The Right of Access to Justice of Individuals in Transnational Antimonopoly Disputes in the Eurasian Economic Union: the Ways of Overcoming the Crisis

INTRODUCTION. The article essentially deals with the legal mechanism of challenging the Eurasian Economic Commission’s (EEC) acts in the sphere of antimonopoly regulation by individuals in relation to their right of access to justice.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. The methodology in the paper contains the following tools: general scientific and formal-logical methods (including methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison, analogy, systematization, and modeling), as well as special methods (formal-legal, historical, and comparative analysis).

RESEARCH RESULTS. It is concluded that the competence to resolve these disputes is partially conveyed by collective lawmakers of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to the Court of the EAEU. At the same time the judicial body of the EAEU is not authorized to hear cases initiated by individuals (who are not entrepreneurs) in which the EEC’s acts on liability of antimonopoly violations are challenged. Using the decisions of Russian courts the authors demonstrate that national courts cease the proceedings initiated by individuals who are not entrepreneurs. Moreover, considering the position of the Supreme Court of Russian Federation formulated on the ground of the EEC’s complaint, Russian courts concluded that the Court of the EAEU has exclusive competence to consider claims of individuals to challenge acts of EEC in the sphere of antimonopoly regulation. Thus, natural persons (except for entrepreneurs) who were punished by the EEC for violation of general competition rules, seem to be deprived of their right of access to justice. Consequently, the legal gap revealed upon the implementation of the EAEU law may obviously lead to the crisis of the EAEU justice system.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION. Therefore, to prevent the above-mentioned crisis, the authors recommend amending both the Treaty on the EAEU and the procedural acts in the sphere of the transnational antimonopoly regulation adopted based on the Treaty on the EAEU. These amendments should establish the right of individuals (who are not entrepreneurs) to challenge acts, actions (inaction) of the EEC in the sphere of antimonopoly regulation in the Court of the EAEU. Furthermore, in the authors view, this should be done before the complaint of an individual regarding the constitutional right to judicial protection may be raised before one of the EAEC member states’ constitutional courts.

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