Available in Russian
Author: Mikhail Galperin
DOI: 10.21128/1812-7126-2026-1-119-140
Keywords: justice; legal dispute; jurisdiction; alternative dispute resolution; constitutional guarantees for the protection of rights and freedoms.
The active introduction and spread of various non-judicial forms of resolving legal conflicts and confirming rights raises the fundamental question of whether it is permissible to exclude certain cases from judicial jurisdiction and transfer them to non-judicial jurisdiction. Over the past forty years, Russian legal system has gone from recognizing the competence of courts on a residual basis («except in cases where the resolution of disputes is assigned by law to administrative or other bodies») to denying the very possibility of excluding any cases from the jurisdiction of courts, and finally to recognizing the inevitability of the coexistence and coordination of judicial and extrajudicial procedures. Today, not only arbitration tribunals, but also tax authorities, notaries, and various administrative institutions make decisions that have a direct impact on the relations between individuals and the state. This is justified from a socio-economic perspective — courts cannot and should not consider millions of similar cases, the number of which is growing, and even the increase in state duties and the introduction of modern technologies are not able to seriously relieve the judicial system. But where is the constitutional divide between a court and non-court? What do we understand by justice, a dispute that requires specifically judicial resolution? The author analyzes constitutional provisions, the practice of higher courts, foreign and historical experience, and theoretical works. He refers to the concepts of separation of powers, judicial decision-making and right to fair trial in their universal and domestic interpretations to demonstrate that the relevant problem is acute not only in Russia, but worldwide. Based on the views of professor Tamara Morshchakova — the prominent jurist, whose anniversary the article is dedicated to, he concludes that the Constitution provides ample room for the introduction and development of extrajudicial procedures for the final resolution of civil and economic disputes, with the exception of cases that involve not just the application of the law to a factual situation, the forcible seizure of property, or a response to an offense, but the individualized protection of rights and freedoms, and as a result, require consideration by an institution that is independent in constitutional sense of any executive or legislative authority — a court.
About the author: Mikhail Galperin – Doctor of Sciences in Law, Scientific Coordinator for the International Private and Public Law Research, Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation; Professor, Department of Civil Procedure, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Citation: Galperin M. (2026) Dostupnaya roskosh' i pravovye talismany: o konstitutsionnom izmerenii vnesudebnoy yurisdiktsii: On the anniversary of Tamara Morshchakova [Affordable luxury and legal talismans: the constitutional dimension of extrajudicial jurisdiction: Celebrating the anniversary of T. G. Morshchakova]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 119–140. (In Russian).
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