Mashkova Ekaterina - Researcher, Institute of Legal Research,National Research University Higher School of Economics. E-mail: emashkova@hse.ru
Address: National Research University — Higher School of Economics, 20, Myasnitskaya str., Moscow, 101000, Russian Federation.

The aim of the panel is to analyze the extent to which Russians trust law, in particular laws and legal acts, discuss the causes of the lack of trust and to give recommendations. Positive sides have been shown – discussion of law drafts on the Internet, access of citizens to legal information including by-laws. For the first time for many decades some  state corporations and ministries have developed moral and legal regulations (soft law) – codes of conduct with self imposed obligations. However, many still do not find it obligatory to follow legal acts, keep opposing law and ethics considering them incompatible. The attitude to law as a social value has not shaped. The system of introducing codes has been simplified and got inner contradictions. Legal nihilism has become destructive which is evident. It goes together with amorality. Ruling establishment does not identify itself with law and does not enjoy trust or respect, which enforces disagreement in actions of public forces, which in turn has caused mass alienation of citizens. Russian legal culture lacks this integral component which questions the existence of such culture in the country. The panelists recommended to transfer to legal monitoring which will evaluate better the results of the acts and the attitude of lawyers and laymen to them., ensure the access of psychologists, sociologists, economists to law making; coordinate formal law and traditional law (common law); avoid overlapping legal acts of the Federation and its regions. It was proposed to impose a moratorium to alter any normative act for a fixed period. The initiators of a draft of law or legal act should be deprived of the right to make laws if the law may require changes in the near future.