No abstract

This paper is the first in Russia comprehensive theoretical and practical study of one of the world’s largest international scientific installations of the “megasience” class — the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) — from the standpoint of legal science.The author focuses on the unique legal status and legal nature of international scientific collaborations, with the help of which scientists from dozens of countries, including Russia, carry out research and make scientific discoveries on the LHC. The paper considers and analyzed the following: the history of development, general principles of the LHC and the European organization for nuclear research (CERN), under the auspices of which its construction was carried out; the principles of the structure and functioning of international scientific collaborations around the LHC; the legal nature of their constituent documents as acts of soft law; the ratio of soft and hard law mechanisms in the regulation of international scientific collaborations around the LHC.The final section presents data and proposals on the use of the legal mechanisms studied in other countries and international organizations, including for the purpose of the construction of scientific installations of the “megasience” class under the auspices of the national scientific organizations of Russia and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna (Moscow region).

In the context of the reform of migration legislation in Russia, proceeding from the Concept of State Migration Policy of the Russian Federation for 2019-2025 and the Strategy of Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation in 2016, the paper examines the experience of the supranational legal system of the European Union to create a special procedure for the admission of scientists from countries outside the EU, for the purpose of conducting scientific research in EU megascience facilities (experimental reactors, particle colliders, the synchrotrons, etc.).The subject of the study is the provisions of Directive (EU) 2016/801 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016. "On the Conditions of Entry and Residence of Third-Country Nationals for the Purposes of Research, Studies, Training, Voluntary Service, Pupil Exchange Schemes or Educational Projects and Au Paring" in the part relating to scientists ("Researchers" in the terminology of the Directive).Following the general characteristics (history of adoption, action in time, space and in the circle of persons, conceptual apparatus), the general and special conditions for admission of foreign scientists to the EU, the legal features of "admission agreements" with research organizations of the EU member States and migration documents (residence permits or visas for long-term stay), on the basis of which foreign scientists enter and engage in research activities in the EU, are considered.The final section specifies alternative legal mechanisms for the admission of foreign scientists to the EU — civil law and employment contracts (contracts), including within the framework of the application of EU legislation on the labor migration of highly skilled workers from third countries and the European blue card established by this legislation.

The paper in the theoretical and practical aspects considers the legal status and the legal nature of a new, unique organizational legal form of legal entities created by the law of the European Union in the development of integration processes in the infrastructure of research activities, including megascience. The adoption of the EU legislation on European research infrastructure consortia is due to the desire to overcome the shortcomings of the «classical» forms of implementation of international scientific and infrastructure projects, namely the forms of international intergovernmental organizations and national legal entities with international membership.The EU regulation on European research infrastructure consortia, adopted in 2009, provides that as their main task such consortia have the construction and operation of the research infrastructure for the purpose of forming the European research area.In terms of the structure, establishment and operation, European research infrastructure consortia have common features with international intergovernmental organizations, limited liability companies, as well as a number of unique features arising from the application of the EU integration law to them. Hence, the complex question on the legal nature of European research infrastructure consortia arise. The author shows the impossibility of reducing consortia to international intergovernmental organizations. Similarly, consortia are not equivalent to national legal entities. While agreeing with the European Commission, the author concludes that consortia should be considered as legal entities sui generis (of a special kind), although this solution is not ideal. As a practical result of the study, the author proposes to start the preparation of the Agreement on the Eurasian Scientific and Technological Integration immediately within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union and to provide for provisions on the Eurasian consortia of research infrastructure, which will be an analogue and competitor for the European consortia considered in the paper.

No abstract