Knyazev A.P. Public discussions and public hearings as the forms of interaction of civil society institutions and public and local authorities

Abstract: The article considers the forms of interaction of civil society institutions and public and local authorities, mentioned in the recently adopted Federal Law of July 21, 2014 № 212-FZ “On the bases of public control in the Russian Federation”, such as public hearings and public discussions. The author carries out the comparative analysis of these forms, revealing their common and individual features, and outlines particular shortcomings of legal regulation of public hearings and discussions, offering the ways of their correction. The author applies the general scientific (analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction) and the special scientific (comparative-legal, formal-logical) methods. The novelty of the research consists in its subject: for the first time the regulations about public control and its forms, including public hearings and discussions, have been systematized and legitimated on federal level; in the light of the new federal law the author attempts to study these forms profoundly, while the previous researches considered public control in general. The author comes to the conclusion about the necessity to introduce more accurate criteria of differentiation of public hearings and public discussions, and to enhance the regulations related to them. 

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