Suchergebnisse

The application of the comparative method to the study of two or more legal systems has led a jaded existence in the Soviet Union, for a variety of reasons. As a technique of inquiry, it has been acceptable only insofar as its utilization conforms to the general methodology of dialectical and historical materialism: "It is wrong to think," a Soviet jurist has argued, "that research procedures make up a series of instruments that, from an ideological and political point of view, are neutral."' Marxist jurists consequently have no sympathy for the view that ''comparison" is some type of "objective" or truly "scientific" method, nor, in common with the overwhelming majority of western comparatists, do they look upon comparative law as an autonomous branch of jurisprudence.

Several elements have interacted to influence the course and pattern of the boundaries and the regime of Soviet territorial waters. The foremost of these is national security. All of the seas bordering the U.S.S.R. have narrow entrances which can be commanded easily by hostile foreign Powers. During the Russian Revolution and subsequent Civil War, German vessels and, after the War, Allied vessels in the Baltic and the Dardanelles restricted to an uncomfortable extent the freedom of action of the Soviet Government. Soviet weakness in the Baltic theater was a major factor in determining Soviet policy towards Finland and the Baltic states during the 1939-1941 period, and the proximity of NATO naval forces to the Baltic continues to provoke Soviet proposals to close the sea to noncoastal Powers. Similarly, the U.S.S.R. was compelled to endure Turkish violations of the Montreux Convention on the Turkish Straits during World War II while its Black Sea fleet was immobilized. The Pacific coast seas and the Atlantic and Pacific approaches to the Arctic seas are also susceptible to a blockade by hostile Powers. Even the Arctic seas themselves, once regarded as an unguarded but impregnable frozen boundary, have become unexpectedly vulnerable with the development of nuclear submarines.

This work analyzes the interaction between international law and the Russian legal system at a level of detail and sophistication without precedent in Russian legal doctrine. This topic has become vital for Russian courts because generally recognized principles and norms of international law and international treaties have become part of the Russian legal system since the Constitution of Russia was adopted in 1993. Great attention is paid in this study to Russian judicial practice in applying customary and treaty norms (the author had access to unpublished decisions in the archives of the Russ