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NB: Administrative Law and Administration Practice
Reference:

Administrative liability for violation of legislation in the field of consumer protection: on the issue of determining the object of the offense

Chagina Elizaveta Mihailovna

Junior Researcher ; Center of Private Law ; Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation

31 Bolshaya Cheremushkinskaya str., Moscow, 117218, Russia

chagina.elizaveta1997@mail.ru
Other publications by this author
 

 
Chamina Anna Andreevna

Lecturer; Department of Organization of activities of road safety units; Moscow Regional Branch of the Moscow University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs named after V.Ya. Kikot

117437, Russia, Moscow, Akademika Volgina str., 12

support_mosu@mvd.ru

DOI:

10.7256/2306-9945.2024.3.71550

EDN:

RRBBLQ

Received:

22-08-2024


Published:

01-09-2024


Abstract: The issue of separating administrative offenses in the field of consumer protection into a separate category, as well as the inclusion of certain types of administrative offenses specified in the current Code of Administrative Offenses, is actively discussed in the scientific literature. At the same time, determining whether a particular administrative offense encroaches on the rights of consumers has not only theoretical, but also practical significance, especially when it is necessary to determine the statute of limitations for bringing to administrative responsibility. The article analyzes various types of administrative offenses committed both in the field of entrepreneurial activity and in other areas of public relations, in order to determine exactly how these violations affect legal relations with the participation of consumer citizens. The purpose of the study is to identify specific types of administrative offenses that harm civil law relations with consumers that are actually protected by law, as well as their differentiation from violations that, although they do not have a direct impact, nevertheless entail negative consequences for the state of protection and protection of consumer rights. The authors use both general scientific methods, such as logical, analytical methods, and special methods of cognition, in particular, the method of analysis and interpretation of normative legal acts. According to the results of the study, the authors substantiate the conclusion that it is necessary to differentiate administrative offenses in the field of consumer protection in a narrow and broad sense, which is currently not done in the doctrine. Administrative offenses in the field of protection and protection of consumer rights in a narrow sense should be understood only those that directly infringe on consumer rights. In a broad sense, this group should include both administrative offenses that have civil law relations with the participation of consumers as an object, and violations that encroach on other groups of public relations, but have or may have as a consequence a negative impact on relations with the participation of consumers.


Keywords:

administrative law, administrative responsibility, consumers, consumer protection, administrative offense, the composition of an administrative offense, the object of an administrative offense, generic object, a specific object, qualification of an administrative offense

This article is automatically translated.

The provision of additional legal guarantees to the consumer citizen as the weak side of the relationship, designed to protect him from possible abuse by the counterparty, would not be complete without establishing legal liability for violation of those rights guaranteed to him by the Law of the Russian Federation dated 02/07/1992 No. 2300-1 "On Consumer Rights Protection" (hereinafter – the Law on Consumer Rights Protection). At the same time, since the "balance of forces" between the consumer and the seller, the contractor or other business entity in terms of information possession, negotiation capabilities and the possibility of imposing its will on the counterparty has a significant asymmetry in favor of the latter, the protection and protection of citizens' rights in this case needs to be ensured not only by private legal means, but also by public measures- legal responsibility in order, firstly, to compensate for the limited opportunities of a citizen to protect his rights in private, and secondly, to prevent mass violations of the rights of consumer citizens by professional entrepreneurs. That is why the Law on Consumer Protection establishes that violation of consumer rights guaranteed by law entails not only civil law, but also public law, in particular, administrative liability (art. 43). In this regard, the question arises exactly which norms of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation) establish sanctions for violation of consumer rights.

It should be said that violations in the field of consumer protection legislation are mentioned as a separate category in Article 4.5 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, which establishes the limitation period for bringing to administrative responsibility. At the same time, in the Special part of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, this group of offenses is in no way distinguished. The violation of consumer rights is explicitly indicated in the dispositions of only two articles of the Code: Article 14.7 "Consumer deception" and Article 14.8 "Violation of other consumer rights". It seems, however, that these two articles cannot exhaust the composition of administrative offenses in the field of protection and protection of consumer rights.

It should be noted that in the doctrine, not much attention is paid to the issues of qualification of certain administrative offenses as violating consumer rights, their classification and definition of their object. One of the major works devoted to the problems of administrative responsibility for violation of consumer rights is the dissertation by M.A. Katys, in which the author distinguishes administrative offenses in the field of protection and protection of consumer rights into a special category based on the commonality of the object, which is public relations related to ensuring and protecting consumer rights, and also provides the grounds for their classification administrative offenses related to violation of trade rules, violations that infringe on the established management procedure in the field of consumer protection, and violations that infringe on the safety of goods, works and services for the life and health of the consumer. [1, pp. 107-164] However, this study, being of some interest from a doctrinal point of view, is not fully relevant, since it is devoted to the analysis of the provisions of the RSFSR Code of Administrative Offences of 1984 in force at that time. In modern research devoted to issues of administrative law, as well as the problems of consumer protection, the problems of administrative liability for violation of consumer rights are rarely given detailed consideration. It is necessary to highlight the dissertation research by E.I. Zhadanova, in which the author develops the concept of an administrative offense in the field of consumer protection, distinguishes this group of administrative offenses from related ones, and analyzes the criteria for classifying one or another composition of an administrative offense as violations in the field of consumer protection. [2] Also, the issues of administrative liability for violation of consumer rights were considered in sufficient detail by P.P. Kabytov and O.E. Starodubova. [3, c. 174-184.]

At the same time, it should be noted that the doctrine does not have an unambiguous approach to exactly which types of administrative offenses should be attributed to violations in the field of consumer protection and protection.

Thus, E.I. Zhadanova believes that this category, along with the above violations provided for in Articles 14.7 and 14.8 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, also includes the sale of goods without information about their energy efficiency class (Part 2 of Article 9.16 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation); violation of veterinary and sanitary rules in the field of sale of livestock products (Part 1 of Article 10.8 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation); sale of goods, performance of works or provision of services to the public of inadequate quality or in violation of the requirements established by the legislation of the Russian Federation (Article 14.4 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation); violations of legislation on retail trade in medicines (Article 14.4.2 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation); sale of goods, performance of works or provision of services in the absence of established information about the manufacturer, contractor the seller or other information, the obligation to provide which is provided by the legislation of the Russian Federation (Part 1 of Article 14.5 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation); violation of the rules for the sale of certain types of goods (Article 14.15 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation); as well as a number of violations related to the sale of ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products (parts 1 and 3 of Article 14.16 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation). [2, pp. 55-56] The criterion on the basis of which it is proposed to single out violations in the field of consumer protection in a separate group, the author indicates the existence of "contractual relations between a legal entity and a consumer when selling goods, performing works and providing services." [2, c. 48]

P.P. Kabytov and O.E. Starodubova, in addition to the above violations, also include in the category under consideration the release or importation of goods into the territory of the Russian Federation without including information about their energy efficiency class or other mandatory information about energy efficiency in technical documentation, labeling, etc. (Part 1 of Article 9.16 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation); illegal sale of goods, free the sale of which is limited or prohibited (Article 14.2 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation); violation of the pricing procedure (Article 14.6 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation); retail sale of alcohol to minors (Part 21 of Article 14.16 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation) and retail sale of alcoholic beverages in polymer consumer containers with a volume of more than 1.5 liters (part 22 of Article 14.16 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation). [3, c 174] The criterion for combining these compounds into one group is indicated by the authors as the object of unlawful encroachment, namely legal relations with the participation of consumer citizens. [3, c. 175]

Thus, the inclusion of certain compositions in the category of violations in the field of protection and protection of consumer rights in the literature is based on the commonality of the object of encroachment, which should be understood as "public relations protected by the norms of legislation on administrative responsibility." [4, p. 95] At the same time, in the doctrine of administrative law, a generic object is distinguished as a relationship that develops in a certain sphere of human activity, and a specific object as a special group of social relations within the same genus, united by specific characteristics. [5, pp. 489-490] At the same time, the specific object must be distinguished from the direct object – specific social relations that are harmed by unlawful encroachment. [4, c. 95]

The generic object serves as the basis for grouping the compositions of administrative offenses according to the chapters of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. [6, p. 117-114; 7, p. 83] From the above points of view, it can be found that the authors combine administrative offenses that have different generic objects into a single group. Thus, the violations specified in Parts 1 and 2 of Articles 9.16 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation have a generic object of legal relations in the field of energy. In turn, the generic object of an administrative offense, responsibility for which is provided for in Part 1 of Article 10.8 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, is relations in the field of agriculture and veterinary medicine, and violations specified in art. 14.2, 14.4, 14.4.2, 14.5, 14.6, 14.7, 14.8, 14.15 and 14.16 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation – relations in the field of entrepreneurial activity.

It seems, however, that the difference of the generic object in this case does not give grounds to assert that the compositions in question cannot have a common specific object, since one administrative offense may encroach on various legal relations, and therefore the exact definition of the object of a specific administrative offense may cause certain difficulties. [6, pp. 112-113] Indeed, an administrative offense can harm several different types of legal relations. For example, the offense specified in Part 1 of Article 10.8 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, indeed, has the ultimate consequence of violating consumer rights, namely the right to ensure that the purchased goods are safe for his health and life (Part 1 of Article 7 of the Law on Consumer Protection). However, this is precisely the consequence of committing an offense, while this administrative offense encroaches on relations in the field of sanitary and epidemiological welfare of the population and state veterinary control. It is these legal relations that represent the main object of encroachment, whereas relations involving consumers are an additional one. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation drew attention to the possibility of an administrative offense, along with the main object of encroachment, also an additional (or optional) one, causing harm to which is a consequence of the committed offense, in its Resolution No. 3-P dated 01/15/2019. At the same time, the Constitutional Court concluded that when determining the limitation period for bringing to justice under one or another article of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, it is important to determine those public relations that are directly protected by the relevant norm of the Code, and cannot depend on the consequences of violations committed. In essence, this means that when qualifying an act and determining the limitation period for bringing to responsibility, it is the main object of an administrative offense that must be correctly identified.

In this regard, it is necessary to agree with the opinion expressed in the literature that since the vast majority of the norms of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation are aimed at "ensuring the interests of citizens and organizations in several sectors and spheres of public administration at once," insofar as the correct qualification of an administrative offense requires "the establishment of a priority goal of legislation regulating relations for encroachment on which administrative responsibility". [8, c. 235]

The content of Articles 14.7 and 14.8 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation allows us to conclude that all the elements of administrative offenses fixed in them are united by the commonality of the object, i.e. those relations that are harmed by unlawful encroachment: in all cases, one of the parties to the legal relationship will be a consumer – a citizen who purchases goods, works or services for personal, family and other needs that are not related to the implementation of entrepreneurial activities (paragraph 3 of the preamble of the Law on Consumer Protection), and the other party is a person who sells goods, performs works or provides services (that is, a seller or contractor), or provides information about goods and services to the consumer (for example, the owner of an information aggregator), or other persons with whom the consumer either enters into contractual relations, or who are legally assigned certain obligations towards consumers at the stage of concluding the contract (for example, information duties) or at the stage of its execution (for example, the obligations of the manufacturer, importer, authorized organization arising from the consumer's claims against low-quality goods). That is, the direct object of an administrative offense is civil law relations, to which a consumer citizen is a party, which is confirmed in judicial practice (see Resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Ural District dated 05/17/2024 No. F09-1235/24 in case No. A50-20052/2023; Resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District dated 08/01/2024 No. F05-10463/2024 in case No. A40-137806/2023; Resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Volga Region dated 08/09/2024 No. F06-6346/2024 in case No. A65-38620/2023).

A similar conclusion should be drawn on the issue of determining the object of an administrative offense specified in Part 1 of Article 14.5 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. The obligation to provide the consumer with information about the counterparty arises at the stage that precedes the conclusion of a contract with him (Articles 8 and 9 of the Law on Consumer Protection). Consequently, violation of this requirement of the law has a negative impact on the relationship between the consumer and the seller of the goods (or another person), that is, these legal relations will constitute the object of the offense. This circumstance was noted by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which pointed out that Part 1 of Article 14.5 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation has the same relations as Part 1 of Article 14.8 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, namely, "legal relations regulated by law and other normative legal acts arising between consumers on the one hand and the manufacturer, seller of products - on the other other" (see the Ruling of the Judicial Board for Economic Disputes of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 05/21/2020 No. 302-ES19-20981 in case No. A33-5480/2019).

The same statement is true for Article 14.15 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, according to which liability arises for violation of the rules for the sale of goods to consumers. The courts, when classifying offenses under this article, proceed from the fact that the object of encroachment is "property relations regulated by the current legislation on consumer protection when trading under a retail sale agreement" (see for example. Resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Volga District dated 06/18/2021 No. F06-4504/2021 in case No. A12-20077/2020; Resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Volga District dated 01/26/2023 No. F06-53/2023 in case No. A65-11758/2022). This makes this composition of an administrative offense different, for example, from the compositions provided for in Parts 1, 21, 22 and 3 of Article 14.16 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, in which the main object of encroachment is legal relations on state regulation of the production and turnover of ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products, while encroachment on civil law relations involving consumers here it acts as a consequence of the commission of this violation (see e.g. Resolution of the Nineteenth Arbitration Court of Appeal dated 06/17/2022 No. 19AP-2561/2022 in case No. A36-9049/2021).

A similar conclusion can be made when resolving the issue of determining the object of an administrative offense provided for in Article 14.4 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. The sale of goods, the performance of works or the provision of services of inadequate quality, without any doubt, entails a diminution of the rights of citizens protected by the Law on Consumer Protection. For example, violation of the Rules for the provision of postal Services (approved by the Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated 04/17/2023 No. 382) constitutes an administrative offense specified in Part 1 of Article 14.4 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, since the object of encroachment is legal relations related to the provision of services to the consumer (see e.g. Resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Volga-Vyatka District dated 02/21/2023 No. F01-7635/2022 in case No. A43-8158/2022).

With regard to other considered administrative offenses, it seems reasonable to assert that in them the relationship with the participation of consumers is an additional, and not the main object of encroachment. For example, it seems that for the composition provided for in Part 2 of Article 9.16 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, the main object of an administrative offense will be legal relations in the field of energy conservation and energy efficiency improvement, although this offense, of course, also encroaches on the consumer's right to receive information about the product. The same can be said with regard to the offense provided for in Article 14.6 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, the main object of which is not civil law relations with the participation of consumers, but administrative legal relations on state regulation in the field of pricing (see Resolution of the Arbitration Court of the North-Western District dated 04/03/2023 No. F07-1262/2023 in case No. A56-93384/2020; Resolution of the Arbitration Court the Court of the Far Eastern District dated 04/02/2024 No. F03-978/2024 in case No. A59-3842/2023). Another example is Article 14.4.2 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, where the main object of encroachment is relations in the field of state control in the field of drug trafficking (see e.g. Resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Central District dated 06/01/2023 No. F10-2635/2023 in case No. A83-9425/2022), despite the fact that such offenses may also infringe on the rights of citizens who consume medicines. [9, c. 187-201]

Thus, it seems reasonable to single out administrative offenses in the field of consumer protection in a narrow sense, which should be understood as offenses that have civil law relations as a direct object of encroachment, one of the parties to which is a consumer citizen. In our opinion, this group should include the compositions provided for in Part 1 of Articles 14.5, Articles 14.7, 14.8, 14.15 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, as well as Article 14.4 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, since under this article the object of encroachment may be legal relations in which the consumer is not a party. In a broad sense, administrative offenses in the field of consumer protection should be understood as offenses that have a direct object of both civil law relations themselves, protected by legislation on consumer protection, and other legal relations, encroachment on which leads or may lead to a diminution or violation of consumer rights.

References
1. Katys, M.A. (2001). Administrative responsibility for violation of legislation on consumer protection: diss. ... cand. jurid. sciences. Moscow.
2. Zhadanova, E.I. (2014). Administrative liability of legal entities for violation of legislation on consumer protection: dissertation ... cand. jurid. sciences. Moscow.
3. Synitsyn, S.A. (Ed.), & Shelyutto, M.L. (Ed.). (2021). Consumer protection: in Search of the Optimal Model. Moscow: LLC 'LAW FIRM CONTRACT'.
4. Malakhova N.V., & Dugaev I.I. (2017). Features of the qualification of an administrative offense according to the objective elements of its legal composition. Bulletin of the Moscow University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 1, 92-96.
5. Bakhrah, D.N. (2002). Administrative law of Russia. Moscow: Norma.
6. Zyryanov, S.M. (2020). Problems of constructing the composition of administrative offenses in articles of the Special part of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. Journal of Russian Law, 8, 105-126.
7. Kalmykova, A.V. (2019). Administrative responsibility in the field of technical regulation in the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union. Journal of Foreign Legislation and Comparative Jurisprudence, 4, 76-91.
8. Pankova, O.V. (2014). Consideration of cases of administrative offenses in courts of general jurisdiction. Moscow: Statute.
9. Putilo, N.V. (Ed.) (2017). The right of citizens for medical provision. Moscow: LLC 'LAW FIRM CONTRACT'.

First Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The subject of the research in the article submitted for review is, as its name implies, administrative liability for violation of legislation in the field of consumer protection. The author focused his attention on studying the problem of determining the object of the relevant offense. The declared boundaries of the study have been observed by the scientist. The methodology of the research is not disclosed in the text of the article. The relevance of the research topic chosen by the author is beyond doubt and is justified by him as follows: "Providing additional legal guarantees to the consumer citizen as the weak side of the relationship, designed to protect him from possible abuses by the counterparty, would not be complete without establishing legal liability for violation of those rights guaranteed to him by the Law of the Russian Federation dated 07.02.1992 No. 2300-1 "On Consumer Rights Protection" (hereinafter – the Law on Consumer Rights Protection). At the same time, since the "balance of forces" between the consumer and the seller, the contractor or other business entity in terms of information possession, negotiation capabilities and the possibility of imposing its will on the counterparty has a significant asymmetry in favor of the latter, the protection and protection of citizens' rights in this case needs to be ensured not only by private legal means, but also by public measures- legal responsibility in order, firstly, to compensate for the limited opportunities of a citizen to protect his rights in private, and secondly, to prevent mass violations of the rights of consumer citizens by professional entrepreneurs. That is why the Law on Consumer Protection establishes that violation of consumer rights guaranteed by law entails not only civil law, but also public law, in particular, administrative liability (art. 43). In this regard, it arises which norms of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation (hereinafter – the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation) establish sanctions for violation of consumer rights. It should be said that violations in the field of consumer protection legislation are mentioned as a separate category in Article 4.5 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, which establishes the limitation period for bringing to administrative responsibility. At the same time, in the Special part of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, this group of offenses is in no way distinguished. The violation of consumer rights is explicitly indicated in the dispositions of only two articles of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation: Article 14.7 "Consumer deception" and Article 14.8 "Violation of other consumer rights. It seems, however, that these two articles cannot exhaust the composition of administrative offenses in the field of protection and protection of consumer rights. At the same time, the analysis of the points of view expressed in the scientific literature on the definition of a specific list of administrative offenses that should be qualified as violating consumer rights shows the lack of a unified approach to solving this issue." Additionally, the scientist needs to list the names of the leading experts who have been engaged in the study of the problems raised in the article, as well as reveal the degree of their study. The scientific novelty of the work is manifested in a number of the author's conclusions: "From the above points of view, it can be found that the authors combine administrative offenses that have different generic objects into a single group"; "It is more difficult to determine the object of an administrative offense provided for in Article 14.4 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. The sale of goods, the performance of works or the provision of services of inadequate quality, without any doubt, entails a diminution of the rights of citizens protected by the Law on Consumer Protection. However, the commission of these actions in violation of the requirements established by law may cause harm as a relationship involving the consumer, a relationship in which the latter is not a party. For example, violation of the Rules for the provision of Postal Services (approved by the Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated 04/17/2023 No. 382) constitutes an administrative offense specified in Part 1 of Article 14.4 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, even if the party to the public contract with the postal operator is a legal entity that is not a consumer. Thus, the direct object of this administrative offense can be both relations in which the consumer participates and other legal relations"; "Thus, it seems reasonable to single out administrative offenses in the field of consumer protection in a narrow sense, which should be understood as offenses having civil law relations as the direct object of encroachment, one of which the consumer citizen is one of the parties. In our opinion, this group should include the compositions provided for in Part 1 of Articles 14.5, Articles 14.7, 14.8, 14.15 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, as well as Article 14.4 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, since under this article the object of encroachment may be legal relations in which the consumer is not a party. In a broad sense, administrative offenses in the field of consumer protection should be understood as offenses that have a direct object of both civil law relations themselves, protected by legislation on consumer protection, and other legal relations, encroachment on which leads or may lead to a diminution or violation of consumer rights," etc. Thus, the article makes a definite contribution to the development of domestic legal science and, of course, deserves the attention of potential readers. The scientific style of the research is fully sustained by the author. The structure of the work is logical. In the introductory part of the article, the author substantiates the relevance of his chosen research topic. In the main part of the work, the scientist explores the problem of determining the generic, specific and direct object of a particular offense in the field of consumer protection. The final part of the article contains conclusions based on the results of the study. The content of the article corresponds to its title and does not cause any particular complaints. However, it is not without drawbacks of a formal nature. Thus, the author writes: "The violation of consumer rights is explicitly indicated in the dispositions of only two articles of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation: Article 14.7 "Consumer deception" and Article 14.8 "Violation of other consumer rights" (the last quotation mark is omitted). The scientist notes: "However, the commission of these actions in violation of the requirements established by law may cause harm as a relationship involving a consumer, a relationship in which the latter is not a party" - "relationship"; the word is omitted. The author indicates: "With regard to other considered elements of administrative offenses, it seems reasonable to assert that in them the relationship with the participation of consumers is an additional, and not the main object of encroachment" - "what is in them". Thus, the article needs additional proofreading - there are typos and omissions of words in it. The bibliography of the study is presented by 8 sources (monographs, dissertation, scientific articles, textbook), not counting normative material. From a formal and factual point of view, this is enough. The author managed to reveal the research topic with the necessary depth and completeness. There is an appeal to opponents, both general and private (E.I. Zhadanova et al.), and it is quite sufficient. The scientific discussion is conducted by the author correctly. The provisions of the work are justified to the necessary extent and illustrated with examples.
There are conclusions based on the results of the study ("Thus, it seems reasonable to single out administrative offenses in the field of consumer protection in a narrow sense, which should be understood as offenses that have civil law relations as a direct object of encroachment, one of the parties to which is a consumer citizen. In our opinion, this group should include the compositions provided for in Part 1 of Articles 14.5, Articles 14.7, 14.8, 14.15 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, as well as Article 14.4 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, since under this article the object of encroachment may be legal relations in which the consumer is not a party. In a broad sense, administrative offenses in the field of consumer protection should be understood as offenses that have a direct object of both civil law relations themselves, protected by consumer protection legislation, and other legal relations, encroachment on which leads or may lead to a diminution or violation of consumer rights"), they are clear, specific and Undoubtedly, they deserve the attention of the scientific community. The interest of the readership in the article submitted for review can be shown primarily by specialists in the field of administrative law, provided that it is finalized: disclosure of the research methodology, additional justification of the relevance of its topic (within the framework of the comment made), elimination of violations in the design of the work.

Second Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

A REVIEW of an article on the topic "Administrative liability for violation of legislation in the field of consumer protection: on the issue of determining the object of an offense." The subject of the study. The article proposed for review is devoted to topical issues of liability for violation of legislation in the field of consumer protection. The author examines the problems of implementing the norms of legislation on administrative responsibility, draws conclusions on how to correctly interpret the norms in question. The subject of the study was, first of all, the provisions of the current legislation, as well as the opinions of scientists. Research methodology. The purpose of the study is not stated directly in the article. At the same time, it can be clearly understood from the title and content of the work. The purpose can be designated as the consideration and resolution of certain problematic aspects of the issue of the object of offenses related to administrative responsibility for violation of legislation in the field of consumer protection. Based on the set goals and objectives, the author has chosen the methodological basis of the study. In particular, the author uses a set of general scientific methods of cognition: analysis, synthesis, analogy, deduction, induction, and others. In particular, the methods of analysis and synthesis made it possible to summarize and share the conclusions of various scientific approaches to the proposed topic. The most important role was played by special legal methods. In particular, the author actively applied the formal legal method, which made it possible to analyze and interpret the norms of current legislation (first of all, the norms of the legislation of the Russian Federation on administrative offenses). For example, the following conclusion of the author: "The content of Articles 14.7 and 14.8 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation allows us to conclude that all the elements of administrative offenses fixed in them are united by the commonality of the object, i.e. those relations that are harmed by unlawful encroachment: in all cases, one of the parties to the legal relationship will be a consumer – a citizen who purchases goods, works or services for personal, family and other needs that are not related to the implementation of entrepreneurial activities (paragraph 3 of the preamble of the Law on Consumer Protection), and the other party is a person who sells goods, performs works or provides services (that is, a seller or contractor), or provides information about goods and services to the consumer (for example, the owner of an information aggregator), or other persons with whom the consumer either enters into contractual relations, or who are legally assigned certain obligations towards consumers at the stage of concluding a contract (for example, information duties) or at the stage of its execution (for example, the obligations of the manufacturer, importer, authorized organization arising from the presentation of they are the consumer of claims regarding low-quality goods). That is, the direct object of an administrative offense is civil law relations, to which the consumer citizen is a party." At the same time, it is strange that the author did not use the potential of empirical research methods, which, in the context of his goal, could be related to the study of judicial practice materials. Taking into account the general practice orientation of the conclusions of the work, the author should add an analysis of typical examples from court decisions in order to disclose the problems of establishing violations of administrative liability for violations of legislation in the field of consumer protection. Thus, the methodology chosen by the author is not fully adequate to the purpose of the study, does not allow to study all aspects of the topic in its entirety. Relevance. The relevance of the stated issues is beyond doubt. There are both theoretical and practical aspects of the significance of the proposed topic. From the point of view of theory, the topic of administrative responsibility for violation of legislation in the field of consumer protection. It is difficult to argue with the author that "Providing additional legal guarantees to a consumer citizen as the weak side of the relationship, designed to protect him from possible abuses by the counterparty, would not be complete without establishing legal liability for violation of those rights guaranteed to him by the Law of the Russian Federation dated 02/07/1992 No. 2300-1 "On Consumer Protection" (hereinafter referred to as the Law on Consumer Protection). At the same time, since the "balance of forces" between the consumer and the seller, the contractor or other business entity in terms of information possession, negotiation capabilities and the possibility of imposing its will on the counterparty has a significant asymmetry in favor of the latter, the protection and protection of citizens' rights in this case needs to be ensured not only by private legal means, but also by public measures- legal responsibility in order, firstly, to compensate for the limited opportunities of a citizen to protect his rights in private, and secondly, to prevent mass violations of the rights of consumer citizens by professional entrepreneurs. That is why the Law on Consumer Protection establishes that violation of consumer rights guaranteed by law entails not only civil law, but also public law, in particular, administrative liability (art. 43). In this regard, the question arises exactly which norms of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation (hereinafter – the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation) establish sanctions for violation of consumer rights." Thus, scientific research in the proposed field should only be welcomed. Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty of the proposed article is beyond doubt. Firstly, it is expressed in the author's specific conclusions. Among them, for example, is the following conclusion: "it seems reasonable to single out administrative offenses in the field of consumer protection in a narrow sense, which should be understood as offenses that have civil law relations as a direct object of encroachment, one of the parties to which is a consumer citizen. In our opinion, this group should include the compositions provided for in Part 1 of Articles 14.5, Articles 14.7, 14.8, 14.15 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, as well as Article 14.4 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, since under this article the object of encroachment may be legal relations in which the consumer is not a party. In a broad sense, administrative offenses in the field of consumer protection should be understood as offenses that have a direct object of both civil law relations themselves, protected by legislation on consumer protection, and other legal relations, encroachment on which leads or may lead to a diminution or violation of consumer rights." These and other theoretical conclusions can be used in further scientific research. Secondly, the author offers ideas on the correct interpretation of the current legislation on administrative offenses, which may be useful for practicing lawyers in this field. Thus, the materials of the article may be of particular interest to the scientific community in terms of contributing to the development of science. Style, structure, content. The subject of the article corresponds to the specialization of the journal "NB: Administrative Law and Practice of Administration", as it is devoted to legal problems related to the establishment of the object of offenses related to administrative responsibility for violation of legislation in the field of consumer protection. The content of the article fully corresponds to the title, as the author has considered the stated problems, and has generally achieved the purpose of the study. The quality of the presentation of the study and its results should be recognized as fully positive. The subject, objectives, methodology and main results of the study follow directly from the text of the article. The design of the work generally meets the requirements for this kind of work. No significant violations of these requirements were found. Bibliography.
The quality of the literature used should be highly appreciated. The author actively uses the literature presented by authors from Russia (Katys M.A., Zhadanova E.I., Malakhova N.V., Dugaev I.I., Pankova O.V. and others). Thus, the works of the above authors correspond to the research topic, have a sign of sufficiency, and contribute to the disclosure of various aspects of the topic. Appeal to opponents. The author conducted a serious analysis of the current state of the problem under study. All quotes from scientists are accompanied by author's comments. That is, the author shows different points of view on the problem and tries to argue for a more correct one in his opinion. Conclusions, the interest of the readership. The article may be of interest to the readership in terms of the systematic positions of the author in relation to the stated issues, but only after expanding the practical part of the article. Namely, it is necessary to add an analysis of typical examples from court decisions in order to disclose the problems of establishing violations of administrative liability for violations of legislation in the field of consumer protection. Based on the above, summarizing all the positive and negative sides of the article, "I recommend sending it for revision"

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The subject of the study. In the reviewed article "Administrative liability for violation of legislation in the field of consumer protection: on the issue of determining the object", the subject of the study is the norms of law governing public relations related to bringing to administrative responsibility for violation of legislation in the field of consumer protection. Research methodology. In the course of writing the article, modern research methods were used: general scientific and private (such as: systematic, formal-logical, legal modeling, etc.). The methodological apparatus consists of the following dialectical methods of scientific cognition: abstraction, induction, deduction, hypothesis, analogy, synthesis, and it is also possible to note the use of typology, classification, systematization and generalization. The relevance of research. The topic of the article seems to be very relevant. We can agree with the author that "... the "balance of forces" between the consumer and the seller, the contractor or other business entity in terms of information possession, negotiation capabilities and the possibility of imposing its will on the counterparty has a significant asymmetry in favor of the latter, the protection and protection of citizens' rights in this case needs to be provided not only by private legal means but also measures of public liability in order, firstly, to compensate for the limited opportunities of a citizen to protect his rights in private, and secondly, to prevent mass violations of the rights of consumer citizens by professional entrepreneurs" (spelling of the author of the article). Doctrinal developments on this issue are important for improving modern domestic legislation in the field of consumer protection and the practice of its application. Scientific novelty. Without questioning the importance of previous scientific research, which served as the theoretical basis for this work, nevertheless, it can be noted that this article also contains provisions that are characterized by scientific novelty, for example: "... it seems reasonable to single out administrative offenses in the field of consumer protection in a narrow sense, which should be understood as offenses, having civil law relations as the direct object of encroachment, one of the parties to which is a consumer citizen. In our opinion, this group should include the compositions provided for in Part 1 of Articles 14.5, Articles 14.7, 14.8, 14.15 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, as well as Article 14.4 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, since under this article the object of encroachment may be legal relations in which the consumer is not a party. In a broad sense, administrative offenses in the field of consumer protection should be understood as offenses that have a direct object of both civil law relations themselves, protected by legislation on consumer protection, and other legal relations, encroachment on which leads or may lead to a diminution or violation of consumer rights." The article presents other research results that deserve attention from the point of view of practical significance. The results of this study can be assessed as a definite contribution to the domestic legal science. Style, structure, content. In general, the article is written in a scientific style using special legal terminology. The requirements for the volume of the article are met. The content of the article fully corresponds to its title. The article is structured, its individual parts (introduction, main part and conclusion) meet the established requirements. The material is presented consistently and clearly. The theoretical provisions are illustrated by examples from law enforcement practice. There are no comments on the content. There are typos in the text (for example, "not of legal age"), but this is a technical remark that can be eliminated. Bibliography. The author has used an insufficient number of doctrinal sources, including no references to publications of recent years (the most "recent" publication is dated 2021). References to available sources are designed in compliance with the requirements of the bibliographic GOST. Appeal to opponents. The article presents a scientific controversy. Appeals to opponents are correct, decorated with links to the sources of publication. Conclusions, the interest of the readership. The article submitted for review "Administrative liability for violation of legislation in the field of consumer protection: on the issue of determining the object" may be recommended for publication. The article is written on an urgent topic, is characterized by scientific novelty and has practical significance. A publication on this topic could be of interest to the readership, first of all, specialists in the field of administrative law, administrative procedure, civil law (namely, the Institute of Consumer Protection), and also could be useful for teachers and students of law schools and faculties.