. Therefore, this book attempts to make pioneering efforts in the research fields of foreign administrative law and comparative administrative law.
Second, filling and continuing the research on the Russian Federation's administrative law. The administrative law of the Soviet period has been classified as "management law" in the Chinese legal academia. However, there has been little theoretical analysis on why the Soviet administrative law became "management law." Some scholars have mentioned this issue intermittently in their works, such as Professor Guan Baoying's and Dr. Gan Wen's "General Principles of Administration and Law." After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the contemporary Russian Federation has undergone a transformation from a "developed socialism" to a "social state" in terms of its state system, from a "unitary system" to a "separation of powers" in terms of its political system, from a planned economy to a market economy in terms of its economic system, from comprehensive public ownership to private ownership in terms of ownership relations, and from a one-party system to a multi-party system in terms of its party system. These changes inevitably reflect in the contemporary Russian Federation's administrative legal system, leading to a transformation in the theoretical foundations of administrative law. However, the Chinese legal academia has not yet paid attention to or studied the contemporary Russian Federation's administrative law and its theoretical foundations. Therefore, this book fills and continues the research on the Russian Federation's administrative law.
Third, enriching and advancing the study of basic theoretical issues of administrative law in China's legal academia. In recent years, Chinese legal academia has made significant progress in studying some basic theoretical issues, particularly the theoretical foundations of administrative law. Although some scholars still have objections to the classification and summarization of the three models—"management theory," "control theory," and "balance theory"—it cannot be denied that through the study of the theoretical foundations of administrative law, one can more deeply observe and understand the essence and role, basic principles, and legislative value orientation, as well as specific administrative legal systems of different countries' administrative laws. Therefore, the study of the theoretical foundations of the Russian Federation's administrative law, from a vertical perspective, addresses the issue of the direction of the theoretical foundations of administrative law in the context of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, fills the historical continuity in academic research, and clarifies the development context; from a horizontal perspective, it can clarify certain misunderstandings in the current Chinese legal academia about the Russian Federation's administrative law, enrich the content of basic theoretical research on administrative law, and, to some extent, promote and expand the study of basic theoretical issues of Chinese and foreign administrative law.
In terms of its practical value, it mainly manifests in the following two aspects: First, providing references for the improvement and perfection of China's administrative legal system. The basic theory of administrative law is the foundation for constructing a country's administrative legal system, and the theoretical foundations of administrative law are the core issue in the basic theory of administrative law. The design and construction of specific administrative legal systems are all based on the theoretical foundations of administrative law, embodying the basic spirit and values of administrative law. It is a well-known fact that the administrative law system of the early People's Republic of China largely followed the Soviet model, so for a long time, it was classified as "management law" together with the Soviet administrative law. Since the early 1980s, with China's reform and opening-up, administrative law theory and administrative legal systems have gradually evolved in response to changes in domestic political and economic conditions. In the study of administrative law theory, there has been a gradual shift from initially favoring the "control law" model of countries to focusing on the "public power" model of countries, to proposing models that reflect Chinese characteristics, such as the "balance theory," "serving the people theory," "Marxist government theory," "public power theory," "fairness, efficiency, and stability theory," "public interest-centered theory," "service theory," and "comprehensive control theory." This rational and deepening theoretical research indicates that Chinese legal academia is exploring which theory should serve as the basis for guiding the construction of administrative legal systems, although there is no fully unified understanding yet. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation also faces similar issues. Unlike China, the contemporary Russian Federation has undergone substantial changes in all fields, including politics, economy, and legal systems. Therefore, it naturally raises the question: if there was comparability between China and the Soviet Union at one time, does this comparability no longer exist between China and the Russian Federation today? However, the argument of this research topic is that whether it is countries or countries, their political, economic, and legal systems are all different from China, but their administrative law theory and practice still have a certain impact on China's administrative rule of law. Compared to this, both China and the Russian Federation are countries transitioning from a planned economy to a market economy, and their administrative law reflects and embodies these changes, thereby influencing the changes in the theoretical foundations of administrative law. It can be said that there are many commonalities and regularities in this regard. Therefore, the study of the theoretical foundations of the Russian Federation's administrative law has certain reference significance for the improvement and perfection of China's administrative legal system.
Second, providing inspiration for the value orientation of China's administrative legislation and the future direction of administrative rule of law. The study of the basic theory of administrative law ultimately serves administrative legislation, administrative justice, and administrative enforcement. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation proclaimed that "the rights and freedoms of people are of the highest value" as an important constitutional principle, which correspondingly redefined the relationship between the state and the law, the state and its citizens, and the relationships among state organs. The changes in constitutional principles inevitably reflect in the current Russian Federation's administrative legislation and will also affect the improvement and establishment of various administrative legal systems. China's 2004 constitutional amendment, which included "the state respects and protects human rights" in the constitution, will also produce responses in the field of administrative law. In the future, during the process of administrative legislation, administrative justice, and administrative enforcement, how to embody and implement this constitutional spirit will be both a theoretical and a practical issue. Therefore, the study of the issue of "the evolution of the theoretical foundations of the Russian Federation's administrative law" will have a certain inspirational role in the value orientation of China's administrative legislation and the future direction of administrative rule of law.
The originality of this book is mainly reflected in the following two aspects: First, innovation in research fields. Currently, there are no systematic, comprehensive, and in-depth research results on the Russian Federation's administrative law in China. The research topic of this book is not to simply introduce the Russian Federation's administrative law, nor to macroscopically explain the specific content of the Russian Federation's administrative legal system, but to specifically explore the changes in the theoretical foundations of the Russian Federation's administrative law and their causes. This is a blank point in the research fields of foreign and comparative administrative law, so the topic has a certain pioneering nature.
Second, originality in academic viewpoints. Currently, no one in China has studied what the theoretical foundations of the Russian Federation's administrative law are, and there are no existing viewpoints or theories to follow. Even in the legal academia of the Russian Federation, there has been no specialized research on the theoretical foundations of administrative law, nor has any theory or model been created. Therefore, the research conducted in this book is based on the reality of the Russian Federation's administrative law theory and practice, combined with the methodology of administrative law research in China, to abstract and generalize the theoretical foundations of the Russian Federation's administrative law. The originality of the academic viewpoints of this book is reflected in four aspects: First, it systematically reviews the process of changes in the theoretical foundations of administrative law from the Soviet Union to the contemporary Russian Federation; second, it analyzes from multiple angles the causes that promote and influence the changes in the theoretical foundations of the Russian Federation's administrative law; third, it proposes that the theoretical foundations of the Russian Federation's administrative law are transitioning from the traditional "management theory" to the modern "control-balance theory"; fourth, it examines and analyzes the convergence, divergence, and future development trends of the theoretical foundations of the Russian Federation and China's administrative law.
The research of this book primarily adopts historical and comparative analysis methods. The content of the book involves issues of both vertical and horizontal dimensions. Vertically, it mainly revolves around the evolution process of the theoretical foundations of administrative law from the Soviet Union to the contemporary Russian Federation, analyzing the changes in the theoretical foundations of the Russian Federation's administrative law today and the causes of these changes. Horizontally, it mainly involves analyzing and studying the Russian Federation's administrative law within two reference frameworks: first, analyzing and understanding the positioning of the theoretical foundations of the Russian Federation's administrative law in relation to the development directions of the representative administrative laws of countries and law systems; second, analyzing and understanding the convergence and divergence of the positioning of the theoretical foundations of the Russian Federation's administrative law with the development direction of China's administrative law. The research content determines that adopting historical and comparative analysis as the two basic research methods is relatively appropriate.