The Amendments to the Civil Law. The Difference between the Classic Penalty from the Judicial Penalty. Practice of Application of Articles 333 and 308.3 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation

Abstract

The article analyzes the current problems associated with the practice of applying changes in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which were legally introduced in 2015, but in fact began to be applied only from 2018. The reason for this was a number of court decisions, which the authors also mention in the article. The authors consider in detail the instrument that appeared in June 2015 in the Russian Civil Code (art. 308.3), borrowed from French law, and the «astrent» is a penalty for the debtor’s failure to fulfill the obligation established by a judicial act. The authors have identified and considered the peculiarities of the Russian analogue of astrent, the practice of its use and the development process. With the use of the new legal institution, which appeared in Russian legislation three years ago, problems continue to arise. The participants in the proceedings sometimes do not know exactly how to demand the recovery of a new type of penalty. The authors of the article conclude that the emergence of a new legal institution in the civil legislation of Russia provides additional guarantees to bona fide participants in civil business turnover in the exercise of their rights. In the article, the authors consider the peculiarities of the application of penalties in foreign legislation and draw analogies between the laws of France, Italy and Spain.