Right of emission in the Russian law system

The article examines the concept, structure, content, and place of right of emission in the system of Russian law. It is emphasized that right of emission is not a legal and regulatory, or a doctrinal concept. In essence, its content is associated with such phenomena as state sovereignty and, accordingly, the sovereign rights of the state. Therefore the conceptual approach to defining the boundaries of the right of emission should be based on understanding that the right of emission is the exclusive right of the state as an entity of power, which implements it based on its own imperative regulations, primarily general legal norms of a declarative, fundamental nature, or through power relations of a public rather than private nature. Accordingly, the right of emission cannot include accompanying institutions, namely cash circulation and cashless transfers as such. However it is obvious that the structure of the right of emission should include norms establishing the organization of cash circulation and the organization of cashless transfers.

The article provides a systematic interpretation of Article 75 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and a number of articles of the Federal Law “On the Central Bank (Bank of Russia)”. It is concluded that the right of emission is primarily the currency issue right. It includes five blocks of legal norms which include those establishing 1) the monetary unit of the Russian Federation; 2) the currency issue (banknotes and coins); 3) the organization of cash circulation; 4) the redemption of banknotes and coins from circulation; 5) the provision of banknotes and coins and the protection of stability of the ruble. In addition, the right of emission includes the institution of organizing cashless transfers which constitutes the block 6 of the right of emission norms, which includes those establishing the rules, forms, and standards of cashless transfers.

In general, the right of emission in the Russian legal system represents a complex inter-branch legal community consisting of the norms of financial, civil, and criminal law.