Rector of University of Turin Prof. Gianmaria Ajani Attended the Lab

Prof. Ajani along with Professor Pietro Fre, the scientific attaché to the Italian Ambassador to Russia, attended a meeting with the management of the Laboratory and some specially invited experts.

Prof. Ajani along with Professor Pietro Fre, the scientific attaché to the Italian ambassador in Russia, attended a meeting with the management of the Laboratory and some specially invited experts. The agenda featured a general familiarization session and discussion of cooperation projects.

The Laboratory head, Aleksey Ivanov, introduced to the Italian counterparts the Laboratory's ongoing projects and objectives. The kind of studies proved very close to Mr. Ajani's heart: he specializes in legal regulation in China and the countries of Eastern Europe, and has worked with Russia for many years. Moreover, he also coordinates the work of the Institute of Global Law, Development and Innovation in Turin, which also studies the opportunities for transforming the legal framework.

There is a strong need for reform of the legislation at present.  "In Europe and the wider world we are seeing a systemic crisis in the legal and financial system," said the Laboratory's academic advisor, Leopold Specht. "There is a pressing need for change: we must seek an alternative approach and modify the decision-making processes, without being afraid to experiment." Dr. Specht observed that in this regard it is hard to overstate the importance of academic exchanges and the application of the results of scientific studies in practice.

Theory and practice are being successfully combined in a project involving the installation of a special legal regime on Russky Island, in which the Lab is participating in conjunction with the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI). "All our efforts are focused on attempting to overcome or somehow get round the existing legal system, so that we can move forward," said the head of the ASI's Department of Projects and Practices in the 'Young Professionals' category, Vladimir Solodov.  "Development of the Far East of Russia, which is the main area of our work at present, is a huge, long-term project. Russky Island is an ideal site for experimentation, where we must model a unique, fully applicable legal system."

Vladimir Sivitsky, a leading research fellow at the Lab, is thinking in broader terms, based on theoretical generalizations. The areas of his scientific interests encompass areas of cutting-edge development with an extended legal status, not tied to a specific geographical location. The task ahead is to model all the regulatory processes for management - contractual relations, regulation of the work done by legal entities, and so on. "If you will, we want to create at this site that longed-for "sense of economic freedom", said Prof. Sivitsky.

The idea behind the project, and the creation of a unique 'Russian Hong Kong' 40 minutes from North Korea, connected to the mainland by a single bridge, made quite an impression on the Italian visitors. As a representative of the university environment, Rector Ajani was particularly interested in the Far Eastern Federal University, which in the long-term is set to become the biggest educational and scientific center in the Asia-Pacific Region.

As it transpired, there were a large number of areas in which there were opportunities for cooperation. At the end of the meeting the participants agreed to hold an extended seminar in Turin and a brain-storming session on the Russky Island project.