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Международный обычай в российской правовой системе
International custom, as we know, is one of the main sources of international law. At the same
time, it is not directly indicated in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The mention of
international custom is quite rare in other Russian regulatory legal acts. As a rule, the general
phrase “generally recognized principles and norms of international law” is used. Its association
with international customs causes controversy both in the doctrine of international law and
among law enforcers. Based on the dialectical approach, as well as the use of general academic
research methods, the article assesses the correlation between international customs legally
binding on the Russian Federation and the provisions of the Constitution, laws and by-laws
of the Russian Federation. The place of international customs in the Russian legal system is
specified. It is emphasized that the formed international custom, recognized by the Russian
Federation or its predecessors, is an international obligation of our state, regardless of its
possible contradiction with certain provisions of Russian legislation. It is indicated that with the
help of a law or a subordinate regulatory legal act of the Russian Federation, it is impossible
to revoke the recognition of an international custom. It is shown that the Constitution of the
Russian Federation is based on imperative universally recognized principles and norms of
international law that exist in the form of international custom. Ways out of the situation when
there is a contradiction between the international custom previously recognized by our country
and the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the use of the rebus sic stantibus clause in
some cases are proposed. It is explained the failure of the formulation of the first provision of
Part 4 of Article 15 of the Constitution. It is proposed to use an approach in its interpretation,
according to which “International customs recognized by the Russian Federation, or containing
peremptory norms of general international law, international treaties of the Russian Federation
are an integral part of its legal system. In law enforcement practice, it is also proposed to take
into account the approach — “If an international custom recognized by the Russian Federation,
or containing mandatory norms of general international law, provides for rules other than the
law, then the rules of international custom are applied.” It is proposed to take into account
in the practice of law enforcement the mechanism of succession in relation to international
customs, based on the general principles of law inherent in international law. The significance in the Russian legal system of particular (local) international customs, the norms of which are
recognized by the Russian Federation, is shown.