Lands of agricultural designation: issues of effective civil and legal regulation

The system of laws regulating the use of agricultural land is provided by the Land and the Civil Codes of the Russian Federation, as well as the federal law “On the transfer of agricultural lands”. The procedures that require the most urgent revision of the law enforcement is the order of selling the land to a region of the Russian Federation or a municipality, as well as their withdrawal due to misuse or flagrant violation of the rules of use. As regards the sale of the agricultural land, according to the above-mentioned legislative documents, a seller must notify the supreme executive body of the Russian Federation subject of the intention to sell the land. The notice must indicate the price and location of the plot, and the period within which the payment will be made. It is noteworthy that this period is set by law and is no more than 90 days, however, what point should be the reference one the document does not specify. According to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, it is possible to seizure the land intended for agricultural production or construction, in case it has not being used for three years for a proper purpose. Another reason for the seizure of land is a gross violation of the rules of rational use of the land; however, the concept of “gross violation” is not defined in this document. This gap was partly filled by the government decree № 6, dated 22.07.2011, which establishes criteria of the significant diminishing of the agricultural lands’ fertility. Furthermore, neither the Civil Code nor the Land Code of the Russian Federation describes the clear procedure of the land withdrawal. This law enforcement indeterminacy is interpreted by legal scholars in three ways: 1) impossibility of the forced termination of property rights; 2) correcting of legal deficiency by analogy in law or right; 3) need for land withdrawal despite the absence of procedural rules.