Russian judges cautioned against using Bitcoin

The Ethics Commission of the Russian Judicial Council clarified the rights to own, use and dispose of digital financial assets (DFA) and digital currency.

According to the conclusion, there is no direct ban on judges owning digital assets. However, the ambiguity in the legal approaches to regulating issuance, accounting and circulation of DFAs and digital currencies in Russia imposes a special responsibility on judges.

The current edition of the Law on the Status of Judges prohibits any ownership or use of foreign financial instruments.

“DFAs issued in information systems organised in accordance with foreign law, and digital currency are classified as foreign financial instruments,” the explanation says.

The Ethics Commission drew attention to “the increased risk of erroneous interpretation of new and not yet fully formed legislation”:

“Discussion of these issues in the legal community at present sometimes demonstrates diametrically opposed views on many aspects of the regulation of new financial instruments for Russian law.”

The Code of Judicial Ethics provides that in any ambiguous situation there is a presumption that the judge knows the law.

“A judge cannot and should not ignore the realities of the modern digital world, but a judge’s choice to use new financial instruments should be based on prior personal study of the law and independent assessment of the potential risks,” the Commission’s conclusion says.

As a reminder, in early 2021 the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Russian Federation issued an informational letter informing civil servants of the need to divest cryptocurrency holdings by 1 April.

The agency also imposed a prohibition on civil servants owning and using digital assets. The list of individuals to whom these norms apply is laid out in Federal Law of May 7, 2013 No. 79-FZ.

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