Amendments to the procedure of powers of attorney cancellation have entered into force since 2017 (Federal Law on 3 July 2016 No. 332-FZ). Powers of attorney should be cancelled in the same way as they were issued. However, all powers of attorney can be cancelled through a notary. In that case, the notary will enter the information on the cancellation to the registry of notarial acts (http://reestr-dover.ru/), and all third parties will be deemed to have been notified thereof at the following day.

Thus, if the proxy is issued without notarization, the statement of its cancellation can be issued either the same way, without notarization, or, if desired, can be performed through a notary. If the power of attorney was notarized, it can only be cancelled through a notary. If the power of attorney was included in an agreement or a meeting decision, it can also be cancelled in the same form or performed through a notary.

If cancellation is performed through a notary, third parties are considered to have been notified thereof at the day following publication in the register of notarial acts (http://reestr-dover.ru/). However, if cancellation was not notarized, third parties are considered notified about the cancellation after 1 month from the date of publication of the relevant information in the official bankruptcy reporter (http://www.kartoteka.ru/poisk_otozvannyye_doverennosti/).

Thus, the described amendment reduces a grantor’s burden to notify all third parties about a cancellation of a power of attorney issued in a notary form, as well as minimizes the grantor’s risks dealing with a non-notification of third parties. At the same time this amendment imposes additional duties on the third parties to check the validity of power of attorneys, issued in a notary form, by checking information in the unified register of canceled powers of attorneys. In fact, the risks associated with the absence of the information about a cancellation of a power of attorney issued in a notary form were passed to the third parties.

The Federal Law on debt collection has entered into force since 2017. It is designed to additionally protect individuals from harassment by debt collection agencies and to put collection activities into a rigid framework. Thus, debt collection in respect of individuals can only be performed by authorized persons included in the respective State Register. Control over their activities will be performed by the Ministry of Justice and the Federal Bailiff Service.

In addition, the law establishes certain prohibitions in the debt collectors’ activities. In particular, debt collectors are entitled to interact with debtors directly only on weekdays from 8am to 22pm, and on weekends/public holidays from 9am to 20pm.

Moreover, limits on the number of calls and SMS messages sent to a debtor are limited per day, week, and month. Thus, private meetings with the debtor more than once a week are prohibited. Telephone communication is permissible only once a day, twice a week and no more than eight times a month. The law also limits the interaction of collectors with third parties (members of the debtor’s family, neighbors, etc.). Such cooperation should be carried out only with the consent of the debtor.

Since 2017, a number of new services useful for employers and employees have been launched at the website of the Federal Labor and Employment Service (Rostrud) (https://xn--80akibcicpdbetz7e2g.xn--p1ai/). This website allows checking the employment contract for compliance the requirements of the labor legislation, carrying out the recruitment and job search, and also contains memos with basic legal requirements in field of labor and employment.

Since 2017, the stated website is supplemented with a service allowing to carry out the functions of an employment agency allowing to recruit employees matching given criteria (https://trudvsem.ru/). In turn, job-seekers can use the “Find a job” service to post a CV and find a suitable position from the all-Russian database.

Another service launched at the website, called “Memos for workers and employers”, contains information about the rights and duties of employees and employers, as well as recommendations on the application of labor legislation.

Since January 2017, it has become possible to submit documents in electronic form in administrative, civil and criminal proceedings. Previously, the possibility of electronic filing was available only in the commercial courts system. Now, with the help of personal account on the website GAS “Pravosudie” (https://sudrf.ru/), one can submit the documents in electronic form even in the courts of general jurisdiction.

The procedure of the electronic filing of documents approved by the Supreme Court entered into force on January 1, 2017 (please see Order of the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 27 December 2016 No. 251). However, practical implementation of the electronic document management system at the sites of all courts of general jurisdiction will be gradual and may take additional time. Therefore, one should not rely on the availability of this service in the immediate future.

A personal account on the website GAS “Pravosudie” (https://sudrf.ru/) is required to make use of the new feature. Documents can be sent in the form of scanned images of paper documents or by filing electronic documents signed by electronic signature. After sending the documents, the user will be notified about the date and time of their receipt by the court. These data will be needed to prove that the statute of limitation and other time limits were observed. However, until this service is not fully tested, to avoid the risk of skipping procedural deadlines it is recommended to duplicate sending of the documents physically, via the court office or by the Russian Post.

In 2017 several laws that significantly change the legal regulation of real estate transactions came into force at once. In particular, the procedure of cadastral registration and real property title registration is simplified, fines for concealment of real estate objects from the tax inspection are changed. Besides, a new kind of immovable property objects have been introduced, namely parking spaces in parking lots. Ownership rights to them can now be registered and freely traded.

Since 2017, the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography (Rosreestr), the federal body responsible for registration of rights to immovable property, and the Cadastral Chamber, which was previously responsible for the cadastral registration (i.e. description of real estate object), are merged into one integrated state authority. Such merger will simplify the procedure of cadastral registration and registration of ownership title to real estate. Moreover, the documents necessary for registration can now be submitted in any regional department of Rosreestr or multipurpose centers across the country, regardless of the property’s location. Courier can be ordered for receiving the documents at any time and place convenient.

Another important amendment affected the rules for calculation of fines, which the owner will have to pay for non-reporting real estate objects to the Federal Tax Service (FTS) for property tax accrual. Until recently, the fine was a fixed amount of money. However, since January 1, the penalty is 20% of the amount of the corresponding real estate tax. The responsibility of the owner, however, is precluded if the FTS receives appropriate information on its own by way of inter-agency cooperation with Rosreestr. In this regard, it is recommended for property owners who have not received a notice from the FTS about the necessity to pay tax on their newly acquired objects in indicated terms (30 business days before October 1) to apply to the tax office independently, to avoid the accrual of this fine.

Finally, since 1 January 2017 parking places are legally considered as real estate objects, making it possible to register ownership thereto in the same way as to real estate, and, importantly, to easily sell it to third parties. This created the basis for a stable circulation of parking places, which is an important condition for the purchase of office or apartments.