Application of the Position of the Court of the EAEU in Dispute Resolution by Arbitrazh Courts of the Russian Federation in Case “Transportation Rus v. St. Petersburg Customs”

The article analyses the approaches of Russian courts, including the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court, to the decisions of the EAEU Court, a permanent body of the Union, of which the Russian Federation is a member state. The EAEU member states have undertaken to respect the Union’s law, which has a strict hierarchy and is designed to meet the principles of legal certainty and uniform application. The latter is largely ensured through the work of the EAEU Court, which, in particular, in resolving a dispute, establishes the conformity or inconsistency of a decision adopted by the Commission of the Union with EAEU law. Business entities of the member states have the right to initiate proceedings in this category. There are situations when state bodies adopt acts imposing additional obligations on them on the basis of Commission acts: in such cases, companies have the possibility to apply to national courts (in the Russian Federation — arbitrazh courts) to challenge the act of a state body, and to the EAEU Court to recognise the Commission’s act as inconsistent with the law of the Union. The author analyses cases in which the EEU Court has found the Commission’s rule to be unlawful and whether such decisions of the Court have influenced the position of national courts. A detailed review of the disputes involving LLC Transportation Rus, as well as earlier disputes with a similar background, is given. It is concluded that the national courts of the Russian Federation have formed a strong opinion that it is necessary to follow a formal temporal approach: even if the EEU Court has ruled that the Commission’s norm is unlawful, it was in force at the time of the decision of the state authority, and therefore it can be used as a basis for its decision. The author believes that such a position may weaken the authority of the EEU Court and examines how compatible it is with the provisions of the EEU Treaty on the hierarchy of the Union’s law.