Formation of Legal, Regulatory, and Informational Basis for Nanoindustry Development in Russia

Abstract

The article deals with the stage of formation of legislative basis for the technological, innovative, informational and production activities in Russian nanoindustry. It is noted that the beginning in identifying a subject to the legal effect in this sphere is a system of characteristics of a particular object that are firstly quantitative ones, and secondly are not subject to fixation under normal conditions, and with the use of conventional means of measurement because of their ultra-small values. The ultimate mathematical accuracy in pointing to the object under consideration turns into the extreme uncertainties of the object itself, and inevitably the corresponding legal relationship. The fundamental problem of the legal regulation of nanotechnology is the lack of information about the properties of nanotechnology, resulting from the complexity of simulating the nanoparticles’ behavior in the external environment. That gives rise to the mismatch between the extremely extensive priorities set in the programme documents on nanoindustry development (elimination of legal barriers to nanotechnology development, creation of organizational and legal mechanisms of nanoindustry functioning), on the one hand, and the legislative means of their solution, on the other. The non-transparency of nanotechnologies, actually from the point of view of both scientific study and state policy on their development and application, is probably the main reason for the apparent dissonance between the abundance of ambitious objectives formulated in numerous programme documents and a small number of those legally significant real measures that have been adopted to date at both the legislative and subordinate levels. The uncertainty of the prospects for legislative and subordinate regulation of public relations in nanoindustry at present has already become protracted. In fact, the choice has to be made between two main ideas: successful development of nanoindustry in Russia requires special regulatory and legal control; alternatively, all the problems of streamlining nanoindustry can be solved on the basis of already existing legislation, or with the help of new norms not specifically dedicated to nanotechnology and nanoindustry. The authors argue the necessity of detailing the foundations of the national civil law regulation related to nanotechnology activities control and overcoming fragmentation of nanotechnology legislative regulation development that is now beyond the integrative methods of legal regulation.