On the question of the grounds for church legal proceedings: on example of "Provisions on the church court of the Russian Orthodox Church" dated 2008

In the article, as applied to church litigation, such legal concepts as «the basis of the judicial system» and «presumptions and fictions» are considered. Particular attention is paid to the canonical foundation of the church court. Te author proceeds from the premise that the notion of «foundation» applied to the ecclesiastical court is obviously used in two ways: as the reason for the very concept of the «ecclesiastical court», and as a system of legal sources on which the judicial system is built. On the example of the current «Regulations on the Church Court of the Russian Orthodox Church» from 2008, six canons, directly specified in the text of the Regulations, are considered as their original author's interpretation, and the interpretations of prominent canonists. Conclusions are drawn that: 1) there is no direct indication in the Statute of both the presumption of innocence and the presumption of guilt; 2) the canons included in the Regulations contain legal presumptions and fictions; 3) canons, references to which are contained in the articles of the Regulations, and the articles themselves differ in their content. Tus, the judicial system existing in the Russian Orthodox Church is partially based on the canonical corps of the Orthodox Church