Russian Law from a Comparative Law Perspective. Some Reflections on the Occasion of Russian Law by William A. Butler
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X0100800403 |
| Published date | 01 December 2001 |
| Date | 01 December 2001 |
| Author | M. Antokolskaia |
| Subject Matter | Article |
M. Antokolskaia*
8 MJ 4 (2001) 371
Russian Law from a comparative law perspective. Some
reflections on the occasion of Russian Law by William A.
Butler1
William A. Butler, Russian Law, Oxford University Press, 1999, xlii +
692 pages, hardback.
§ 1. Introduction
Writing a review article on a book concerning Russian law for an auditorium that is not
specifically involved in Eastern European Studies was not easy for me. To make the
discussion interesting for the general comparatist not specialized in Russian Law, a
certain amount of additional information about the Russian legal system should be
given. On the other hand, being originally a Russian scholar, I had to resist the
temptation to become involved in entirely domestic Russian discussions which is
neither amusing nor useful for a Western comparatist.
I have finally decided to choose four issues on which to concentrate, and the reader will
find that I ended up discussing a bit more than only William Butler’s book. In part one I
will give a brief overview of the contents of Butler’s book. In part two I will address
this book in the light of the incorporation of Russian Legal Studies within the general
study of comparative law. In the third part I will address what I experience as major
* M.V. Antokolskaia is a senior Research Fellow at the Molengraaff Institute for Private Law, University
of Utrecht, The Netherlands. She graduated in law in Russia and in the Netherlands and obtained her
PhD in Russia. In 1994-95 she was a member of the drafting team for the Russian Family Code of
1995. At the moment she is working on a project on the perspectives for the harmonization of family
law in Europe. M.V. Antokolskaia’s research has been made possible by a fellowship from the Royal
Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
1. William Butler is a professor of Comparative law at the University of London and the Director of the
Vonogradoff Institute.
Russian Law from a Comparative Law Perspective
372 8 MJ 4 (2001)
problems of present-day Russian liberal jurisprudence and will suggest that Western
experts could be of particular value here. In order to illustrate these problems I will
briefly discuss a recent influential Russian book, Philosophy of Law,2 by S.S. Alekseev,
one of the most eminent modern Russian legal scholars. Finally I will dare to approach
the impact of the recent changes in the Russian legal system on the classification of
Russian law within the general taxonomy of law families. I will build my argument on a
suggestion to revise the traditional classification of legal systems recently made by the
Italian comparatist Ugo Mattei.3
§ 2. Russian Law by William Butler: an Excellent Introduction to
Russian Law
A. A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE CONTENTS
Russian Law by William Butler gives (in Part III) an excellent comprehensive
description of Russian positive law: constitutional (chapter 8), civil (chapter 9), family
(chapter 10), entrepreneurial (chapter 11), securities (chapter 12), banking (chapter 13),
taxation (chapter 14), environmental (chapter 15), labour (chapter 16) and criminal law
(chapter 17), as well as civil and criminal procedural law (chapter 18). It also provides
an overview (in Part II) of sources of law (chapter 4) and of the administration of
legality (chapter 6). Moreover, it provides the Western reader with a very helpful
introduction to the Russian legal profession and legal education (chapter 5). The
overview of the resource materials on Russian law both in Russian and foreign
languages, including the most important periodicals, legislation digests and databases,
given in Part V, makes this publication an important manual both for a Western
practicing lawyer and his academic colleague. A special Part IV dealing with the
Russian law on foreign relations makes Butler’s book unmissable in the library of any
Western lawyer or businessman daring to expand his practice eastwards.
Noteworthy is a rather extensive introduction to the history of Russian law (chapter 2 of
Part I) and into Russian legal theory (chapter 3). The problem of the place of Russian
law in comparative legal studies (chapter 1) is in contrast dealt with very briefly by
Butler. This latter problem will be given specific attention later in this article.
In the current age of ongoing specialization, the wide scope of topics covered in the
reviewed book is really impressive. A succinct writing style, a strict and considered
selection of subjects, a general historical and theoretical overview given in the first
2. S. Alekseev, Filosofia prava (Philosophy of Law), (Norma, 1997).
3. U. Mattei, ‘Three Patterns of Law: Taxonomy and Change in the World’s Legal Systems’, 45
American Journal of Comparative Law (1997), 10.
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